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Alexander Graham Bell never set out to invent the telephone. Initially,
he wanted to develop a multiple telegraph. Only later did he realize that
a far greater prize lay at the end of the road.

In telegraphy, a current is interrupted in the pattern known as Morse Code.
Bell hoped to convey several messages simultaneously, each at a different
pitch. However, he could not see a way to make-and-break the current at
the precise pitch required. "How," he wondered, "could pitch be conveyed
along a wire?

Bell knew that speech was composed of many complex sound vibrations. While
on vacation in Brantford, Ontario, in 1874, he constructed an "ear phonoautograph"
from a stalk of hay and a dead man's ear. When Bell spoke into the ear,
the hay traced the sound waves on a piece of smoked glass.

Bell began to wonder whether this wave could be converted into an electrical
transmission. Suddenly, all his work with pitch, electricity and speaking
machines "fused" in one sudden flash of inspiration. The sound waves, he
realized, could be reproduced in a continuous, but undulating, current.
This current was the missing link to the telephone.

At this early point, Bell conceived the instrument as a series of reeds
arranged over a long magnet. As each reed responded to the voice, it would
vibrate alternately toward and away from the magnet, creating the undulating
current.

This "harp apparatus" (as Bell called it) was not the telephone. He did
not yet realize that a single reed could convey all the elements of human
speech. The breakthrough came one day in June, in 1875. Bell asked Thomas
Watson to pluck a steel receiver reed with his finger to make sure it was
not stuck. When Watson vibrated the reed, the receiver in Bell's room also
vibrated, even though the current was turned off. Bell realized that the
vibration had generated an undulating current, solely on the strength of
a slight magnetic field. In that moment, the telephone was born.

The telephone patent was one of the most valuable ever issued. Bell received
it on March 7, 1876, four days after his 29th birthday. Speech, however,
had not yet been transmitted. That would occur five days later, on March
12, when Watson heard the famous words, "Mr. Watson -- Come here -- I want
to see you."






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Bill Clinton Daily Diary

Wry hoaxes enliven world of blogs
Published: July 29, 2004, 8:27 AM PDT
By Daniel Terdiman
The New York Times


Everyone seems to be writing a Web log these days, and those without day jobs have a decided advantage. So perhaps it did not seem unusual to see Bill Clinton joining the ranks.

There were, for example, the jottings about a stay in San Francisco while promoting his memoir, "My Life," including a night out in which he and Robin Williams ultimately regaled their wives with a song and dance while playing a Mariah Carey CD.

"We did this whole dance routine as Mariah Carey sang 'Oh, when you walk by every night, Talking sweet and looking fine, I get kinda hectic inside,' " the June 28 entry recounted. "We must've looked like two drunken sailors. Oh God, what was I thinking? That's the kind of influence Robin has on me and all his friends."

To some who remember Clinton playing the saxophone on "The Arsenio Hall Show," such hijinks may have seemed plausible, if a bit odd. Likewise his ruminations on his travels, his marriage and Sen. John Kerry's presidential candidacy. Delve more deeply into the postings at BillClintonDailyDiary--at once thoughtful, educated and down home--and only one conclusion can be drawn: It's a hoax.

While enabling everyday people to publish a continuing chronicle of their thoughts and deeds, blogs are also are becoming a popular medium for having a little fun with the credulous. The more frequent the postings, the more they respond to reader feedback and the more interesting the subject matter, the more people are drawn into the fiction.

"It kind of takes the old phenomenon of literary hoaxes a step further, where you're interacting with these authors day by day," said Alex Boese, who runs the Museum of Hoaxes, an online compendium of urban legends and other fakery. "And it's so easy to hide your identity online and to hide the contextual clues that people would need to find out who you are."

It seems that blogs are still new enough that skepticism about their authenticity has not yet set in.

Letting their guard down
Steve Rubel of New York, who writes the blog Micro Persuasion, said he thought that veteran blog readers were more likely than newcomers to doubt the veracity of something they read on a blog. But even experienced readers let their guard down when they follow a trusted friend's referral, he said.

If a friend passed you the Web address, "then you definitely think it's true," Rubel said, "because you're talking about word of mouth."

Jimmy Bell, a San Francisco computer consultant, said that upon his initial reading, he thought the Bill Clinton book-tour blog might be real.

"It took me a couple of page-downs to see something that made me absolutely sure" that it was a hoax, Bell said. "I was going on the recommendation of a friend of mine who had in fact been convinced it was real enough to send e-mail to their friends."






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Blogs are also often taken seriously these days because of their status as the platform for a new kind of journalism, and the way that many of them imitate the format of news sites. But a well-designed look and feel do not prove that a site is what it claims to be, Rubel said.

"If you think about it," he said, "there are sites that are blogs that look like professional news outlets that you would never know that they're written by amateurs."

A variety of hoaxes have spiced up the so-called blogosphere. Among them are Andy Kaufman Returns, in which an unidentified writer purports to be the eccentric comedian, reappearing 20 years after his death; Rance, the musings of an anonymous Hollywood star; and Jane's Blog, the daily diary of a starry-eyed, oversexed young woman in Los Angeles who turns out to be a fictional character on the Oxygen TV sitcom "Good Girls Don't."

