(no subject)

[merrily]

I went to a very complicated party last night, and although my hangover has dissipated, I'm still feeling slightly emotionally stunned. It was a high-stakes kind of event--with burlesque--and I learned some stunning pieces of gossip. And then my boots broke, and I took a cab home.

I know it's childish, but faced with the two stunning pieces of gossip (both of which involve past lovers of mine who have made enormous decisions), I want to run away. Right now. I'm lonely, and I'd rather be lonely in Paris.

Has anyone on the flist applied for British citizenship before and could walk me through it? I qualify (my mum was born in Belfast), but the high commissioner's website is extremely confusing and I would like to run away with papers that let me stay until I get bored of being lonely in Paris, not until my three months are up and I have to start dodging immigration people.

Comments

[wedjateye.livejournal.com]

I have but it was a very long time ago. Back then you could only get citizenship if your Father was from the UK. If your mother was you could get a 'Certificate of Matriality' which cost more and entitled you to most of the same things (like staying as long as you wanted in the UK) but wouldn't let you vote or (I think) have a British passport. I know they changed it to get rid of the sexism but by recollection is that they didn't make it retrospective. That is, unless you were born after a certaine year, there was still the difference between mother vs father being born in the UK.

That probably hasn't been of any help at all but that's all I know.