Making sense of the citizenship paperwork
The declaration I had to understand, and why declaring and regaining citizenship are different processes.
Prefer the short version? Read the step-by-step checklist for the documents and official links.
The citizenship paperwork was the part I had not understood when I first started applying for my ID.
I was born in Kenya and became British as a child. I knew those facts about myself, but I had not understood how they would fit into the application. I later printed and completed a dual-citizenship declaration, had it witnessed by a solicitor and handed it over at my ID appointment.
I wish I had understood that step earlier. It would have helped me prepare the right paperwork before concentrating on the appointment.
Declaring and regaining citizenship
The High Commission has separate pages for declaring dual citizenship (opens in a new tab) and regaining Kenyan citizenship (opens in a new tab). They describe different processes, and I would not choose between them just because someone’s story sounds a bit like mine.
The process I went through involved a declaration. I did not make a regaining application. That tells you what happened in my case; it does not establish which route another person needs.
If I were unsure about my own route, I would describe my circumstances to the High Commission before arranging witnessing or paying fees. There is little value in carefully preparing a form for the wrong process.
The evidence I used
My British citizenship document is a certificate of registration, rather than naturalisation. That distinction mattered when describing the paperwork I had.
I also had older passport evidence. As a child, I had been included on my mother’s Kenyan passport, so my history was not simply a sequence of passports issued in my own name. I used copies of that record during the application.
That is one reason I am writing this as a personal account. A short list saying “bring your old passport” would not have explained my situation very well.
How I submitted the declaration
After the declaration had been signed and witnessed, I took it to the ID appointment. I handed it over there. I did not post it separately.
There is an important difference between that experience and the instructions currently published: the High Commission’s declaration page (opens in a new tab) says completed declaration applications must be submitted by post. It does not confirm my ID-appointment route as a general option.
If you are preparing an application now, confirm the submission arrangements with the High Commission before planning to combine the two. I would ask what it needs for my circumstances, how the declaration should be submitted and what payment is required.
The next job for me was getting the signature witnessed. That meant finding a solicitor who could deal with the declaration, and leaving the signature blank until the visit.