One reason that many people put faith in such blogs may be a desire to escape a mundane daily existence. But unlike the films and movies that people rely on to transport themselves, blogs offer an actual give-and-take with the authors.

"Part of it is a kind of wish fulfillment of the reader," Boese said. "They're presented with this exciting personality that they get to interact with. And they want the person to not be the same kind of boring person that they are."

Duped and angry
Take the blog Plain Layne. Ostensibly the journal of Layne Johnson, a young, adventurous lesbian with a past, Plaine Layne attracted thousands of readers during its three-year run. Layne Johnson cultivated her fans with engaging, literary prose, photographs of her travels and regular interaction with readers by e-mail and instant message. Her writing often incorporated her fans' thoughts.

Last month, however, Plain Layne disappeared without so much as a goodbye. Quickly, Plain Layne followers went into detective mode and within days, Layne was exposed: she was really a product of the imagination of Odin Soli, a 35-year-old technology entrepreneur from Woodbury, Minn. Many people were stunned by the deception; some were outraged.

"I was providing a genuine emotional experience," Soli said. "I look back at all the praise that I got, all the thank-yous, and that was really wonderful. And now you've got people talking about how they feel, and they're mourning the death of a friend now that they know that this character is not real."

Rex Sorgatz, a Minnesota writer, said he felt duped by Soli.

"I was one of the people that had had conversations with her, and I felt some sort of relationship with someone named Layne Johnson," said Sorgatz, adding that Layne's e-mail address had been on the contact list in his Microsoft Outlook program. "To me, there was an actual real person there."

Plain Layne has now resurfaced with all-new regular postings, albeit with occasional references to having been outed.

In the case of Jane's Blog, those who arrived at the site after clicking on a link from the official "Good Girls Don't" site had specifically been told that the blog was fiction. But as happens so often in the blogosphere, the blog's Web address was widely circulated with no context. Visitors often failed to realize that they were reading fiction.

Betsy Finston, vice president for interactive services at Oxygen Media, which developed "Good Girls Don't," said of the blog, "We try to write it in a very immediate way, and if people respond to it, that's good."

Meanwhile, Andy Kaufman Returns has elicited a range of reactions.

John Ulmer, a film critic who lives near London, said he felt betrayed upon discovering the hoax and created a counterblog, The Andy Kaufman Hoax, where he loudly debunked the fakery.

"I was angered that someone was lying so frequently to Andy's fans," Ulmer said by e-mail. "Someone who apparently didn't care at all about the fact that some of these people take this more seriously than he/she might think."

To some fans, he said, the tone of the writing in the Andy Kaufman Returns blog might have been very convincing. "I think it fit the pattern of Andy's old comedy antics: 'I'm here, take me as I am,'" Ulmer said. "Reading his original article posted to the blog, it seems like Andy."

Boese of the Museum of Hoaxes suggests that such blogs were only going to become more common, and that people would continue to be fooled. And that, he said, is a credit to the writers' ingenuity.

"They're really a species of literary hoax," he said, adding, "When you have a Weblog that's having tens of thousands of readers a day, there's so many people affected, it's that much more spectacular when it's debunked."

Entire contents, Copyright © 2004 The New York Times. All rights reserved.

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HEC-USAID Need Based Scholarship Program
Dear Applicant
Thanks for taking interest in our Need Based Scholarship Program. Following information will help you to know more about this program. If you need more information please send an email to following address us-nbs@hec.gov.pk


The HEC-USAID scholarships are available through the local participating universities. This program is offered to those talented students who will secure admissions at one of the 11 participating institutions in Pakistan. The scholarships are announced for graduate & under graduate programs offered by the participating institutions and only those applicants are eligible for the consideration of need based scholarship that will be enrolled after June 2004.
Following are some details about the scholarship program.

How Do I apply?
1) Apply for admission to a participating University
2) Indicate that you require financial assistance
3) For admission you must meet the academic standards of the University

Participating Universities:

Currently, following 11 Universities are participating in the indigenous scholarship program:

(a) Business Studies:
1. Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad,
2. IBA-Karachi,
3. IBA-Sukkar,
4. Institute of Management Sciences- Peshawar
5. Baluchistan University of Information Technology & Management Sciences-Quetta
6. Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore
7. SZABIST, Karachi

(b) Agriculture:
8. University of Agriculture, Faisalabad,
9. NWFP University of Agriculture, Peshawar,
10. University of Agriculture-Tando Jam,
11. ARID University, Rawalpindi.

What Does the Scholarship Cover?
The scholarship covers the full tuition fee (4 yrs Undergraduate and 2 yrs Graduate). The scholarship also covers monthly stipend to help students to meet their living expenses.
When I can apply?
Follow the academic calendar of the participating university and ensure that you secure admission during this fall semester/term or later.

