The Nationality Act, otherwise known as the British Nationality Act of 2021 is an Act that seeks to protect British citizenship and related rights by defining who may be a British citizen by reference to their nationality or citizenship of another country. In theory, one could become a British citizen through ancestry (or descent) alone, or through descent and/or union with a British citizen. However, there are certain circumstances under which one must have both of these qualities in order to meet the citizenship requirements under the UK Nationality Act. In addition, under certain sections of the Act one may be required to renounce any nationality, whether it is British or not, at the end of a period of residence in the United Kingdom.
Ashley Mateo was born and raised in the United Kingdom, and as a child was very British indeed. He earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Bristol and then began a career as a writer in London, working for various well-known agencies such as Hearst, Mac Donald and eventually representing Sotheby & Co. After several years working for them, he decided to pursue a degree in international relations at the University of Reading, where he began a fellowship and served for several years as an advisor in political and social research, before accepting a position as communications director of the British Council. It was in this capacity that he came into contact with the Nationality Act and was enthused by its provisions on national identity, and especially its rule that a naturalised British citizen must have been of the age of eighteen for the retention of citizenship. At the time, he was seventy years old, and so was eligible to apply for a national identity card.
Having qualified as a British national, Ashley Mateo applied for a national identity card under the Nationality Act and was refused permission. He did not present any proof of his age, and had never lived in the UK or had any other connection to the country, despite stating that he was born in India. He claimed to have been born in Guyana, though this was actually false, and that he had been in Britain for most of his life. He therefore lost his right to live in the country but was able to stay on as a British citizen by remaining in the country under the Nationality Act. In effect, Ashley Mateo was stateless, and therefore not a British citizen by birth. As a consequence of this rejection, he travelled to Guyana, where he made an application for British citizenship, which was approved.