Information Section 30: Proof of right of abode
65.Section 30 makes a series of amendments to section 3(9) of the Immigration Act 1971 which relates to the means by which a person seeking leave to enter the UK and claiming to have the right of abode there shall prove that right. The documents which can be used for this include a United Kingdom passport describing him as a British citizen, but not a United Kingdom passport describing him as a British subject with the right of abode in the United Kingdom. These individuals are, instead, able to evidence their right of abode by production of a certificate of entitlement as mentioned in s.3(9)(b) of the Immigration Act 1971. Section 30, sub-section (1)(b) remedies this by adding the passport issued to a British subject and endorsed with the right of abode in the United Kingdom to s.3(9).
66.Sub-sections (1)(c) and (d) add to the documents which may be used as evidence the identity cards issued to British citizens and to British subjects with a right of abode in the United Kingdom under the provisions in the current Identity Cards Bill. This will enable these cards to be used for travel within the European Economic Area in the same way as other Member States' national identity cards are used now.
67.Section 30, by replacing section 3(9) in its entirety, removes the now redundant reference to a passport issued to a "citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies", as this category has not existed since 1 January 1983 when the British Nationality Act 1981 came into force.