For latest update please visit our website at http://hec.gov.pk/us-nbs/

M. Jalil Ahmed
Director General (Strategic Vision & Quality Assurance)
Higher Education Commission

1996
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Bell companies start DSL trials
@Home, Road Runner launch cable modem services

1997
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Microsoft invests $1 billion in Comcast
@Home goes public
Covad launches $90 DSL in San Francisco

1998
AT&T buys TCI for $48 billion
Oregon regulators tell @Home to share lines with other ISPs
Bells tell FCC they shouldn't have to share DSL lines. ISPs disagree

1999
@Home merges with Excite in $6.7 billion deal
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AT&T buys MediaOne cable company
Judge rules that AT&T must share cable networks with ISPs
SBC launches $6 billion DSL project
Excite@Home tops 1 million subscribers
Sprint, MCI buy "wireless cable" businesses

2000
AOL buys Time Warner
DSL providers drop prices to match cable
Federal appeals court says AT&T doesn't have to share cable network with ISPs
AT&T announces it will split apart
Telecom downturn undercuts broadband providers

2001
U.S. auctions spectrum for mobile broadband
SBC begins fiber-to-the-home tests
SBC buys Prodigy.
Metricom's Ricochet wireless network folds
Excite@Home goes bankrupt
Comcast buys AT&T Broadband in $72 billion deal
Covad declares bankruptcy, emerges intact

2002
AOL's rocky transition to broadband undermines giant
Broadband companies begin offering tiered price, speed plans
FCC says cable companies don't have to share networks
FCC approves low-orbit satellite broadband services
Yahoo, SBC join forces on DSL
Intel, AT&T, IBM form Cometa Wi-Fi coalition

2003
FCC begins inquiry into broadband over power lines
Broadband price war for consumer business
FCC overhauls rules, says Bells won't have to share fiber networks
Court rebuffs FCC, says cable might have to share networks
Verizon unveils major fiber-optic investment plans
VoIP businesses move into mainstream
U.S. broadband subscribers number reach 28 million

2004
Court rules states can block municipal broadband projects
EarthLink offers wireless and power-line broadband access
Cometa Wi-Fi coalition shuts down
SBC announces $6 billion fiber broadband project
Bush, Kerry make broadband a campaign issue
IEEE approves WiMax standard

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Profile of British Nationality Law - UK Immigration - News and Information

The nationality laws of the UK are probably the most complex of any country on the planet. This is because of the continuing consequences of first the British Empire and then the British Commonwealth. Even the name "British nationality" (which is the way it is referred to in the governing Acts of Parliament) is confusing: this is because "the UK" is a reference not just to Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) but to Britain taken together with Northern Ireland. The UK is short for "the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". References made to "British nationality law" should technically be references to "UK nationality law".

1 The Position Prior to 1949

The prime British nationality before 1949 was "British subject" status and it was a single nationality acquired by virtue of a sufficiently close connection with any part of the British Empire. Anyone who was not a British subject was an "alien" (except that the aliens from certain foreign territories over which the British extended protection came to be known as British protected persons or "BPPs").

By the time of the second world war the British Empire comprised a mixture of "colonies" and "Dominions". The colonies were generally not self-governing but ruled from London whereas the Dominions were self governing and had evolved from colonies or collections of colonies into virtually independent states with sofisticated democratic governments. These were Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) was not far behind. Then, following the War, British India was partitioned to form India and Pakistan and they along with Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) were all granted independence and became Dominions too.

It was decided that the time had come for these countries to enact their own nationality laws and that it would no longer be possible for British subject status to continue to be the only nationality throughout the Empire (Dominions included). Accordingly the plan was that each country would enact its own nationality law creating a citizenship for the British subjects sufficiently closely connected to that state. The UK's statute was the British Nationality Act 1948, which came into force on 1 January 1949.

2 The British Nationality Act 1948

The British Nationality Act 1948 created a citizenship for the UK and the UK's remaining colonies (of which there were very many at that time), but - in accordance with the plan referred to above - excluding the Dominions. This was the prime British nationality from 1 January 1949 all the way through to 31 December 1982, inclusive, and was called "citizenship of the UK and Colonies". A citizen of the UK and Colonies (CUKC) was a person with a sufficiently close connection not with the British Empire as a whole, but just with the UK and the places which remained colonies on and after 1 January 1949. There continued to be BPPs and, in addition, the British Nationality Act 1948 recognised and gave preferential treatment to the persons who were "citizens of the independent Commonwealth countries" under the nationality laws that those other countries had enacted at more or less the same time. It will be noted that in British nationality law the term Dominion was dropped in favour of the term "independent Commonwealth country" from 1949.

In the years that followed, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s, more and more British colonies attained independence (within the Commonwealth) and therefore ceased to be colonies and became independent Commonwealth countries.

3 The Immigration Act 1971

On 1 January 1973 a UK immigration statute called the Immigration Act 1971 came into force and it created an immigration status called the "right of abode in the UK". The Immigration Act 1971 expressed certain CUKCs and other Commonwealth citizens as having the right of abode in the UK and stated that only those with such right would be free to come and go without being subject to UK immigration controls. Immigration controls for certain British nationals had in fact first been introduced in 1962 but it was the Immigration Act 1971 that devised the status known as the right of abode. This means that not all people with the prime British nationality were equal; for some it meant an entitlement to enter, reside in and depart from the UK at will while for others it meant little more than a passport facility as they were no more able to enter and reside in the UK than other overseas nationals.

