Implications Of The Privy Council's Decision In The ‘Belonger' Case

Bermuda's final appeals court has handed down its decision in a long-running case which had the potential to significantly change the landscape of immigration rights in Bermuda.

Michael Barbosa, who was born in Bermuda in 1976 to non-Bermudan parents, lost his bid before London's Privy Council to be classed as a 'belonger' under Bermuda's Constitution. As a result, he is denied various rights which are available to other people who were born in Bermuda.

Mr Barbosa, who has British Overseas Territory citizenship by reason of his birth in Bermuda, lived in the Azores between 1992 and 2003 but otherwise has lived all his life in Bermuda. He obtained a work permit on his return to Bermuda and was granted indefinite leave to remain in 2013. In 2007, he married his wife, who was born in the Philippines, and who became a naturalised British Overseas Territory citizen in 2014. He initiated proceedings in 2015 when he and his wife sought to adopt his wife's niece from the