Part 1: Nationality Chapter 1: British Overseas Territories citizenship Persons subject to immigration control: referral or assessment by local authority etc. Section 1: Historical inability of mothers to transmit citizenship
Overview: This section creates a registration route for the adult children of British Overseas Territories Citizen (BOTC) mothers to acquire British Overseas Territories citizenship
	Background: Before 1 January 1983 children could not acquire British nationality through their mother. While registration provisions have since been introduced to rectify this issue for the children of British citizens (section 4C of the British Nationality Act 1981), this was not changed for children of BOTCs.
	Subsection 1 inserts new section 17A into the British Nationality Act 1981 ("the 1981 Act"). This enables a person to be registered as a BOTC if they meet three conditions. These are that, had women been able to pass on citizenship in the same way as men: they would have been a citizen of the UK and colonies immediately prior to the introduction of the 1981 Act; they would have become a British dependent territories citizen under section 23(1)(b) or (c) of that Act; and they would have become a BOTC under section 2 of the British Overseas Territories Act 2002. The intention of these conditions is that a person who would have become a BOTC automatically, had women been able to pass on citizenship in the same way as men before 1983, will be able to register. Section 17A(4) of this provision removes the need for a person’s birth to have been registered under section 5 of the British Nationality Act 1948 had that provision benefited children of mothers. This change reflects the decision in the case of the Advocate General for Scotland v Romein.
	Subsection 2 provides that a person registered as a BOTC under new section 17A is a BOTC "by descent". A BOTC by descent cannot usually pass on their nationality to a person born outside of an overseas territory.