Quote:
Originally Posted by PDLM  ... this would also be true of, for example, UK nationality laws. If I have a child here in Hong Kong the child will take the nationality of his/her mother and doesn't have the option of UK nationality unless and until they have lived in the UK for 3 years (the same applies to my wife). If I adopted a child they would keep their previous nationality unless they meet the same conditions.
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I am not sure that is true. Under UK Immigration Laws since 1983 a child will automatically claim British citizenship provided at least 1 of the parents (does not matter if mother or the father) is a British citizen.
According to HM Immigration and Nationality Department
From 1983
A child born outside the UK on or after 1 January 1983 will automatically acquire British citizenship by descent if either parent is a British citizen otherwise than by descent at the time of the birth.
Only one parent needs to be British otherwise than by descent - either the father or the mother.
An unmarried father cannot pass on British citizenship automatically in the case of children born before 1 July 2006. Although, if the parents marry subsequent to the birth, the child normally will become a British citizen at that point if legitimated by the marriage and the father was eligible to pass on British citizenship.
Failing the above, the child can be registered as British if it would have been British if parents were married and application is made before the child is 18.
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 years and apply for the child to be registered as a British citizen within 12 months of the birth.
For British nationality purposes, the Isle of Man and Channel Islands are treated as though they were part of the UK.
Before 21 May 2002, British Overseas Territories were treated as 'overseas' for nationality purposes. The exception was the Falkland Islands. For children born on or after 21 May 2002 in a British Overseas Territory (other than the Sovereign Base Areas of Cyprus) there is an entitlement to British citizenship on the same basis as UK-born children.
Children born overseas to parents on Crown Service are normally granted British citizenship otherwise than by descent. In other words, their status is the same as it would have been had they been born in the UK.
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. 