This morning I started the process to obtain 3 British Passports and 2 Irish Passports. The 3 British are for my grand kids and wife and the Irish are for my brother and myself who would like to move around freely in Europe without restriction if needed.
With myself having been born in England and the grandfather for my grand kids I thought it was going to be straight forward. It turns out ancestory citizenship only apples for those who were born between 1949 and 1982 so that will not help in this situation. It helps my wife whose Grandfathers were both born in the UK nd will automatically get her British passport.
I have employed an agency this time around and will not be doing the running around even if it costs me a bit more money. You only pay once they have obtained your passports or visas so they are not going to take you on as a client if they think you have little or no chance. I think it is well worth the expense of employing a professional on this as it took me just on 6 months to fight through the red tape earlier this year getting visas and renewing passports.
There is a way however as my daughter spent 11 years living in the UK and as crazy as that sounds qualifies the grand kids to claim citizenship. She spent 11 years in the UK whilst growing up and you need to have lived in the UK for 3 years to qualify for this. This to me is absurd and no wonder so many people can claim the right for UK citizenship.
Basically if the illegal migrants can last out the 3 year period then do they have the right to claim UK citizenship? The ancestory part does help you applying for a work visa and afford you a 5 year visa after which you then can apply for full citizenship.
The Irish passport is far simpler as my Grandfather was born in Ireland and thus being the 3rd descendant automatically qualify. I do not need it necessarily, but feel it is nice to have just in case. Later this year I will be travelling to Europe and this will help if I want to open bank accounts etc.
The aim is still to move from South Africa within the coming years to somewhere in Europe and is looking more and more likely to be Portugal. The UK has ruled itself out of the running after what I saw recently whilst visiting 2 months ago. I would rather stay here in SA if I had to be honest and choose between the two.
This move would not be about me however and is more about the future for my kids and grand kids which there is none in SA. This is the main reasoning getting everyone passport ready just in case the rules are changed and everyone suddenly misses out. Having the ability to travel legally opens up so many extra opportunities others do not have. The world is most definitely changing and not for the better.