And yet another independence referendum question ...

[richardj]

A question for all the Yes voters (and possibly some No voters)

If the people of Scotland vote for independence what is going to be the nationality rights of people who:

(a) Were born in Scotland, probably consider themselves Scottish yet live in England, Wales, N. Ireland on a permanent basis or currently live abroad and have a British passport and NO Scottish home address?

(b) For tens of thousands or more people who were born outside Scotland, and from England, Wales and N. Ireland - who consider themselves non Scottish yet live permanently in Scotland. Will they be eligible for a "British" passport, or will they then have to consider that their nationality is Scottish and have a Scottish passport?

Maybe you do not consider this a major issue if you are a Yes voter, but I have not read anything being mentioned about this simple little problem.

I do not have the answer unless we adopt a duel Nationality Passport - but would Westminster agree with that?

[PantsMAN]

Is this answered in the White Paper? Just guessing...

[squidge]

It is indeed answered in the White paper. It is a question which is often asked and which there is a clear answer to.


Short answer is -



a) Scottish Born Citizens living outside of Scotland will also be considered Scottish Citizens.

b) Any British Citizen living in Scotland on Independence day will be considered automatically a Scottish Citizen.

For both scenarios - The UK allows dual citizenship with any country in the world without having to give up your British Citizenship. There will be no need to make a choice - you can have either or both. Having dual nationality does not give you a dual nationality passport - you have a British one and a Scottish one. Here is the link
https://www.gov.uk/dual-citizenship



White paper says on page 271

" British citizens habitually resident in Scotland
on independence will be considered Scottish citizens. This will
include British citizens who hold dual citizenship with another
country. Scottish born British citizens currently living outside
of Scotland will also be considered Scottish citizens.

Following independence, other people will be able to apply
for Scottish citizenship. For example, citizenship by descent
will be available to those who have a parent or grandparent
who qualifies for Scottish citizenship. Those who have a
demonstrable connection to Scotland and have spent at least
ten years living here at some stage, whether as a child or an
adult, will also have the opportunity to apply for citizenship.
Migrants on qualifying visas will also have the option of applying
for naturalisation as a Scottish citizen.
The UK allows dual or multiple citizenship for British citizens.
If a British citizen acquires citizenship and a passport of another
country, this does not affect their British citizenship, right to
hold a British passport or right to live in the UK. The Scottish
Government will also allow dual citizenship. It will be for the
rest of the UK to decide whether it allows dual UK/Scottish
citizenship, but we expect the normal rules to extend to
Scottish citizens."

Hope that helps :)

[richardj]

Interesting Squidge, thanks for taking the time to answer my question.

[squidge]

You are very welcome :)

[Southern-Gal]

I emailed to find out the answer to this question.
The answer I got is in this thread.
But at the end of the reply there is a warning that anything I was told may be changed anyway :roll: so I am not actually sure the answer was worth having!

Here is a link to it. I started a thread on it.

http://forum.caithness.org/showthread.php?221204-Response-from-Scottish-Government-re-my-question-put-to-them.

Happy reading but do bear in mind anything you read is subject to change! :lol:

[squidge]

You are right Southern-Gal the answer says that everything is subject to legislation being passed and changes and additions may be made.

It's important when assessing whether something will or won't happen after a YES or NO vote that we apply the "is it likely" rule when considering anything that is going to happen in the future.

Is it likely that an Independent Scotland would refuse citizenship to British Citizens living in Scotland given their stated aims of growing the population and their inclusive civic campaign which has ensured that everyone living here has the right to vote? Nope it isn't.

Is it likely that they would deny citizenship to people born here but living elsewhere given their stated aim to be a fair and welcoming democracy? Nope, it isn't.

Is it likely that the rUK would treat Scotland differently than any other country in the world and deny British Citizens the right to dual British/Scots nationality? Nope it isn't.

Whether you choose one nationality or another or both is entirely up to each of us to decide. No one will be made to give up their British Citizenship and no one will be forced to take Scottish Citizenship.