British Citizenship by Naturalisation

To be eligible for naturalisation, you must be able to prove:

• You have lived in the UK continuously for 5 years and have been settled in the UK for at least 12 months (unless married to a British citizen)
• You can prove that you were in the UK exactly 5 years before the day the Home Office receives your application
• You can prove your knowledge of English
• You have passed the Life in the UK test
• You intend to continue living in the UK
• You are of good character
• You have not:
• Spent more than 450 days outside the UK during the 5-year period before your application
• Spent more than 90 days outside the UK in the last 12 months

If you are married to a British Citizen, you do not need to wait 12 months after receiving indefinite leave to remain to apply, you can apply immediately. 

In order to apply for citizenship, you will need to have been living in the UK for at least 5 years and have not broken any immigration laws (Home Office will make sure of this when you’re applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain -ILR). 

Time that doesn’t count as time spent in the UK for citizenship purposes includes: 

• being a diplomat
• member of a diplomat’s staff or household
• a member of visiting armed forces

You cannot have spent:

• more than 450 days outside the UK during the 5 years before your application
• more than 90 days outside the UK in the prior 12 months
• or have broken any UK immigration laws

You may need to apply for a Returning Residents visa if you have been out of the UK for more than 2 years since obtaining ILR.

You can apply once you have had settled status (ILR) for 12 months. If you are married to a British citizen, you can apply immediately after obtaining ILR. 

The fees charged by Home Office can be found on their official website here. 

You should get a decision on your status within 6 months of submitting the application. Please note, these timeframes are a guideline, and some applications do take longer to receive a decision.

Your spouse, partner and other dependants will need their own application if they meet the requirements. 

If your child was born in the UK after you acquired ILR, they may automatically be a British citizen.

Yes. You will need to make an appointment to give your fingerprints and have a new photograph taken. This will be stipulated during your application process. 

Your appointment will be made at a UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services (UKVCAS) service point. 

Yes. If you are aged 18 to 64 years old, you will need to pass the Life in the UK Test. If you do not pass, you will need to apply to extend your visa instead. You can reapply for ILR. 

If you had to pass the English Language requirement as part of your visa application, you will not need to pass this requirement again. You may need to show that you passed it previously. 

No. You will no longer need to pay the healthcare surcharge.

Yes. If your application is successful, you will need to attend a citizenship ceremony. You will receive information about where and when upon success.