<P> The only exception to this rule were children of diplomats and enemy aliens . This exception did not apply to most visiting forces, so, in general, children born in the UK before 1983 to visiting military personnel (e.g. US forces stationed in the UK) were CUKCs connected with UK and would become British citizens in 1983, albeit as a second nationality . </P> <P> "British citizenship by descent" is the category for the children born outside the UK or an Overseas Territory to a British citizen . Rules for acquiring British citizenship by descent depend on when the person was born . </P> <P> A child born outside the UK on or after 1 January 1983 (or outside a British Overseas Territory on or after 21 May 2002) automatically acquires British citizenship by descent if either parent is a British citizen otherwise than by descent at the time of the child's birth . </P> <Ul> <Li> At least one parent must be a British citizen otherwise than by descent . </Li> <Li> As a general rule, an unmarried father cannot pass on British citizenship automatically in the case of a child born before 1 July 2006 . If the parents marry subsequent to the birth the child normally becomes a British citizen at that point if legitimated by the marriage and the father was eligible to pass on British citizenship . If the unmarried British father was domiciled in a country that treated (at the date of birth of the child born before 1 July 2006) a child born to unmarried parents in the same way as a child born to married parents, then the father passed on British citizenship automatically to his child, even though the child was born before 1 July 2006 to unmarried parents . Such countries are listed in the UK Home Office Immigration and Passport Services publication "Legitimation and Domicile". </Li> <Li> Where the parent is a British citizen by descent additional requirements apply . In the most common scenario, the parent is normally expected to have lived in the UK for three consecutive years and apply to register the child as a British citizen while the child is a minor (clause 43, Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009, effective from 13 January 2010). Prior to this date, the age limit was 12 months . </Li> <Li> Before 21 May 2002, British Overseas Territories were treated as' overseas' for nationality purposes . The exceptions were Gibraltar, British citizens under the British Nationality Act 1981; and the Falkland Islands, granted British citizenship following the Falklands War under the British Nationality (Falkland Islands) Act 1983 . Hence, children born to such parents on a British Overseas Territory other than those listed above acquired British citizenship by descent if they were born prior to 21 May 2002, while children born on or after that day on a British Overseas Territory (other than Akrotiri and Dhekelia) acquired British citizenship otherwise by descent as UK - born children . </Li> <Li> Children born overseas to parents on Crown Service are normally granted British citizenship otherwise than by descent, so their status is the same as it would have been had they been born in the UK . </Li> <Li> In exceptional cases, the Home Secretary may register a child of parents who are British by descent as a British citizen under discretionary provisions, for example if the child is stateless, or a second or subsequent generation born abroad into a British citizen family with strong links with the UK, or in' compassionate circumstances' . </Li> </Ul>

If you are born in the uk are you automatically british