British Overseas Territories citizen

British citizenship and nationality law
Introduction
British nationality law (History)
Nationality classes
British citizens British subjects (under the British Nationality Act 1981) British Overseas Territories citizens British Nationals (Overseas) British Overseas citizens British protected persons
See also
Commonwealth citizens British passports Right of abode Indefinite leave to remain Belonger status (in certain British Overseas Territories)
Law relating to former territories
Hong Kong Ireland Thirteen Colonies
Relevant legislation
British Nationality Act 1948 / 1981 Ireland Act 1949 Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 / 1968 Immigration Act 1971 British Nationality (Falkland Islands) Act 1983 British Overseas Territories Act 2002
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A British Overseas Territories citizen (BOTC), formerly called British Dependent Territories citizen (BDTC), is a member of a class of British nationality granted to people connected with one or more of the British Overseas Territories.

This category was created to differentiate between British nationals with strong ties to the United Kingdom and those connected only with an overseas territory (other than Gibraltar or the Falkland Islands), both of which groups had shared Citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKC) before 1 January 1983. The primary right of citizenship, that of abode in the United Kingdom, had been taken away from colonial CUKCs by 1968 and 1971 acts of Parliament, unless they retained it through a qualifying connection with the United Kingdom. Under the British Nationality Act 1981, which went into effect on 1 January 1983, colonial CUKCs (other than Gibraltarians and Falkland Islanders) without a qualifying connection to the United Kingdom became British Dependent Territories citizens (renamed British Overseas Territories citizenship in 2002), a citizenship which did not include right of abode anywhere; not even in the territories in which they were born (CUKCs born in the United Kingdom, Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands, or the Crown Dependencies of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man all became British Citizens, with right of abode in the United Kingdom).

Those with British Overseas Territories citizenship remained British nationals (subject to British sovereignty), but not British citizens (although British Overseas Territories Citizenship is a class of British nationality, it is not a citizenship of a British Overseas Territory or of the British Overseas Territories collectively as the name may imply). As the United Kingdom is a Commonwealth Realm, all British Nationals, including BDTCs, remained Commonwealth citizens, though free movement by citizens of other Commonwealth countries into the United Kingdom had ended with the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 (the British Overseas Territories are not members of the Commonwealth in their own rights, as it is a community of independent nations, one of which is the United Kingdom).

BOTC status does not give the holder right of abode in the United Kingdom, but since 2002, almost all BOTCs simultaneously hold British citizenship, except for those connected only with the territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, as well as those who have registered or naturalised as BOTCs since that date. Nationals of this class who are not also full citizens are subject to immigration controls when entering the UK. About 63,000 BOTCs hold active British passports with this status and enjoy consular protection when travelling abroad.^[1]