4 The British Nationality Act 1981

On 1 January 1983 the British Nationality Act 1948 was replaced by the British Nationality Act 1981. The 1981 Act abolished citizenship of the UK and Colonies and replaced it with three new citizenships: British citizenship, British Dependent Territories citizenship and British Overseas citizenship. All those who had been CUKCs with the right of abode became British citizens and the Immigration Act 1971 was amended as of 1 January 1983 to read that all British citizens had the right of abode. As for the remaining CUKCs, those who had become CUKCs by virtue of a connection with a place which continued to be a colony on 1 January 1983 became British Dependent Territories citizens (BDTCs) and the rest became British Overseas citizens (BOCs). The only way a BDTC or BOC could acquire the right of abode is by acquiring British citizenship itself.

5 Acquisition of British citizenship

The British Nationality Act 1981 is still the governing statute (though there have been quite a number of Acts of parliament amending or supplementing it - particularly in relation to Hong Kong). In addition to providing for people who were CUKCs on 31 December 1982 automatically to become British citizens, BDTCs or BOCs on 1 January 1983, the Act also includes provisions enabling British citizenship to be acquired after 1 January 1983 by birth, descent and grant.

a) By Birth

As for British citizenship by birth, anyone born in the UK under the 1981 Act is a British citizen if at the time of birth either parent of that child is a British citizen or settled in the UK (but children must still be legitimate where they rely on such a father).

b) By Descent

As for the acquisition of British citizenship by descent, the general rule is that a person born abroad becomes a British citizen by descent if at the time of birth either parent is a British citizen otherwise than by descent (again, subject to legitimacy where they rely on such a father).

c) By Registration or Naturalisation

As for acquisition by grant, there are two processes: one is called registration and the other is called naturalisation. Naturalisation is the most commonly used process and it is reserved for adults. Registration is used in a wide variety of special circumstances and most importantly is the normal form of grant in respect of minors (ie persons who are not yet 18 years of age and therefore not adults). An important exception to the general rule that adults naturalise while minors register is that any person who has any form of British nationality (using that term at its widest) may register instead of naturalising. The hallmark of naturalisation is that it is wholly discretionary whereas many forms of registration are by entitlement. The registration available to British nationals (like the BDTCs and BOCs who came into existence on 1 January 1983) is an entitlement rather than discretionary.

As far as the registration of minors is concerned, the British Nationality Act 1981 simply provides that the Secretary of State has the discretion to register any minor as British if he thinks fit. It therefore remains for the Secretary of State to decide how to exercise that discretion.

However, as far as naturalisation is concerned, the statute gives a lot of detail, generally providing that there are a number of requirements that must be satisfied and once they are satisfied the Secretary of State may then decide whether it would be appropriate to naturalise the individual.

The naturalisation requirements are reduced in respect of applicants who at the time of application have a British citizens spouse. The full catalogue of requirements, however, can be grouped into four categories: residence, intention, language and good character.

Dealing with the simplest of these first, the language requirement is a requirement to speak sufficient English (or Scottish or Welsh Gaelic). The good character requirement is, as it sounds, a requirement which requires applicants to be of good character and therefore applicants may be in difficulties if they have recent and/or serious convictions. They will also be expected to be completely up to date with any financial obligations towards the state. Regarding the intention requirement, this is a requirement to have at least one's main home in the UK in the event of being naturalised. However, there is an alternative where the applicant is going to be entering or continuing in the service of an overseas company which is "established in the UK". Quite a few cases turn upon the resolution of this tricky issue.

As for the residence requirement, it is that the applicant is in the UK at the beginning of a 5 year period beginning with the date of application and that during those 5 years he or she is not absent for more than 450 days in total, not more than 90 of those 450 days falling during the final 12 month period. Further, the applicant must have no time restrictions on his stay in the UK for at least the final 12 months and must not at any time during the 5 years have been in the country in breach of immigration laws.

The British Nationality Act 1981 also retains BPP status and one of the subsequent Acts of parliament introduced (in respect of Hong Kong) a new status called British National (Overseas) ("BN(O)"). This means that at the present time the British nationalities in existence are: British citizens, BDTCs, BOCs, BPPs, BN(O)s and, not yet referred to in this article, various types of "British subjects under the 1981 Act". One might add to this "citizens of the independent Commonwealth countries", although ever since they became a category formally referred to by British nationality law they have been losing their privileged status and have really become virtually on a par with aliens.

This article has barely begun to scratch the surface of British nationality law and yet already it is clear that this is a confused and complex subject. Will it become any clearer in the near future? Well, in Spring 1999 the UK government announced an intention to extend British citizenship to the remaining colonies (to become called Overseas Territories) and earlier announced an intention to move away from a strict arithmetic calculation of days in and days out of the country when considering the residence requirements of naturalisation and registration. However, these proposals are not straight forward so it remains to be seen whether this makes it simpler or yet more complex!

© Copyright Gherson & Co

http://www.gherson.com/news.php3?article=nationality

THE BRITISH NATIONALITY ACT, 1981


The British Nationality Act came into force on 1 January 1983.

It replaced citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies with three separate citizenships: -
British citizenship, for people closely connected with the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man; British Dependent Territories citizenship, for people connected with the dependencies; British Overseas citizenship, for those citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies who do not have these connections with either the United Kingdom or the dependencies.



The booklet has been produced to help answer some of the queries which may arise on British citizenship but it is only a general guide and has no legal authority as an interpretation of the Act.

12 questions and answers about British Citizenship:

Q1 What is British Citizenship?
This is citizenship for people closely connected with the United Kingdom, including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. British Citizens have the right to live here permanently and are free to leave and re-enter the United Kingdom at any time.

