Nationality and citizenship law in the UK is full of twists and turns but not impossible to understand. By researching vital aspects of the citizenship laws, it can be a much more simple procedure to find out if one is qualified to be a British national or to make a claim for citizenship. One might get British nationality in Australia with an individual’s own birth or with the birth of an individual’s mother or father or grandparents in Australia.

There are five types of British nationalities that comprise of: British citizens, British overseas territories citizens, British overseas citizens, British subjects and British protected persons. Determining the type of citizenship you might be qualified for with UK ancestry for Australians depends upon a certain study of your family history. This study can include both birthdates and birth places for mother and father and grandparents. Nationality laws in the period of or place of birth greatly affects what kind of nationality a person may be eligible for with birth records.

Australia formerly existed within the Crown’s Dominions as a group of separate colonies. In 1948, the position changed to an independent commonwealth country, that granted some privileges to Australians as UK nationals. British nationality can be acquired through birth, descent, registration or this naturalisation procedure. An Australian citizen could apply for dual citizenship and acquire British citizenship through mother or through father if either of the parent is a British citizen. This grants the privileges of the British citizen with the exclusion that your own child a second generation from the birthright of a eligible parent is not automatically qualified for British citizenship.

If a baby is born after January 1, 1983, the child might qualify as a British citizen through father or acquire a British citizenship through mother if one of the parents has British citizenship through ways other than ancestry. In other terms, if the qualifying parent has British citizenship as their mother or father is a British citizen; the parent’s child will not be qualified to become a citizen by lineage.

An unmarried father generally is not able to confer British citizenship automatically to children born before July 1, 2006. However, if the parents get married before the child’s birth, the child generally is granted the position of a British citizen at birth. This citizenship status is only offered if the child becomes “legitimate” because of the marriage and the father was qualified to confer citizenship to the child. By taking a clearer look at British citizenship laws, the procedure of finding out eligibility for British nationality for Australians can be simplified.

Need a visa or passport? WhatPassport is a searchable online immigration database offering web users a Do-It-Yourself visa service. WhatPassport first launched in August 2009. Visit them at http://www.whatpassport.com to know more about UK Ancestry for Australian.