United Kingdom - Passport & Nationality - British Protected Person (BPP) - Bechuanaland

Listen to our RECENT WEBINAR where our two British nationality experts - Philip Gamble and Mishal Patel - discuss a family birth in Bechuanaland and its implications for claims to British nationality in the modern day.

A person who was born before 30 September 1966 outside of Bechuanaland to a father who was born in Bechuanaland will have been born a British Protected Person (or BPP) by descent. In some cases, this BPP status is retained after independence of Botswana on 30 September 1966. If this person is still considered a British Protected Person in the modern day - even if they don't realise it - it may be possible to upgrade this status to full British nationality.

The criteria for this solution is:

 - Candidate born before 30 September 1966;

 - Candidate born outside of Bechuanaland (now Botswana) in an independent country;

 - Candidate's father born in Bechuanaland.

MORE ABOUT BECHUANALAND

Bechuanaland was a British Protectorate up until its independence on 30 September 1966. From that point, Botswana became (and still is today) an independent Commonwealth country.

A birth in Bechuanaland gave the status of British Protected Person (or BPP). Upon independence, this BPP status was either retained or lost depending on the circumstances of each person. The rules as to whether a person became a citizen of Botswana or not were determined by the Independence Day arrangements and the new Constitution.

We have found several other British nationality solutions that arise from a birth in Bechuanaland:

British Citizenship by Double Descent (48-5(1)a Botswana)
British Citizenship by Double Descent (Bechuanaland)
British Citizenship (Bechuanaland Birth - Married to British man)
British Citizenship (Bechuanaland Birth)
British Overseas Citizen (BOC) - Bechuanaland Parent