Q2 Who became British Citizens on 1 January 1983?
People became British Citizens (see Note 3) if they were citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies on 31 December 1982 and had the right of abode, that is, could live in, leave and re-enter the United Kingdom freely under the Immigration Act 1971 (see Note 2). If you were in this position and you held a standard British passport, the page of that passport would normally say ‘Holder has the right of abode in the United Kingdom’. Otherwise, you can check your position from Note 2.

Q3 If people were citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies on 31 December 1982 but did not become British Citizens, what citizenship do they possess and will they be able to acquire British citizenship?
They will have become either Dependent Territories citizens (if they have connections with the dependent territories (see Note 3) through their own or a parent’s or grandparent’s birth, registration or naturalisation there); or they will have become British Overseas citizens. Both these groups of citizens may be entitled to registration as British Citizens, usually on completion of five years legal residence in the United Kingdom. This period of residence can begin either before or after 1 January 1983.

Q4 Will a child born in the United Kingdom on or after 1 January 1983 be a British Citizen? (see Chart A)
He or she will be British Citizen if one of his or her parents (see Note 4) is a British Citizen. It does not matter how the parent concerned became a British Citizen or whether he or she is such citizen by birth, adoption, descent, naturalisation or registration. If neither parent is a British Citizen, the child will still be a British citizen if one of his or her parents is settled here (see Note 5). If neither of the child’s parents is a British Citizen and neither is settled in the United Kingdom, then the child will not be a British Citizen at birth.

Q5 Will a child who is born in the United Kingdom on or after 1 January 1983, neither of whose parents is a British citizen or settled in the United Kingdombe able to acquire British citizenship?
Yes. If one or other of the parents subsequently becomes a British Citizen or becomes settled in the United Kingdom, the child will have an entitlement to registration as a British citizen but the application must be made before the child reaches the age of 18;

or If the child lives in the United Kingdom for the first 10 years of his or her life and is not absent more than 90 days in any one of those years, he or she will have an entitlement to registration as a British citizen. There is no time by which the application must be made; If the child is a British Dependent Territories citizen, a British Overseas citizen, a British High Commission subject under the 1981 Act or a British protected person, he or she will have an entitlement to registration as a British citizen if he or she lives legally in the United Kingdom for 5 years and is not absent during those 5 years for more than 450 days and if he or she is not absent during the last 12 months of those 5 years for more than 90 days. There is not time limit by which the application must be made.

Q6 Will a child born on or after 1 January 1983 outside the United Kingdom be a British citizen?
Yes, if (a) one of his or her parents is a British citizen otherwise than by descent (e.g. by birth, adoption, registration or naturalisation in the United Kingdom). The child will be a British citizen by descent;

or (b) one of his or her parents is a British citizen in Crown service under the Government of the United Kingdom at the time of the birth or in service which has been designated as closely associated with Her Majesty’s Government’s activities outside the United Kingdom, provided the parent was recruited for service (of either kind) in the United Kingdom. The child will be British Citizen otherwise than by descent;

or (c) one of his or her parents is a British Citizen serving outside the United Kingdom under European Community institution at the time of the birth, provided the parent was recruited in a country which was a member of the European Communities at the time of the recruitment. The child will be a British citizen otherwise than by descent.

Women will pass on citizenship on equal terms with men to their children born abroad on or after 1 January 1983. (This does not apply to children born before 1 January 1983.)

If a child born abroad is not a British citizen at birth, registration as a British citizen may be possible. Enquiries should be sent to the Home Office at the address given on page 7 of the booklet or, if your are living overseas, to your nearest Embassy, Consulate or High Commission.

Q7 What will be the nationality of a child who is not born a British citizen but who has been legally adopted in the United Kingdom by a British citizen?
He or she will automatically become a British citizen from the date the court makes the adoption order.

Q8 Is everyone who came to the United Kingdom on a British passport still British?
No. Someone who came to the United Kingdom on a British passport and whose country of origin has since become independent is probably a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies (before 1 January 1983) or British Dependent Territories citizenship (after 1 January 1983). In this case, if he or she wishes to become a British Citizen, an application will have to be made. There are, however, two exceptions: people who came here as citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies from Antigua and Barbuda and from Belize will have remained citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies if, on the dates of independence of those territories, they had been settled in the United Kingdom for five years or more.

Q9 How can a person who is not a British Citizen become one? (see Chart B)
There are two ways:

1. Registration

Commonwealth citizens and citizens of the Republic of Ireland will, for a period, be entitled to registration if:

They have been settled in the United Kingdom since before 1 January 1973. They should apply before 1 January 1988 (or, if they were under 18 on a1 January 1983, within 5 years of becoming 18).

Commonwealth citizens who had the right of abode on 1 January 1983, and still have it, will, for a period, be entitled to registration if: they had been ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom for 5 years or more on 1 January 1983 and on the date of application. In this case they should apply before 1 January 1988; or they were ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom on 31 December 1982. In this case they should apply when they have been ordinarily resident for 5 years, but the application should be made before 1 January 1989.


