FOR the majority of people born in the UK the right to British citizenship is automatic - for Irene Kaali it has been a seven-year battle.

The 24-year-old, who lives in Carlisle, was told she had no claim to British citizenship, despite being born in the UK and having never left the country.

This is because her parents were not on permanent visas at the time of her birth. They came from Tanzania to study here in the late 1980s and it wasn’t until after Irene was born that they became settled.

The British Nationality Act (1981) states that a child born in the UK on or after January 1, 1983, is a British citizen, if at the time of birth, either of his/her parents was a British citizen or settled in the UK.

As a result, Irene, who is originally from Bradford, was not deemed a UK national and was also unable to apply for a British passport as she approached her 18th birthday, when she was planning a trip abroad with friends.

Irene, a drama teacher at Caldew School, in Dalston, was told the only way should could become a British citizen was if she paid for it. Thanks to encouragement from friends she set up a GoFundMe page and was overwhelmed by the response which helped her raised the £1,243 she needed.

She recently found out her application had been successful and attended her citizenship ceremony at Carlisle Registration Office at Lady Gillford’s on Monday.

She told the News & Star “I’m ecstatic. I feel like I’m having a bit of an out of body experience. It doesn’t feel real. But it’s utter relief it’s done.

“It was a mixture of emotions because I’ve never not felt like a British citizen. It was weird being initiated into a club I always thought I was in. In that sense it was bittersweet but I’m still thankful for the experience.

“It is another one of those things in life that feels like a big hurdle and it feels impossible when you look at it from an outside perspective but I can’t say I regret doing what I’ve done now.

“I had a goal and an aim, something I was passionate about. I knew my intention, I knew where my heart was and I genuinely think that when you go into something with righteousness behind you, I don’t think you can really lose and this is proof of that.”

But it’s not been an easy process. She needed to collate numerous documents of evidence - school and medical records and anything with a date on it to show she had lived in the UK consistently since birth.

She also had to under go a biometric enrollment, which included having her fingerprints and a photo taken.

“It was frustrating. It was more the fact that I felt I had already gone above and beyond with all the documents I had to send off and I had to pay for some of those,” said Irene. “It was just the added stress of trying to find somewhere that did it and paying the additional £20 after more than £1,000 I’d already paid.

“At that point I felt I had no choice.”

Desperate to get her passport as soon as possible, Irene planned to send off her application on Monday afternoon.

“It feels weird. It feels so strange. It is something I have thought about for so many years so to actually be at this point is very surreal,” she added.

With an endless list of places she’s dreamt of visiting for so long, Irene has struggled to decided where she will go once she finally has her passport in her hand.

Initially she plans to work and travel and is hoping to land a job as a performer on a cruise ship. She’d also like to go on the first holiday she has planned with her friends as a 17-year-old and wants to meet her family in Africa.

While she is under no illusion the British Nationality Act will be eradicated, Irene hopes it can be modified.

“Now more than ever, at a time in the world where we are constantly striving for unity, it is so important that this law is re-looked at,” she said.

The former University of Cumbria student is keen to do whatever she can to raise awareness which is why she shared her story.

She and has joined forces with The Project for the Registration of Children as British Citizens (PRCBC), which works to help children, such as those in the care system, who find themselves in a similar situation.

Irene hopes she can be a role model to younger children and to show them great things can happen.

She said: “[Something like this] opens your eyes. So much goes on behind the scenes and its really easy to judge when you don’t have to go through that.

“It is a privilege to know I have fought for it and I have achieved something. It was also good for me to know there are people out there who are going through the same thing and be someone they can relate to. I had so many people reaching out to me to say they were going through the same thing. It makes you feel less alone but also gives you a drive and an intense desire to want to do more.

“It’s been difficult, long and stressful. Should I have had to do it? Definitely not, but I’m really proud of not just the fact that I achieve it but how I achieved it and the people I have reached along the way.”