Apply for UK Citizenship by Naturalisation- Application Process, Who Qualifies & Requirements

Obtaining British citizenship is a major life event. A British citizen can not only apply for a British passport but also participate more fully in their local community’s life. 

A person can be a British citizen by birth, while others may be able to acquire citizenship through registration or naturalisation. Adults aged 18 or over with immigration status such as ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain), ILE (Indefinite Leave to Enter), or Settled status under the EUSS (EU Settlement Scheme) can apply for naturalisation after holding their ILR, ILR, or settled status for one year. A Spouse (husband/wife) or civil partner of a British citizen can apply for naturalisation immediately after receiving ILR. 

Naturalisation is not an entitlement but a matter of law as set out in the BNA (British Nationality Act) 1981. The Home Secretary may exercise discretion to naturalise a person only if that person satisfies a number of statutory requirements. The Home Secretary may, in particular, refuse to grant naturalisation where the applicant meets the statutory requirements, but granting citizenship would not be in the public interest. For example, the Home Secretary may decide to refuse an application where granting it could result in having an adverse impact on international relations.

Before applying for naturalisation 

A person wishing to apply to naturalise as a British citizen should check whether the country, they are a citizen of allows dual citizenship. Before making an application to naturalise as a British citizen, an individual should seek advice from the country they are a citizen of. Some countries and territories do not allow dual citizenship, and a person may therefore lose or be required to give up their existing nationality to become a British citizen.  

If their country continues to recognise them as one of its citizens, they may continue to be subject to the citizens' duties of that country when they are in its territory. One of those duties may include obligations to undergo military service.

Please note that an application for nationality does not provide any immigration status while it is under process. Applicant must ensure they have valid permission to stay in the UK until they have got a decision on their application and attended their citizenship ceremony.

Who qualifies for naturalisation?

Only adults (aged 18 and over) can apply to naturalise as a British citizen. Children under 18 may be registered as British citizens if they satisfy the relevant criteria. A child’s application can be made at the same time as an adult applies to naturalise. The applicant must also be of ‘sound mind’. This requirement is there to ensure that the applicant has the capacity to understand the implications of their decision to naturalise as a British citizen. Decision makers may use their discretion to overlook this requirement in certain circumstances, where they believe that doing so is in the applicant’s best interests. A person (P) applying on behalf of someone (S) who is not of sound mind and for whom the P is responsible, P should, at the time of application, provide relevant details of the medical condition of S and of their own role as their caregiver. 

The requirements for naturalisation as a British citizen differ slightly for a person applying on the basis of their marriage to, or civil partnership with, a British citizen.

Applying for UK Citizenship under BNA (British Nationality Act 1981) - Section 6(1), where the applicant is not a married partner or a civil partner of a British citizen

A person applying for naturalisation should meet the following legal requirements if they are not a married partner or a civil partner of a British citizen:

1. They are 18 or over at the time of application 

2. They are of sound mind and therefore understand the step they are taking 

3. They have resided in the UK for at least 5 years before they apply 

4. They must have been present (physically) in the United Kingdom (UK) (including the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man) on the day 5 years before their application for naturalisation is received by the Home Office 

5. They must not have been in breach of the UK’s immigration laws in their 5-year residence period prior to making their application. Where a person has been granted ILR (indefinite leave to remain) or ILE (indefinite leave to enter) or settled status under the EUSS (EU Settlement Scheme), they may be assumed to have met this requirement. 

6. They must be free from immigration time restrictions when they apply and for the 12-month period before they apply

7. They must normally not have been outside the UK for more than 450 days in the 5-year period before making the application  

8. They must normally not have been outside the UK for more than 90 days in the 12-month period before making the application 

9. They must intend to continue to live in the UK, or to continue in Crown service, the service of an international organisation of which the UK is a member, or the service of a company or association established in the UK 

10. They must have passed the Life in the UK test 

11. They can communicate in English (or Scottish Gaelic or Welsh) to an acceptable CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Language) B1, B2, C1, or C2 level 

12. They are of good character

Applying for UK Citizenship under BNA (British Nationality Act 1981) - Section 6(2), where the applicant is a married partner or a civil partner of a British citizen

If a person is applying under BNA (British Nationality Act 1981) - Section 6(2), they will need to provide the current passport or naturalisation/registration certificate of their spouse or civil partner showing that they are a British citizen, as well as the marriage or civil partnership certificate.

The legal requirements the applicant should meet before they apply are:

1. They are 18 or over at the time of application 

2. They are of sound mind and therefore understand the step they are taking 

3. They are a married partner or the civil partner of a British citizen when they apply 

4. They have resided in the UK for at least 3 years before they apply 

5. They must have been present (physically) in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, the Isle of Man, or the Channel Islands on the day 3 years before their application for naturalisation is received by the Home Office 

6. They must be free from immigration time restrictions when they apply 

7. They were not in breach of the UK’s immigration laws in their 3-year residence period prior to making their application. Where a person has been granted ILR (indefinite leave to remain) or ILE (indefinite leave to enter) or settled status under the EUSS (EU Settlement Scheme), they may be assumed to have met this requirement. 

8. They must normally not have been outside the UK for more than 270 days in the 3-year period before making the application  

9. They must normally not have been outside the UK for more than 90 days in the 12-month period before making the application 

10. They must have passed the Life in the UK test 

11. They can communicate in English (or Scottish Gaelic or Welsh) to an acceptable CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Language) B1, B2, C1, or C2 level 

12. They are of good character 

The exact requirements an applicant will be required to meet will vary depending on their circumstances.

The person will then need to live in the UK for one more year before they can apply for naturalisation, unless their spouse or civil partner is a British citizen.