A woman who was married before 1 January 1983 to a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies who became a British citizen if she is still married to the man concerned and he remains a British citizen. She should apply before 1 January 1988. If the marriage has ended because of divorce or the death of the husband, or if the husband has renounced his citizenship, the woman would have been entitled to registration as a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies until 31 December 1982 but lost her entitlement to registration on 1 January 1983. But she may still be registered if the Home Secretary agrees. Again she should apply before 1 January 1988.

Applications subject to a time limit will be considered after the final date provided they were received before that date.

People who became British Dependent Territories citizens, British Overseas citizens, British subjects under the 1981 Act or British protected persons may apply for registration as British citizens, usually on completion of five years residence in the United Kingdom. This period of residence in the United Kingdom. This period of residence can begin either before or after 1 January 1983.

2. Naturalisation

Foreign nationals may make applications for the grant of a certificate or naturalisation. This applies also to those Commonwealth citizens and citizens of the Republic of Ireland who are not entitled to registration. The conditions are:

five years legal residence in the United Kingdom (the last year of which must have been spent free of any time limit); full age (18 or over) and not of unsound mind; good character; sufficient knowledge of English, Welsh or Scottish Gaelic; and an intention to remain closely connected with the United Kingdom. (The language requirement may be waived on grounds of age or physical or mental condition.)



The wife or husband of a British citizen may apply for naturalisation after completing three years legal residence in the United Kingdom;

the application’s stay must not be subject to any time limit on the date of application; the applicant must be 18 or over and not of unsound mind, but does not have to meet the requirements to have sufficient knowledge of the language and to intend to live in the United Kingdom once naturalised; but he or she must be of good character.



To meet thee residence requirements you must not be absent from the United Kingdom for more than 450 days over the 5 year period or for more than 270 days over the 3-year period. In each case you must not be absent for more than 90 days in the last year of the period.

Q10 Will the registration of children born before 1 January 1983 out side the United Kingdom to mothers born in the United Kingdom continue?
Yes. They have no entitlement but may still be registered, if the Home Secretary agrees. Application must be made before they reach the age of 18.

Q11 How does the Act affect people who have settled here but do not wish to become British citizen?
The Act does not alter the position under the immigration laws of anyone who is lawfully settled here. Neither does the Act affect civic rights, such as the right to vote or stand in elections.

Q12 Will the law still allow people to have more than one nationality?
Yes. But the law of your original country may provide for the loss of its citizenship by anyone who acquires our citizenship. This should be checked with the authorities of the country concerned.

If you are still not sure about your position, write to : -
The Home Office
Nationality Division
Lunar House
40 Wellesley Road
CROYDON
Surrey
CR9 2 BY

Make sure you give: -
1 Date and place of your birth.
2 Date and place of your father’s birth.
3 Date and place of your mother’s birth.
4 Date and place of your marriage (if applicable).
5 Date and place of your wife’s or husband’s birth (if applicable).
6 Date and place of your first entry to the United Kingdom.
7 Your present nationality, as recorded in your passport if you have one.
8 The reference number of any previous correspondence with the Home Office.

Notes
1. British Citizens at 1 January 1983

These include persons who acquired citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies by reason of their registration under section 12(6) of the British Nationality Act 1948 in an independent Commonwealth country by the British High Commissioner and whole male ancestor on whom the applications was based was born or naturalised in the United Kingdom and Colonies.

Formerly stateless persons who were registered as citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies under section 1(1)(a) of the British Nationality (No.2) Act 1964 are not British citizens unless their mothers became British citizens (or would have done but for their deaths) or unless, on 31 December 1982, they had the right of abode in the United Kingdom by reason of five years residence there.

2. Right of abode (under the Immigration Act 1971)
This was held by the following:


a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies born, adopted, naturalised or registered* in the United Kingdom;
a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies born to or legally adopted by a parent who at the time of the birth or adoption was a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies born, adopted, naturalised or registered* in the United Kingdom;
a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies born to or legally adopted by a parent who at the time of the birth was a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies, that parent having been himself or herself born to a parent who was at the time of that birth a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies born, adopted, naturalised or registered* in the United Kingdom;
a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies who has been ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom for five years or more without being subject under the immigration laws to any restriction on the period for which he or she may remain;

The right of abode is, however, not held by
a woman who was registered under section 6(2) of the British Nationality Act 1948 on or after 28 October 1971 except by virtue of a marriage which took place before that date unless her husband has the right of abode, or
a minor child who was registered under section 7 of the British Nationality Act 1949 in an independent Commonwealth country by the British High Commissioner on or after 28 October 1971.
a Commonwealth citizen born to or legally adopted by a parent who at the time of the birth or adoption was a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies born in the United Kingdom;
a woman who is a Commonwealth citizen and is or was the wife of a man with the right of above;
a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies registered* under the provisions of section 8(2) of the British Nationality Act 1948 in an independent Commonwealth country by the British High Commissioner.

3. Dependent Territories


Anguilla, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands and Dependencies, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Montserrat, Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, St Christopher Stacey and Nevis, St Helena and Dependencies, the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Virgin Islands.

4. Parents
Only a legitimate child can derive British citizenship from the father. However, if the parents of a child born out of the wedlock in the United Kingdom subsequently marry and the marriage legitimates the child, then if the father was a British citizen (or settled) when the child was born, the child would become a British citizen (or settled) when the child was born, the child would become a British citizen and would be regarded as having been one from the birth.

