Renouncing British Nationality

We acted on behalf of a Chinese national in relation to an application for indefinite leave to remain on the basis of 10 years continuous lawful residence. This is because she wished to renounce her British citizenship and therefore, we made an application for indefinite leave to remain alongside the application for renunciation of the British nationality to make sure that the relevant department communicates that the decision on the ILR is reached at the same time or immediately after the renunciation declaration is registered.

Our client was a citizen of the UK and China and she was granted indefinite leave to remain and naturalised as a British citizen. Since naturalising as a British citizen, she continued living in the UK where she maintained her principal home and retained her Chinese citizenship despite the fact that China do not allow dual citizenship. She did not wish to renounce her citizenship of China because of her family ties to China and she could not easily obtain a visa to visit China as a foreign national.

On that basis we made an application to renounce her British citizenship and also an application for settlement. Another happy client who will now be able to remain in the UK indefinitely and still be able to retain her original Chinese passport.