Applying for British Citizenship.

Canadian citizen applying for British citizenship?

• Hi there, I have looked through the boards but have not found a good response to this question. I possess a British passport and am planning on moving from Canada to England next year. My mother was born in England and has dual citizenship. Given this fact, do I qualify for dual citizenship? Excuse my ignorance, but if I don't qualify for it in this circumstance, what makes me eligible for it? Also, with a British passport, am I capable of working while in England? Thank you very much for your help!

• Answer:

  If you already have a valid British passport then you already have British citizenship. A country only issues passports to it's citizens. The question then becomes, do you have Canadian citizenship? You would most likely have it one of three ways. 1) By being born here in which case you would have a Canadian birth certificate; 2) Being born elsewhere (obviously GB if you hold a British passport) and immigrated here legally in which case you should have a citizenship card and perhaps a Canadian passport as well; or 3) By being born some place else to a Canadian and British parent which would entitle you to both passports (and thereby citizenship in both countries). Bottom line is, if you already possess a British passport, and it's valid, then you already have British citizenship at least. If you have British citizenship then you certainly can work there...and that would require you to pay taxes there too.