Section 49: Registration and naturalisation under British Nationality Acts 1948 to 1965

British Nationality Act 1981 · 1981 c. 61View on legislation.gov.uk

This provision is repealed
It is retained for historical reference and may not reflect the law currently in force.

Part V: Miscellaneous and Supplementary

REPEALED on 1991-02-01.

The text below is the provision as originally enacted. It is historical and may not include amendments made before this status change. View the enacted source.

After the passing of this Act—

a person shall not be registered under any provision of the existing nationality Acts as a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies or a British subject; and
a certificate of naturalisation shall not be granted to a person under any provision of those Acts,

unless—

Any provision of the existing nationality Acts which provides for a person to be entitled to registration as a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies or a British subject shall have effect subject to subsection (1).

A person registered after the passing of this Act under any provision of the existing nationality Acts as a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies or a British subject shall be such a citizen by registration or, as the case may be, a British subject by virtue of that provision as from the date on which he is so registered; and a person to whom a certificate of naturalisation is after the passing of this Act granted under any such provision shall be a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies by naturalisation as from the date on which the certificate is granted.

The following provisions of the existing nationality Acts, namely—

in the 1948 Act, section 9 and, in section 10(1), the words from “and the person ” onwards ; and
section 1(2) of the British Nationality Act 1965,

shall not apply in relation to any application for registration or for a certificate of naturalisation under any provision of the existing nationality Acts, whenever made, unless the person to whom that application relates has been registered or, as the case may be, granted such a certificate before the passing of this Act.

In this section “the existing nationality Acts ” means the British Nationality Acts 1948 to 1965.

About this text

This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.