British Overseas Territories citizens in the United Kingdom

British Overseas Territories Citizens in the United Kingdom is a term referring to individuals who have migrated to the United Kingdom from a British overseas territory; it could also include UK-born people descended of these individuals.

Despite being under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United Kingdom, British overseas territories are not part of the United Kingdom.[1][2] British Overseas Territories citizenship differs from British citizenship and does not automatically grant right of abode in the United Kingdom (except for Gibraltarians). All British Overseas Territories citizens (apart from those solely connected with the Sovereign Base Areas of Cyprus) were granted British citizenship on 21 May 2002, and hence should have right of abode in the UK. They can only exercise this full right of abode if entering the UK on a British Citizen passport or with a BOTC passport endorsed with a certificate of right of abode. A BOTC citizen travelling to the UK on a BOTC passport without a certificate of the right of abode is subject to immigration control.

According to the 2001 UK Census 27,306 people born in the 14 British overseas territories were residing in either England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.[3] The breakdown is as follows (the population columns do not count the same people, i.e. 9,000 people live in Montserrat whilst close to 8,000 Montserratian born people are residing in the UK, so before their migration the population of Montserrat would have been over 17,000):[3]

Territory of birth Population of territory
(Most recent) 		Population residing in the UK
(exclusive from previous column, 2001) 		Notes
 Anguilla 12,800 498 Up to 4% of living people born in Anguilla now reside in the UK
 Bermuda 64,482 2,986 Up to 4% of living people born in Bermuda now reside in the UK
 British Antarctic Territory 200 (staff) 0
 British Indian Ocean Territory 3,200 (military and staff) 19 Up to 1% of living people born in the British Indian Ocean Territory now reside in the UK
 British Virgin Islands 21,730 163 Up to 1% of living people born in the British Virgin Islands now reside in the UK
 Cayman Islands 64,948 369 Up to 1% of living people born in the Cayman Islands now reside in the UK
 Falkland Islands 2,967 1,044 Up to 26% of living people born in the Falkland Islands now reside in the UK
 Gibraltar 27,776 11,830 Up to 30% of living people born in Gibraltar now reside in the UK, see: Gibraltarians in the United Kingdom (many came to the UK during World War II as refugees. Others stay there after attending a UK university.)
 Montserrat 9,000 7,983 Up to 47% of living people born in Montserrat now reside in the UK, see: Montserratians in the United Kingdom (many sought refuge in the UK after the Soufrière Hills eruption)
 Pitcairn Islands 67 3 Up to 4% of living people born in the Pitcairn Islands now reside in the UK
 Saint Helena 6,563 2,355 Up to 26% of living people born in Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha now reside in the UK
 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands 11-26 (staff) 0
United Kingdom Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia 15,000 (almost half British military and staff) 0 (Cyprus)
 Turks and Caicos Islands 21,500 56 Up to 1% of living people born in the Turks and Caicos Islands now reside in the UK

See also

References

  1. ^ "Supporting the Overseas Territories". UK Government. Retrieved 8 November 2014. There are 14 Overseas Territories which retain a constitutional link with the UK. Most of the Territories are largely self-governing, each with its own constitution and its own government, which enacts local laws. Although the relationship is rooted in four centuries of shared history, the UK government's relationship with its Territories today is a modern one, based on mutual benefits and responsibilities. The foundations of this relationship are partnership, shared values and the right of the people of each territory to choose to freely choose whether to remain a British Overseas Territory or to seek an alternative future.
  2. ^ "What is the British Constitution: The Primary Structures of the British State". The Constitution Society. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 15 November 2014. The United Kingdom also manages a number of territories which, while mostly having their own forms of government, have the Queen as their head of state, and rely on the UK for defence and security, foreign affairs and representation at the international level. They do not form part of the UK, but have an ambiguous constitutional relationship with the UK.
  3. ^ a b "Country-of-birth database". Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Archived from the original on 2009-06-17. Retrieved 2009-07-04.