How British war brides’ descendants can claim British citizenship

During and after the Second World War, as many as 70,000 British women, known as ‘war brides’, left the UK to start new lives in the US with the American servicemen they married. What most did not realise was that, under the law as it then stood, they could not pass their British citizenship to their children born overseas.

Today, thanks to changes in British nationality law, the children and grandchildren of war brides may be able to claim British citizenship. Great-grandchildren can also be eligible in some cases, and claiming British citizenship can also open doors to UK visa options for partners.

Why war brides could not pass on their citizenship

Prior to 1983 British nationality law treated men and women differently. When a British war bride gave birth in the United States, that child did not become British. Had the roles been reversed, had an American woman married a British serviceman, the child would have inherited British citizenship automatically through the father. The war brides’ children missed out solely because of their mother’s sex.

This discrimination was not corrected until 1 January 1983. But by then, a generation of children born to war brides had already been denied citizenship. And because those children were not British, they could not pass citizenship to their own children.

Section 4C: A route for the children of war brides

In 2003, Section 4C of the British Nationality Act 1981 was introduced (often referred to as the ‘UKM’ route), allowing people born before 1 January 1983 to a UK-born British mother to register as British citizens.

For the first time, the children of war brides could apply to register as British. If you are the child of a British war bride who was born in the UK, this route may be available to you.

Section 4L: A new route for the grandchildren of war brides

While Section 4C helped the children of war brides, it did nothing for the next generation. Because the children of war brides were not born British, they could not pass citizenship to their own children.

That changed on 28 June 2022 when Section 4L of the British Nationality Act 1981 came into force. This provision created a registration route (on an application form called ‘Form ARD’) for adults who missed out on British citizenship because of historical legislative unfairness, including the gender discrimination that affected war brides and their families. We wrote about the introduction of Section 4L at the time (read our original article here), and since then we have represented a large number of clients in successful applications under this provision.

Section 4L allows British citizenship to pass to the second generation born outside the UK, known as ‘double descent’. If you were born in a foreign country, not including the Commonwealth, before 1 January 1988 and your grandmother was a British war bride, you may now be eligible to register as a British citizen, even though your parent was never British.

The logic is straightforward: if your grandmother had been a man, she would have passed citizenship to her child automatically, and that child could then have registered you as British. Section 4L is designed to put you in the position you would have been in had the law not been discriminatory towards women.

Citizenship for the next generation and visas for partners

One of the most significant, but often overlooked, aspects of Section 4L is what it unlocks for the wider family. Under current discretionary policy (which could change at any time), minor children of an adult who registers under Section 4L may themselves be eligible to be registered as British citizens, even where historical legislative unfairness did not directly prevent those children from becoming British. This means citizenship can reach not just the grandchildren of war brides, but their great-grandchildren as well.

There are also visa benefits for partners. Once a child or grandchild of a war bride becomes a British citizen, their spouse or partner may be able to apply for a UK spouse or partner visa. For families who have always felt a connection to their British ancestry through their grandmother, these provisions can open up real and practical possibilities for relocation to the UK.

Could you be eligible for Section 4C or Section 4L British citizenship?

If you were born outside the UK before 1 January 1983, to a mother who was born in the UK, you may be eligible to register as a British citizen under Section 4C.

If you were born in a foreign country (not a Commonwealth country) before 1 January 1988, and your grandmother was born in the United Kingdom, you may be eligible to register as a British citizen under Section 4L.

The US permits dual nationality, so registering as a British citizen will not affect your US citizenship. Section 4L is not limited to the descendants of war brides, it applies to anyone who has missed out on citizenship due to historical legislative unfairness. However, the war brides’ treatment is one of the clearest and most common examples of the unfairness it was designed to correct.

How Shepherd and Wedderburn can help

Our Immigration team has significant expertise in British citizenship law. Our team’s Head, John Vassiliou, was the lead solicitor in the landmark 2018 Supreme Court case of Romein, which itself opened an important route to British citizenship for people with a UK-born maternal grandfather. This case established the precedent that the requirement of consular registration of an overseas birth within 12 months could be ignored for the purposes of present-day applications by victims of discrimination.

Whether you are the child of a war bride exploring your own entitlement under Section 4C or a grandchild looking to register under Section 4L; or you have already registered and want to explore relocation options for your children or partner, we can help. Please contact John Vassiliou and Jack Freeland or your usual Shepherd and Wedderburn contact.

Contributors: