Belonger status

Belonger status is a legal classification normally associated with British Overseas Territories. It refers to people who have close ties to a specific territory, normally by birth and/or ancestry. The requirements for belonger status, and the rights that it confers, vary from territory to territory.

The rights associated with belonger status normally include the right to vote, to hold elected office, to own real property without the necessity for a licence, to reside in that territory without immigration restrictions, and to freely accept employment without the requirement of a work permit. In general, to be born with belonger status a person must be born in a territory to a parent who holds belonger status. There are usually also some ways to pass belonger status to a child born outside the territory, but these are purposely limited, to minimize the number of belongers who will not live in the territory. In most independent countries, these rights would be associated with citizenship or nationality. However, as the British Overseas Territories are not independent countries, they cannot confer citizenship. Instead, people with close ties to Britain's Overseas Territories, all hold the same nationality: British Overseas Territories Citizen (BOTC). The status of BOTC is defined by the British Nationality Act 1981 and subsequent amendments.

BOTC, however, does not confer any right to live in any British Overseas Territory, including the territory from which it is derived. It is the possession of belonger status that provides this right. Acquisition of belonger status in a British Overseas Territory does not automatically confer BOTC, although most people holding such status are eligible for registration or naturalisation as a BOTC upon meeting the requirements of the 1981 Act. Similarly, it is possible to lose belonger status in a territory while retaining BOTC or British citizenship.

The British Overseas Territories Act 2002 also conferred British Citizenship upon BOTCs (other than those solely connected with the Sovereign Base Areas of Cyprus) which does provide for a right of abode in the United Kingdom. This conferral is in addition to their BOTC and was not reciprocal in nature, in that British Citizens did not receive any rights to reside in the Overseas Territories without permission. The act also changed the reference of British Dependent Territories to British Overseas Territories. This act was enacted 5 years after the United Kingdom relinquished sovereignty over its most populous dependent territory, Hong Kong, to the People's Republic of China.

In Hong Kong, the belonger status was renamed to permanent resident status in 1987. Only permanent residents, regardless of citizenship or nationality, have the right to vote, to contest in elections, to hold public offices, to freely accept employment without work permit requirement, to reside without immigration restrictions, and to the right of abode within the territory. (After 1997, the right to hold principal offices is restricted to those who are concurrently permanent residents and nationals of the Special Administrative Region, who have no right of abode in other countries. And the number of members of the territory's Legislative Council who are having foreign right of abode is capped at 20%.)

Belonger status in the BOTs

Belonger status in Anguilla

Anguilla Constitution - Section 80. Belonger status

Belonger status in Bermuda

The term Belonger appears in the Bermuda Constitution Order of 1968, "A person shall be deemed to belong to Bermuda" Unlike the UK BVI's the term is not used in Bermuda as those that are granted Status refer to themselves as Bermudians.

Belonger status in the British Virgin Islands

In the British Virgin Islands there are two forms of status: Belongership and BVIslander status.[1] The two forms of status overlap to some degree, although it is possible be a Belonger without being a BVIslander. BVIslander status is the 'senior' form of status and that is only conferred on those who have at least one grandparent born in the territory. Belonger status can be acquired in several ways, but generally it is granted as an honour (very rare), by naturalisation or it can be acquired after a qualifying period (three years at the present time) after marriage to a BVIslander. All BVIslanders and Belongers can vote, but only BVIslanders can hold a British Virgin Islands passport. It is possible to have BOTC status and be a Belonger but not a BVIslander if the person with BOTC status comes from another British Overseas Territory and has married a BVIslander.

The definition of qualifications for Belonger status in the British Virgin Islands is contained in section 2(2) of the Constitution,[2] and includes nine different methods by which a person may be regarded as Belonger:

  1. the person is born in the Virgin Islands and at the time of the birth his or her father or mother is or was—
    1. a British overseas territories citizen (or a British Dependent Territories citizen) by virtue of birth, registration or naturalisation in the British Virgin Islands or by virtue of descent from a father or mother who was born in the Virgin Islands; or
    2. settled in the British Virgin Islands; and for this purpose “settled” means ordinarily resident in the Virgin Islands without being subject under the law in force in the Virgin Islands to any restriction on the period for which he or she may remain, but does not include persons on contract with the Government of the British Virgin Islands or any statutory body or Crown corporation;
  2. the person is born in the British Virgin Islands of a father or mother who belongs to the British Virgin Islands by birth or descent or who, if deceased, would, if alive, so belong to the British Virgin Islands;
  3. the person is a child adopted in the British Virgin Islands by a person who belongs to the British Virgin Islands by birth or descent;
  4. the person is born outside the British Virgin Islands of a father or mother who is a British overseas territories citizen by virtue of birth in the British Virgin Islands or descent or who belongs to the British Virgin Islands by virtue of birth in the Virgin Islands or descent;
  5. the person is a British overseas territories citizen by virtue of registration in the British Virgin Islands;
  6. a certificate has been granted to the person under section 16 of the Immigration and Passport Act 1977 of the British Virgin Islands and has not been revoked under section 17 of that Act; and (without prejudice to the right of any person to apply for the grant of such a certificate under that Act) a British overseas territories citizen by virtue of naturalisation in the British Virgin Islands has a right by virtue of the Constitution to apply for the grant of such a certificate;
  7. the person is the spouse of a person who belongs to the British Virgin Islands and has been granted a certificate under section 16 of the Act; or
  8. the person was immediately before the commencement of the current Constitution deemed to belong to the British Virgin Islands by virtue of the previous Constitutions.[3]


The British Virgin Islands is extremely restrictive about conferring Belongership status on immigrants to the Territory. Under the leadership of Orlando Smith the Government formally committed itself to naturalising no more than 25 persons a year. This was maintained when Dr. Smith's NDP party was no longer in office.

Belonger status in the Falkland Islands

Belonger status in the Falkland Islands is officially referred to as "Falkland Islands status".

Belonger status in Gibraltar

As with Bermuda, the term itself has been supplanted by "Gibraltarian status".

A person is eligible to be registered as a Gibraltarian if they are a British national and:

Additionally, a person may be registered as a Gibraltarian at the discretion of the Government of Gibraltar minister with responsibility for personal status if they satisfy the minister that:

Belonger status in Turks and Caicos

A Belonger is an individual who is free from immigration restrictions in relation to the amount of time they may remain in the Turks and Caicos Islands, having acquired Belonger status under the relevant law. Belonger status is acquired by a person who:

Equivalent status

Belonger status of the former British colony of Hong Kong was changed to 'Hong Kong permanent resident status' on 1 January 1987. The name remains unchanged after the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1997.

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Belonger and Nationality Status in the Virgin Island (UK)" (PDF). Civil Registry & Passport Office, Government of the Virgin Islands. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  2. ↑ Statutory Instrument No 1678 of 2007, Caribbean and North Atlantic Territories, The Virgin Islands Constitution Order 2007
  3. ↑ The Virgin Islands (Constitution) Order 1976.
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