5. Settled
This means ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom without being subject under the immigration laws to any restriction on the period for which you may remain. No one can be regarded as ordinarily resident if here in breach of the immigration laws. Nor are certain people regarded as settled even though they are exempt from immigration control: these are certain members of diplomatic or consular missions, or members of visiting forces, or of international organisations.

CHART A
What will be the citizenship of people born in the United Kingdom? Was person born before 1 January 1983

Person will become a British citizen automatically unless father was a foreign diplomat or parent a consul.

Yes/No


Was one of the parents* a British citizen at the time of the person’s birth?

Person will be a British citizen automatically.

Yes/No


Was one of the parents* settled in this country at the time of the person’s birth?

Person will be a British citizen automatically

Yes/No


Has one of the parents* subsequently become either a British citizen or settled in the United Kingdom?

Person will be entitled to be registered as a British citizen while a minor.

Yes/No


Has the person lived in the United Kingdom for the first ten years of his or her life?

Person will be entitled to be registered as a British citizen at any time.

Yes/No


Was the person adopted in a United Kingdom court by a British citizen

Person will be a British citizen from the date of the adoption order.

Yes/No


Is the person stateless?

A person between the age of 10 and 22 may-be eligible to apply for registration in the United Kingdom. If the person is over 22 the only avenue to British citizenship is naturalisation.

Yes/No




An application may be made while the person is a minor for registration as a British citizen at the discretion of the Home Secretary. If the person is an adult the only avenue to British citizenship is naturalisation.

Only a legitimate child can derive British citizenship from the father.
A stateless person born in the United Kingdom to a parent who is a British Dependent Territories citizen, a British Overseas citizen or a British subject under the 1981 Act will have the same status as the parent.

Early British Nationality Law
British nationality law has its origins in mediaeval times. There had always been a distinction in English law between the subjects of the monarch and aliens: the monarch's subjects owed him allegiance, and included those born in the his dominions (natural-born subjects) and those who later gave him their allegiance (naturalised subjects).

When the British Empire came into existence, there remained a single category of nationality: that of British subject. British subjects included not only persons within the United Kingdom, but those throughout the British Empire, in the colonies and the self-governing dominions (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and Newfoundland). The law on nationality was spread across many statutes, and much of it was unwritten.

This changed with the adoption of the British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914. This codified for the first time the law relating to British nationality. However, it did not mark a major change in the substantive content of the law. This was to wait until 1948.


British Nationality Act 1948
The Commonwealth heads of government decided in 1948 to embark on a major change in the law of nationality throughout the Commonwealth, following Canada's decision to enact its own citizenship law in 1947. Until then all Commonwealth countries had a common citizenship: British subject status. It was decided at that conference that the United Kingdom and the self-governing dominions would each adopt separate citizenships, but retain the common status of British subject.

Thus the British Nationality Act 1948 provided for a new status of Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKC), consisting of all those British subjects who had a close relationship (either through birth or descent) with the United Kingdom and its remaining colonies. Each other Commonwealth country did likewise, and also established its own citizenship.

The CUKCs and the citizens of the other Commonwealth countries retained under the 1948 act the status of British subject, for which the act also introduced the term Commonwealth citizen.

It was originally envisaged that all British subjects would get one (or more) of the national citizenships being drawn up under the Act. The remainder would be absorbed as CUKCs by the British Government. Until they acquired one or other of the national citizenships, or the citizenship of a foreign country, these people continued to be British subjects without citizenship. However, some British subjects never became citizens of any country, chiefly from Ireland, as a result of its withdrawal from the Commonwealth in 1949, and India and Pakistan, because the British Government refused to recognise their nationality laws, which did not provide for citizenship for everyone who was born in their countries. Thus, those who did not become Indian or Pakistani citizens were never absorbed as CUKCs by the British Government.

Immigration Act 1971
In the 1960s Britain was concerned with the threat of large scale immigration from its former colonies. Until the Commonwealth Immigration Act 1962, all Commonwealth citizens could enter and stay in the United Kingdom without any restriction. Successive acts restricted the categories who could enter freely, but those CUKCs who had passports issued by the British Government (as opposed to those issued by colonial governments) retained unrestricted access. The most notable group were the Ugandan Indians expelled by Idi Amin in 1968.

The Immigration Act 1971 created the concept of patriality or right of abode. CUKCs and other Commonwealth citizens only had the right of abode in the UK if they, their parents or their grandparents were born in the United Kingdom itself. This placed the UK in the rare position of denying some of its nationals entry into the country they are nationals of. (One consequence of this has been the inability of the United Kingdom to ratify the Fourth Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the right of abode for nationals, a right which is widely recognized in international law.)

However, this was recognized as only a temporary solution, so the British government embarked on a major reform of the law, resulting in the British Nationality Act 1981.


British Nationality Act 1981
This Act abolished the status of CUKC, and replaced it with three new statuses: British Citizenship, British Dependent Territories Citizenship (BDTC) and British Overseas Citizenship (BOC). British Citzens were those CUKCs who had a close relation with the United Kingdom (i.e. those who possessed right of abode); BDTCs were those with a close relationship with one of the remaining colonies, renamed Dependent Territories; while BOCs were those CUKCs that were not eligible for British Citizen status or BDTC status. This changeover occurred on the day the Act entered into force, January 1, 1983.