People with pre-settled status under the EUSS (EU Settlement Scheme)

They may be able to apply for British citizenship if they can show all of the following:

• They have EUSS - Pre-settled Status

• They are from the EU, Iceland, Norway, or Liechtenstein and started residing in the UK by 11 PM (GMT) on 31 December 2020 (or they are the family member of such a person)

• They have 5 years of continuous residence in the UK, and in that time, they have been working (or looking for work for up to 3 months), studying, or they are self-sufficient

Good character requirement for British Citizenship

The good character requirement for naturalisation applies to a person aged 10 or over on the date of their application. Good character national policy guidance sets out the types of conduct of a person that must be taken into account when assessing whether they have satisfied the requirement to be of good character.

A person seeking naturalisation will not normally be considered to be of good character by the decision makers if there is information to suggest that any of the following apply:

• If they have not respected (in the past) or are not prepared to abide by the immigration and wider UK law, for example, they have been convicted of a crime in the UK or overseas, or reasonable grounds are present to suspect, which means it is more likely than not, they have been involved in a crime

• If they have been involved in or associated with acts like terrorism, war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, or other actions that are not considered as being conducive to the public good

• If their financial affairs have not been in proper order - for example, they have accrued significant debt or failed to pay taxes they were liable for 

• If they are of notorious behaviour and cast serious doubt on their standing in their local and wider community

• If they have been deliberately dishonest or have used deception in their dealings with the UK government, for example, they have made a false claim to obtain benefits

• If they have breached any immigration laws, for example, by overstaying their permission in the UK 

• If they have previously been deprived of British citizenship

Please note that what is mentioned above is a non-exhaustive list.

If the applicant does not clearly fall into one of the categories mentioned above, but there are doubts about their character, their naturalisation application still may be refused. They may also be requested to attend an interview for an overall assessment.

The new guidance in 2025 on the Good Character requirement for British citizenship applications

Applications for British citizenship made after 10 February 2025 that include illegal entry to the UK will ‘normally’ be refused, regardless of when the illegal entry occurred.

Previously illegal entry that had occurred in the preceding 10 years could be disregarded by the Home Office when considering a naturalisation application, where the person had been granted ILR (indefinite leave to remain) and no concerns regarding the person’s character had come up since the grant of settlement.

Changes in the assessment of criminality for applications made on or after 31 July 2023

Please note that criminality is the starting point of anyone’s good character assessment. Those applying for naturalisation on or after 31 July 2023 will normally be refused by the Home Office if they:

• Have received at least 12 months’ single custodial sentence in the UK or overseas

• Have consecutive sentences of at least 12 months in total in the UK or outside of it

• Are a persistent offender having a particular disregard for the law

• Have committed an offence in the UK or overseas which has caused serious harm

• Have committed a sexual offence or the police have recorded their details on a register

Suppose one of the refusal categories mentioned above is triggered. In that case, a caseworker can then move to consider whether an “exceptional grant” to the applicant is suitable if there are mitigating circumstances.

A person, on the other hand, must be refused naturalisation if they have received:

• A custodial sentence of less than 1 year

• A non-custodial sentence (for example, a suspended prison sentence) or out-of-court disposal recorded on their criminal record

And on the balance of probabilities, the case worker is not satisfied that the applicant is of good character.

Referees

An application for naturalisation must be endorsed by 2 referees. 

One referee can be a national of any country, but they must be a professional person.  The other referee endorsing the application must be a British citizen passport holder and either a professional person or aged over 25. 

Each referee must have known the applicant for 3 years or more. Each referee must not be

• Related to the applicant 

• Related to the other referee 

• Solicitor or agent of the applicant representing them with this application 

• Employed by the Home Office 

A person who has been convicted of an imprisonable offence during the last 10 years will usually not be accepted as a referee.  

Applying for naturalisation

An applicant must ensure they satisfy all of the eligibility criteria. They can apply for British citizenship by naturalisation themselves or through an agent or representative. They will need to use the form AN for this purpose.

They need to pay the application fee of £1,735. 

As part of the application process, all applicants are required to prove their identity by enrolling their biometric details (their fingerprints and facial photograph) at a UKVCAS (UK Visa Citizenship and Application Service) service point in the UK. However, the Home Office may be able to reuse their biometrics provided for previous immigration applications, such as an ILR application.

Then they have to submit the supporting documents required for a naturalisation application. The list of supporting documents includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• A document of identity, such as a passport or national ID card

• A marriage/civil partnership certificate (if the applicant is a married partner or civil partner of a British citizen)

• An eVisa showing their current immigration status in the UK

• Proof of their continuous residence in the UK for 3 or 5 years, for example, a Passport with entry and exit stamps, Payslips, P60s, or tax returns, Utility bills (electricity, water, gas), or Council tax bills.

• Proof of the knowledge of English, for example, an English language test certificate, a UK degree certificate, a degree certificate that was taught or researched in a non-majority English-speaking country, or a passport showing that they are a national of a country on the majority English-speaking country list.

• The pass certificate of the Life in the UK test 

After following all the steps above, a person can submit their application.

Application Processing Times

A person will usually get a decision on their naturalisation application within 6 months – but it may take longer. The Home Office will contact the person if they expected that it will take longer than 6 months to decide the application. 

The applicant might be asked to attend an interview where they will have to speak without an interpreter.

Citizenship Ceremony

If a person is granted naturalisation, they will be invited to attend a citizenship ceremony that is arranged by their local authority. During the ceremony, they will be asked to say either the affirmation or the oath of allegiance to the Monarch and the pledge of loyalty to the UK.

Following this, the person will be presented with their certificate of citizenship as a British citizen.

A person may be exempted from attending a citizenship ceremony if they are physically unable to attend it or their mental state would make it inappropriate for them to attend the ceremony.