Gran falls victim to legal loophole
APPLICATION Frances, who lives in Canada, is awaiting a decision on her citizenship
THE daughter of a Scots woman is having to plead with the Home Office to grant her citizenship when it would be hers by right if her dad had been a Scot.
A year ago, we revealed that Frances Sullivan, 67, born to a Scots mum in Canada and then adopted, had been denied leave to remain in the UK.
Frances remains desperate to join her daughter, Molly, who has settled status and lives in England. But while the British Nationality Act of 1981 gives mums and dads equal weighting, it only applies to people born after 1983.
Scotland’s leading human rights lawyer, John Scott QC, said that is unacceptable.
He added: “They like to draw lines arbitrarily but it should not matter whether it was the mother or the father who was British.”
Frances was born to Catherine Collins, of Tharsis Street, Glasgow, on April 3, 1953 at the Salvation Army Bethesda Hospital, in London, Ontario, Canada.
She was brought up by adoptive parents who lived in Wallaceburg, Ontario, from about 10 weeks old.
Frances, now living in Vancouver, was refused entry to the UK last time she flew in to visit her daughter as she had not booked a return flight.
She felt so humiliated by her ordeal that she has not attempted to return.
She discovered the anomaly that favoured those with British dads earlier this year after applying for citizenship and is awaiting a decision, which the Home Office has said will be delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Frances said: “It’s hard to accept that if my father had been a Scot, I wouldn’t be at the mercy of someone making a discretionary decision.”
A Home Office spokesman said the 1981 act allowed women to pass on nationality status in the same way as men.
They added: “Adult children born to British mothers before then can still register as British citizens providing they meet our suitability requirements.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said that while immigration was reserved, it was sympathetic to those who had difficulties navigating the complex and “unnecessarily restrictive approach to family migration”.