British Nationality and Right of Abode

Having right of abode means you’re allowed to live or work in the UK without any immigration restrictions, which means:-

• you will not need a visa to come to the UK
• there’s no limit on the length of time you can spend in the country

All British citizens automatically have right of abode in the UK.

Some Commonwealth citizens may also have right of abode.

You can prove you have right of abode if you have a UK passport describing you as a British citizen or British subject with right of abode.

Otherwise you need to apply for a ‘certificate of entitlement’.

British citizen

If you or your parents were born in the UK, you might automatically be a British citizen.

You might be a British citizen if you were:-

• born in the UK or a British colony before 1 January 1983
• born in the UK between 1 January 1983 and 1 October 2000
• born in the UK between 2 October 2000 and 29 April 2006
• born in the UK between 30 April 2006 and 30 June 2021
• born in the UK from 1 July 2021 onwards
• born outside the UK or are stateless

If you’re not a British citizen automatically, you may still be able to apply to become a British citizen.

If you’re a British citizen you can live and work in the UK free of any immigration controls.

You can also apply for a UK passport..

If you were born in the UK after 31 December 1982 and your parents were not British or Irish, you’ll need to check their immigration status to be sure you’re automatically a British citizen.

At least one of your parents will usually need to have had one of the following when you were born:-

• indefinite leave to remain (ILR)
• right to re-admission
• right of abode
• permanent residence status, if you were born on or before 30 June 2021
• settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme

Your parent would have been able to live and work in the UK without restrictions if they had any of these statuses.

Commonwealth citizens

You may have right of abode in the UK either because of your parents or because you are or were married to someone with right of abode.

UK Ancestry visa

You can apply for a UK Ancestry visa if you’re one of the following:-

• a Commonwealth citizen
• a British overseas citizen
• a British overseas territories citizen
• a British national (overseas)
• a citizen of Zimbabwe

You must also:-

• prove one of your grandparents was born in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man
• meet the other eligibility requirements 

You can stay in the UK for 5 years on this visa.

If you’ve lived in the UK for 5 years on this visa, you may be able to either:-

• apply to extend your visa for a further 5 years
• apply to settle permanently in the UK (apply for ‘indefinite leave to remain’)

With a UK Ancestry visa you can:-

• work
• study
• bring your partner or child

Your work can be:-

• paid or voluntary
• full-time or part time
• in self-employment or in a job where you’re employed by someone else

You cannot:-

• change (‘switch’) into this visa if you came to the UK on a different visa
• get public funds