Commonwealth Citizen

A Commonwealth citizen, which replaces the former category of British subject, is generally a person who is a national of any country within the Commonwealth of Nations.

In British nationality law, a Commonwealth citizen is a person who is either a British Citizen, British Overseas Territories Citizen, British Overseas Citizen, British Subject, British National (Overseas) or a national of a country listed in Schedule 3 of the British Nationality Act 1981. Note that British Protected Persons are not Commonwealth citizens. The list of countries in Schedule 3 at any time may not accurately reflect the countries actually within the Commonwealth at that time. For example, when Fiji left the Commonwealth in 1987 and 1990, its name was not removed from Schedule 3. This may have happened because the British Government at the time wished to avoid the consequences of Fijian citizens in the United Kingdom suddenly losing the benefits of Commonwealth citizenship.

Most other Commonwealth countries have provisions within their own law defining who is and who is not a Commonwealth citizen. Each country is free to determine what special rights, if any, are accorded to non-nationals who are Commonwealth citizens. In general, citizens of the Republic of Ireland and British protected persons, although not Commonwealth citizens, are accorded the same rights and privileges as Commonwealth citizens.