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| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to provide for the acquisition of British citizenship by persons having connections with the Falkland Islands. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 1983 c. 6 |
| Territorial extent | United Kingdom, the Crown dependencies, and the British Dependent Territories |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 28 March 1983 |
| Commencement | 1 January 1983 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by | British Overseas Territories Act 2002,Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 |
Status: Amended | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
| British citizenship and nationality law |
|---|
 |
| Introduction |
| Nationality classes |
| See also |
| Law relating to former territories |
| Relevant legislation |
TheBritish Nationality (Falkland Islands) Act 1983 (1983 c. 6) is anAct of Parliament passed by theParliament of the United Kingdom on 28 March 1983. The purpose of the Act was to grantBritish citizenship to residents of theFalkland Islands, aBritish Overseas Territory in theSouth Atlantic.
Under theBritish Nationality Act 1981, a resident of the Falkland Islands was classed as aBritish Dependent Territories citizen (BDTCs) unless they also had aconnection with the United Kingdom itself (such as through having a UK-born parent or grandparent). This meant that Falklands-born British Dependent Territories citizens were restricted in their right to enter and stay in the UK.
The new Act conferred full British citizenship on the residents of the Falkland Islands, giving them more preferential status than that of other BDTCs, including BDTCs ofGibraltar (who, at the time, had to voluntarily apply for British citizenship). The 1983 Act had retrospective effect from 1 January 1983, the date on which the 1981 Act had come into effect.
The 1983 Act was passed mainly in response to theFalklands War, which was fought between the United Kingdom andArgentina over the sovereignty of the islands. The United Kingdom maintained that it would stand by the principle ofself-determination of allowing the Falkland Islanders to decide their own destiny. It had been argued[2] that the British Nationality Act 1981 had indicated British reluctance to hold the islands, as the residents were not legally full British citizens, and after the war ended in victory for the British, the 1983 Act was passed to clarify the United Kingdom's commitment to the islands.
The Act has been largely superseded[a] by theBritish Overseas Territories Act 2002, which granted full British citizenship to BDTCs of most remainingBritish overseas territories. However, the 1983 Act still governs nationality status for islanders born before May 2002.
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