New routes to British Citizenship under the Nationality & Borders Act: Registration and naturalisation changes

Tuesday 1 November 2022

Webinar, Online

This webinar was brought to you by members of the Garden Court Immigration and Public Law Teams.

Date:Tuesday 1 November 2022
Time:1pm - 2pm
Venue:Online
Areas of Law:Administrative and Public Law, Immigration Law

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This event was aimed at immigration and public law solicitors representing individuals seeking to obtain or retain British citizenship, as well as those in the NGO sector.

Our expert panel considered the nationality provisions contained within the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, many of which came into force in June 2022, including:

  • Changes to the residence requirements for naturalisation
  • New routes for registration to correct historical unfairness in the law, acts of omissions of public authorities, and other exceptional circumstances
  • A new route for the registration of stateless minors
  • New powers for the Secretary of State to make deprivation decisions without notice

Speakers

Laurie Fransman KC, Garden Court Chambers (Chair)
Laurie Fransman KC is a leading immigration silk who undertakes all aspects of immigration, nationality and asylum casework, with an emphasis on high-level protection cases, often involving multiple clients and spanning more than one country. He is the author of Fransman’s British Nationality Law, the definitive practitioners’ book on nationality law. Laurie participates in policy development at NGO, governmental and inter-governmental levels (Council of Europe; UNHCR) and has also participated in the UK and elsewhere in the drafting of constitutions and legislation. Laurie has "Star individual" ranking in the 'Immigration Silks' category of Chambers UK Bar Guide. In the Legal 500, he is ranked in Tier 1 in the category "Immigration – Leading Silks".

Adrian Berry, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers
Adrian Berry’s practice spans a range of inter-related public law areas concerning citizenship, immigration, human rights, international protection, and social assistance. Adrian has an extensive practice in British nationality law, both (1) in historic Commonwealth-based claims and (2) in contemporary issues concerning the automatic acquisition of citizenship, naturalisation and registration, as well as deprivation and loss of British nationality. He advises on claims to be a British citizen, British Overseas citizen (BOC), British overseas territories citizen (BOTC), British National (Overseas) (BN(O)), British protected person (BPP) or British subject. He writes a blog on Nationality and Citizenship Law concerning all these issues.

Adrian has particular expertise in running High Court trials on whether a person is already a British national (where witness evidence is called), for example, R(Nooh) v Secretary of State, as well as judicial reviews of refused applications for naturalisation or registrations. He regularly advises on the conflict of nationality laws and issues concerning domicile and tax. He also advises on the use of passports as markers of nationality. Adrian is ranked as a leading junior in immigration in the Chambers UK Bar Guide (Band 1) and the Legal 500 (Tier 1).

Helen Foot, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers
Helen Foot’s practice spans immigration, nationality, human rights and public law. Helen has expertise in representing individuals in the FTT and SIAC whose citizenship is subject to deprivation where fraud is alleged or where deprivation is deemed to be conducive to the public good. She represented the Appellants in the Supreme Court in R (Hysaj and Others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] UKSC 82 and the Appellant in the Upper Tribunal guidance case of Ciceri (deprivation of citizenship appeals – principles) [2021] UKUT 238. She acted for the Appellant in U3 v Secretary of State for the Home Department SC/153/2021, concerning a victim of domestic abuse who was coerced into travelling to ISIS-controlled Syria and deprived of citizenship on national security grounds.

She regularly advises individuals on complex claims to British citizenship, including registration applications on behalf of minors and those with ancestral links to the UK. Recent work includes advising a member of the royal family of a former British protectorate in the Middle East on their entitlement to citizenship. Helen has also advised on a complaint to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) concerning the discriminatory effect of Kenyan independence legislation on women's ability to transmit nationality to their children. Helen is ranked as a leading junior in immigration in the Chambers UK Bar Guide and the Legal 500.

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