SECRET
By by min
would be
Section 14 of the BNA sets out an exhaustive list of persons who are BC's "by descent".
2.5 The non-transmissibility of citizenship to children born abroad of citizens by descent is subject to two exceptions. First, section 3 (2) enables children born overseas to a British parent to register as BC's where, broadly speaking, one parent is a BC by descent, has a parental connection with the UK and has at one time been resident in the UK for a period of three years. Second, section 3(5) provides a right to register minor children' born abroad where the whole family returns to the UK and lives in the UK for three years if, broadly speaking, either the father or mother was a BC by descent at the time of the child's birth and if both parents consent to the registration.
Right of abode
2.6 The restrictions on the right of CUKC's to come to and live in the UK (see para. 2.2 above) were preserved by the BNA. Section 39 amended section 2 of the 1971 Act to reflect the new provisions of the BNA. Section 2 of the 1971 Act now provides that a person is to have the right of abode in the UK only if he is a BC or, as a transitional measure, if he is a Commonwealth citizen (as defined in section 51) who immediately before 1 January 1983 was a Commonwealth citizen having the right of abode in the UK by virtue of section 2(1)(d) or 2 (2) of the
1971 Act as then in force and has not ceased to be a Commonwealth citizen in the meantime.
2.7 It is convenient at this point to highlight the difference between the right of abode (enjoyed by all BC's) and leave to enter under the 1971 Act since this legal distinction lies at the heart of much of the debate about the assurances to be given to
-9-
SECRET
ALERT.
lkersinia
brity