40. There are, however, some practical problems. It would not be difficult to legislate so that, from a certain date, women could transmit their citizenship on the same terms as men to children born after that date. But what about the children born before that date? Should they be granted citizenship, and if so, how?
41. To designate them all automatically as citizens, especially if the citizenship was back-dated to their birth, would cause difficulties. They might not want our citizenship; they might find that they had lost their other citizenship by having our citizenship thrust upon them. An alternative-favoured by the Government -would be to enable a mother who had become a British Citizen to apply for her citizenship for her children. They would then hold this citizenship from the date the application was granted. This arrangement might be for a limited period of, say, two years; this has been the practice in other countries which have changed their law recently in this way (e.g. Canada and West Germany).
The limits of citizenship by descent
42. Our present law not only confines to men the right to transmit citizenship, it also imposes conditions on the transmission of citizenship. There is no restriction on men citizens from this country transmitting their citizenship to the first generation born abroad. But beyond that, citizenship may be trans- mitted only in certain circumstances, for instance, if the father is in British Government service at the time of the child's birth, or if the child is born in a foreign (but not a Commonwealth) country and the child's birth is registered, within a limited time, at a British Consulate. There is no limit to the transmission of citizenship to further generations in these circumstances.
43. These arrangements have grown up in a somewhat haphazard fashion, and can lead to anomalies. It seems odd to many people that a child born in, say, the USA, can be given his father's citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies by Consular registration if his father was born abroad, but a child born in Canada in similar circumstances cannot. A child born in Australia to a British diplomat who was himself born overseas acquires his father's citizenship, but a child born there to a British businessman in similar circumstances does not. A new citizenship would provide an opportunity to place the rules for descent on a more rational basis.
44. There are various options. At one extreme, if the United Kingdom were to adopt the ius sanguinis method and confer citizenship on any child whose parent was a citizen, there could be no limits on transmission, no matter how distant were the child's direct connections with the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom has, however, been traditionally reluctant to extend its citizenship in this way; people have emigrated from this country in considerable numbers for at least the last 200 years, and the descendants of such people usually associate themselves with their country of birth, and not with the United Kingdom.
45. The other extreme would be to limit citizenship to the first generation born abroad and not allow people born overseas to transmit their citizenship to children born overseas. This might be necessary if, as is suggested, citizenship is to carry with it the right to enter the United Kingdom. Without such a measure there would be large and growing numbers of people abroad who
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had the right to come to the United Kingdom at any time, but who might have scant connection with this country. The numbers would, of course, be all the greater if women as well as men could transmit their citizenship to their children born abroad.
46. But more and more people are spending part of their careers abroad and it might seem unfair if one member of a family who happened to be born when the family was temporarily overseas could not transmit his citizenship when his brothers (and sisters) who were born in the United Kingdom could do so. Difficulty would arise where such a person was in his turn temporarily abroad serving United Kingdom interests when his children were born. He might have few ties with the country of his own birth, or of his children's birth. It would be natural for him to want to transmit British Citizenship to his children born overseas. Further difficulty could arise where the person concerned had no claim to citizenship of the country in which he was born-as, for instance, is invariably the case with the children of diplomats and so could not transmit the citizen- ship of that country to his children even if he wished to. The Government consider that as a general rule a new British Citizenship should not be trans- mitted beyond the first generation born abroad, but they recognise that some circumstances might justify exceptions.
(d) Citizenship by voluntary act
47. The present arrangements for acquiring citizenship by voluntary act, for example, registration and naturalisation, are extremely complicated and varied. Some people have an outright entitlement to registration-notably women who are, or who have at any time been, married to citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies, and Commonwealth citizens who have been settled here continuously since 1 January 1973 and have completed five years' ordinary residence. Others can be granted citizenship at the discretion of the Home Secretary, provided they meet various conditions relating to residence, good character, knowledge of the language, and intentions as to residence in the United Kingdom; these include all foreign nationals and those Common- wealth citizens who do not qualify for citizenship as an entitlement. (There are special provisions for Pakistanis to be treated, for a limited time, as if they were still Commonwealth citizens when applying for citizenship.) There is also pro- vision for Irish citizens, and for stateless persons connected with this country; and for certain people who have renounced citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies to resume it. The Home Secretary has virtually unrestricted powers to register any minor child as a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies, at his discretion. The discussion that follows does not cover all these various categories but concentrates on the areas where there are special problems.
Citizenship by virtue of marriage
48. As indicated above, under our present law, women who have at any time been married to citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies are entitled to acquire their husbands' citizenship, on application. But men married to women citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies have no such right to their wives' citizenship; they must apply in the usual way for registration or naturalisation.
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