Both sets of my grandparents were born in Scotland, I am Canadian. Would I be entitled to an British passport, which would enable me to work in Europe. Anyone have info re this?

Karen, I believe that one of your parents would have to have been born in the UK. It may also depend on when you were born. Try doing a google search for British Consulate Canada and all the info you need should be there.

I don't think so you will qualify as Karen said it would have to be one of your parents. My husband and I are both Canadian and are in the process of getting our Greek passports (both his parents emigrated to Canada about 30 years ago). We are hoping that we too will be able to live and work anywhere in Europe. Certain European countries are supposed to be fairly easy to get work permits for.Check with the consulate of the country you are interested in and see what their requirements are.

I believe you can get an Irish passport if one of your grandparents was born in Ireland but this does not apply to British passports. As I recall there are now a miriad of exceptions and restrictions for a British passport.

Pulled from the UK passport office website:<BR><BR>"British Citizen<BR>People became British citizens on 1 January 1983 if they were citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies on 31 December 1982 and had the right of abode in the United Kingdom on that date.<BR><BR>The most common ways for a person to become a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies before 1 January 1983 were:<BR><BR>By birth in the United Kingdom or in a place still a British colony.<BR>By naturalisation in the United Kingdom or a British colony.<BR>By registration as a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies. <BR>By legitimate descent from a father* to whom the previous conditions applied.<BR><BR><BR>*Prior to the introduction of the British Nationality Act, 1981, a person could not claim nationality from his or her mother."<BR><BR>Outrageous sexism. I feel like righting to my MP!<BR><BR>So I guess it looks like you need to have a British father.

Actually I still think I'm confused. Here's the Passport office web address:<BR><BR>http://www.ukpa.gov.uk

The above advice is duff. please ignore the passport office site and check out the position on <BR><BR>http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk<BR><BR>the Immigration and Dationality Department site<BR><BR>You can come to the United Kingdom to work as long as you can show that:<BR><BR>you are a Commonwealth citizen;<BR>you are 17 or over;<BR>you have a grandparent who was born in the United Kingdom and Islands;<BR>you are able to work and you plan to do so in the United Kingdom; and<BR>you can support and accommodate yourself and any dependants adequately without help from public funds.<BR><BR>You must get entry clearance for United Kingdom ancestry before you travel to the United Kingdom.<BR><BR>You do not need a work permit.If you arrive with a United Kingdom ancestry entry clearance you will be allowed to stay for four years. <BR><BR>After four years, you will be eligible to apply to live here permanently as long as you continue to meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules for United Kingdom ancestry and you have worked for four years continuously in the United Kingdom.<BR><BR>Hope this helps<BR><BR><BR><BR>

Sheila, I understood from Karen's original post that she wants to be able to work in Europe, not in the UK.

Yes, but she can only get the naruralisation after she's lived here 4 years. Sorry if I didn't make that clear.

If you have one grandparent born in UK, but neither of your parents was born there, you can only get a 4-year Ancestry Visa. It enables you to live and work in the UK (but not elsewhere in EU). After 4 years, you can apply for permanent residency, and after further one year you can apply for naturalisation as UK citizen. Only then will you be able to live and work anywhere in EU without visa or permit. Currently there's a long waiting list for naturalisation, and applicants usually have to wait a year or more before their case is considered, though sometimes you can speed up the process for genuine reasons (e.g. imminent posting by a UK company to another EU country). Hope this clarifies it.

A Commonwealth citizen with a British *parent* can get Certificate of Entitlement to the Right of Abode, which allows you to work and live in the UK with no further requirements. After three years of living in the UK with this Certificate, you can get a British passport and work/live wherever you want in the EU. The certificate is pasted into your Canadian passport (we had ours done two years ago). The Ancestry Visa for Commonwealth citizens with a British grandparent is more restrictive than the Right of Abode.<BR>If you want to live/work elsewhere in Europe, it can be done, but you should have a British lawyer with EU experience to set it up. Basically, you create a Limited in the UK with yourself as Director (you need to be able to live and work in the UK to set up the Ltd). You can then "employ" yourself elsewhere in the EU. We did this to live and work in France for a year. However, you will need an address in the UK (a cheap flat in the country qualifies), a UK bank account in the Limited's name, etc. I'm just giving the bare bones description, it's more complex than that, but it CAN be done.

Check out www.britainincanada.org.<BR><BR>Its an offical website. Also explains all the different types of passports and visas and allows you to download the forms.

Thank you everyone for your great information. It's a lot more complicated than I thought, but it certainly sounds possible. Yes, the eventual plan was to be able to live and work in Italy.Thanks again,