The act also retained the status of British subject without citizenship as British subject, while ending the use of the term for those British subjects who had national citizenship, though the term Commonwealth citizen could continue to be used in that regard.


British Protected Persons
The 1981 Act also continued another status, that of British Protected Person (BPP), which is not a form of nationality as such (BPPs were never British subjects), but a status conferred to citizens of states under British protection. It has recently been argued that since BPPs are not considered stateless, they must hold a form of nationality, and that nationality must be a form of British nationality.

British Protected Persons are those that had a connection with a former British Protectorate, Protected State, League of Nations mandate or United Nations Trust Territory. British Overseas Citizens, by contrast, are those that have such a relationship with former British colonies. (Protectorates, Protected States, Mandates and Trust Territories were never, legally speaking, British colonies.)

A British Protected Person, like a British Subject, will lose that status upon acquiring any other nationality or citizenship.

British National (Overseas) status
The Hong Kong handover resulted in yet another status: British National (Overseas) (BN(O)). Chinese living in Hong Kong prior to the handover had BDTC status. At the handover they lost this status and became nationals of the People's Republic of China. Some people in Hong Kong were unhappy about losing their British nationality, and as a result the United Kingdom created a new status that Hong Kong BDTCs could apply for.


The present position
There are thus at present six different types of British national (or protected person):


British Citizens
British Overseas Territories Citizens (formerly British Dependent Territories Citizens)
British Overseas Citizens
British Subjects
British Nationals (Overseas)
British Protected Persons

Right of Abode, i.e. the right to enter and live in the UK freely, is only automatically held by British citizens, as well as by those other Commonwealth citizens who were patrials under the Immigration Act 1971.
For the purposes of the European Communities treaties, the nationals of the United Kingdom comprise all British citizens, British subjects with the right of abode, and British Overseas Territories citizens by virtue of a connexion with Gibraltar. These UK nationals enjoy the status of European citizen in common with nationals of other member states of the European Union.


Recent Changes
The Labour Government of Tony Blair has liberalised the nationality laws in respect of some of Britain's nationals without the right of abode.

The British Overseas Territories Act 2002 changes the British Dependent Territories to British Overseas Territories, and British Dependent Territories Citizenship to British Overseas Territories Citizenship. This change is supposed to reflect the no longer "dependent" status of these territories, but may create confusion due to the close similarity between the terms "British Overseas Citizen" and "British Overseas Territories Citizen".

The Act also gives all British Overseas Territories Citizens the right to register as British Citizens, and thus acquire the right of abode, except those whose connection is to the military outposts known as the Sovereign Base areas in Cyprus. Until their successful claim against the British Government in the High Court over their eviction from their Territory, those connected to the British Indian Ocean Territory which houses the United States military base of Diego Garcia were to be excluded as well, but are now included. The anticipated accession of the whole island of Cyprus to the European Union will almost certainly make the sole exclusion of the Sovereign Base Areas untenable, as they would become the only Cypriots (as well as the only British Overseas Territories citizens) not to have the right to live and work in the United Kingdom.

The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 has also granted British Overseas Citizens, British Subjects and British Protected Persons the right to register as British citizens if they do not hold and have not intentionally renounced another citizenship. Previously such persons would have not had the right of abode in any country, and would have thus been practically stateless.

The Act has also extended the right to register as a British citizen to all those born of a British mother after 1961.


Acquisition of British Citizenship
British Citizenship can be acquired in the following ways:

By lex solis: By birth in the United Kingdom (excluding family members of foreign diplomats or consular staff)
By lex sanguinis (by descent): Children of a mother with British citizenship, or legitimate children of a father with British citizenship (provided the parent did not also acquire their citizenship by descent).
By naturalisation
By registration

Person acquiring citizenship by method (2) are called citizens by descent, while citizens acquiring citizenship by methods (1), (3) or (4) are called citizens otherwise than by descent. Only citizens otherwise than by descent can pass on their citizenship to their children automatically; citizens by descent can only pass on citizenship to their children by registering them.
Registration is a simpler method of acquiring citizenship than naturalisation, but only certain people are eligible for it.

Some persons are eligible for registration as citizens automatically, but this registration must be done before their eighteenth birthday: the illegitimate children of a father with British citizenship, children not born in the UK of citizens by descent, and those born of a mother who had CUKC status prior to the entry into force of the British Nationality Act 1981.

Commonwealth citizens holding right of abode, and British nationals without the right of abode who have indefinite leave to remain in the UK, are eligible for British citizenship by registration after 5 years residence in the United Kingdom.

While the British Nationality Act 1981 provides that both fathers (if the child is legitimate) and mothers can pass on British citizenship to their children, the British Nationality Act 1948 did not allow women to pass on their citizenship. The British Nationality Act 1981 remedied this in relation to children born from 1983, but did not grant British citizenship to those deprived of CUKC status by operation of the previous British legislation. Those persons so deprived could become citizens by registration, but only before their eighteenth birthday. However, a recent change means that all children of British mothers born since 1961 are now entitled to register for British citizenship. Those who remain excluded, while not British citizens, nonetheless continue to have the right of abode in the United Kingdom if they are Commonwealth citizens.