British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914

Procedure and Evidence

19 Regulations by Secretary of State

(1) The Secretary of State may make regulations generally for carrying into effect the objects of this Act, and in particular with respect to the following matters :—

(a) The form and registration of certificates of naturalization granted by the Secretary of State:

(b) The form and registration of declarations of alienage and declarations of resumption or retention or acquisition of British nationality:

(c) The registration by officers in the diplomatic or consular service of His Majesty of the births and deaths of British subjects born or dying out of His Majesty's dominions :

(d) The time within which the oath of allegiance is to be taken after the grant of a certificate of naturalization:

(e) The persons by whom the oath of allegiance may be administered, and the persons before whom declarations of alienage and declarations of resumption of British nationality may be made:

(f) Whether or not oaths of allegiance are to be subscribed as well as taken, and the form in which the taking and subscription are to be attested :

(g) The registration of oaths of allegiance:

(h) The persons by whom certified copies of oaths of allegiance may be given; and the proof in any legal proceeding of any such oaths :

(i) The transmission to the United Kingdom, for the purpose of registration or safe keeping or of being produced as evidence, of any declarations, certificates or oaths, made, granted or' taken out of the United Kingdom in pursuance of this Act or of any Act hereby repealed, or of any copies thereof, also of copies of entries contained in any register kept out of the United Kingdom in pursuance of this Act or any Act hereby repealed:

(j) With the consent of the Treasury, the imposition and application of fees in respect of any registration authorised to be made by this Act or any Act hereby repealed, and in respect of the making of any declaration or the grant of any certificate authorised to be made or granted by this Act or any Act hereby repealed, and in respect of the administration or registration of any oath : Provided that in the case of a woman who was a British subject previously to her marriage to an alien, and whose husband has died or whose marriage has been dissolved, the fee for the grant of a certificate shall not exceed five shillings.

(2) Any regulation made by the Secretary of State in pursuance of this Act shall be of the same force as if it had been enacted therein, but shall not, so far as respects the imposition of fees, be in force in any British Possession, and shall not, so far as respects any other matter, be in force in any British Possession in which any Act or ordinance, or, in the case of a Dominion specified in the First Schedule to this Act, any regulation made by the Government of the Dominion under Part II of this Act, to the contrary of, or inconsistent with, any such regulation may for the time being be in force.

(3) Any regulations made by the Secretary of State under any Act hereby repealed shall continue in force and be deemed to have been made under this Act.

20 Evidence of declarations

Any declaration made under this Act or under any Act hereby repealed may be proved in any legal proceeding by the production of the original declaration or of any copy thereof certified to be a true copy by the Secretary of State, or by any person authorised by him in that behalf, and the production of the declaration or copy shall be evidence of the person therein named as declarant having made the declaration at the date therein mentioned.

21 Evidence of certificates of naturalization

A certificate of naturalization may be proved in any legal proceeding by the production of the original certificate or of any copy thereof certified to be a true copy by the Secretary of State, or by any person authorised by him in that behalf.

22 Evidence of entries in registers

Entries in any register made in pursuance of this Act or under any Act hereby repealed may be proved by such copies and certified in such manner as may be directed by the Secretary of State, and the copies of any such entries shall be evidence of any matters, by this Act or by any Act hereby repealed or by any regulation of the Secretary of State, authorised to be inserted in the register.

23 Penalty for false representation or statement

If any person for any of the purposes of this Act knowingly makes any false representation or any statement false in a material particular, he shall, in the United Kingdom, be liable on summary conviction in respect of each offence to imprisonment with or without hard labour for any term not exceeding three months.

24 Form of oath of allegiance

The oath of allegiance shall be in the form set out in the Second Schedule to this Act.