With increased talk of independence locally, I mean to focus on the possible implications of this in my newsletter going forwards.
I am often asked by PRC holders / Belongers, etc. "what would independence mean for me?"
The answer is that it is difficult to know for sure. It's possible that, as a condition of independence, Bermuda would open up citizenship to a broader category of people, especially long term residents. However, it's also possible that Bermudian citizenship would be limited to Bermudian status holders only.
Typically, when a 'colony' has become independent in the past,
its citizens lost citizenship connected to the UK, if their only connection to British citizenship was via the colony. The UK has a special form of citizenship called British Overseas ("BO") citizenship (different to British Overseas Territories citizenship), that in the past has been given to people who did not become citizens of a country upon independence. BO citizenship does not come with any right of abode, and many countries require visas for BO nationals.
So one would expect that most Bermudians would lose their British / BOT citizenship, and instead become Bermudian citizens. Long term residents would also likely lose their British / BOT citizenship, with it being unclear whether they might become Bermudian citizens or be given some lesser form of British nationality.
One might expect that, if long-term residents did not receive Bermudian citizenship, then they should at least not lose any rights of abode that they have already acquired, but is a topic on which it is hard to speculate.
One interesting question is, if there were a referendum vote on independence, ought long term residents be given a say? There is international practice that independence referenda should not be limited to current 'citizens' but should perhaps include anybody with a strong connection to the territory. For example, in the Scottish independence referendum of 2014, all resident British, Commonwealth, and EU citizens were allowed to vote, despite the latter not usually being able to vote in national elections.
I will explore these topics and more in the coming months.