Becoming a British citizen
Getting British citizenship gives you the right to live and work in the UK permanently, without any immigration restrictions.
You need British citizenship before you can apply for a UK passport.
Check if you’re already a British citizen
Some people are British automatically, without applying. You should check if you’re already British if you:
- have a British parent
- were born in the UK or a British overseas territory
- were born in a British colony before 1983
You don’t need to apply for citizenship if you’re already British - you can apply for a UK passport immediately. Find out how to apply for a passport on GOV.UK.
Check if you can apply for British citizenship
If you’re 18 or over and you migrated to the UK, you might be able to apply for British citizenship by ‘naturalisation’.
First, you need to get permission to live in the UK permanently - even if your husband, wife or civil partner is a British citizen.
This means having an immigration status that allows you to live and work in the UK without a time limit, like ‘indefinite leave to remain’, or ‘settled status’ from the EU Settlement Scheme.
If you already have permission to live in the UK permanently, you should [check if citizenship is right for you] - it can cost more than £1,300.
You also need to meet the eligibility requirements for your situation.
If your husband, wife or civil partner is a British citizen
You can usually apply for British citizenship immediately after you get:
- indefinite leave to remain (or ‘indefinite leave to enter’)
- settled status - from the EU Settlement Scheme
- a ‘permanent residence’ document - if you or a family member is from the EU, European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland
The EEA includes EU countries and Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
If you don’t have any of those, you can check if you’re eligible for either:
- indefinite leave to remain
- settled status if you or a family member is an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen
You’re better off applying for settled status than a permanent residence document if you or a family member is an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen. You can only get a permanent residence document up until 31 December 2020 - and you might not be able to use it to apply for citizenship after that date.
Other things you need to be eligible
You also need to:
- prove exactly how long you’ve lived in the UK for the past 3 years
- pass the Life in the UK Test
- prove you speak and understand English
- be ‘of good character’ - for example, you have no recent or serious criminal convictions, or problems with debts, unpaid taxes or immigration
Find out how to prepare for the Life in the UK Test, prove you know English and meet the good character requirement.
Proving you’ve lived in the UK for 3 years
You need to do this even if you already proved how long you’ve lived in the UK - for example, to get indefinite leave to remain.
You need to prove you were:
- living in the UK for the 3 years before you apply
- outside the UK for no more than 270 days in those 3 years
- outside the UK for no more than 90 days in the past 12 months
- in the UK exactly 3 years ago - on the same day of the year you apply
If you have settled status, you also need to prove you were in the UK ‘lawfully’ for those 3 years. Being in the UK lawfully means you were doing something allowed by EEA regulations - for example, working, looking for work or studying. Check what you need to prove in the naturalisation guide on GOV.UK.
If you have settled status and can’t prove you were in the UK lawfully, you should contact your nearest Citizens Advice before you apply.
If you’ve been outside the UK for longer
You might still be eligible if the Home Office caseworker processing your application decides to use ‘discretion’. There are guidelines for when caseworkers can do this. For example, they can ignore time you spent outside the UK for:
- up to 300 days in 3 years
- even longer in some cases - for example, if you travel frequently for work
Before you apply, you should check the naturalisation guide on GOV.UK for information about absences from the UK.
If the Home Office decides you’re not eligible for citizenship because of the time you’ve spent outside the UK, you won’t get your application fee back.
If you think you might not be eligible, you should contact your nearest Citizens Advice before you apply.
Find out more about eligibility
You can find out more about eligibility if you have a British partner on GOV.UK.
If you or your family are from the EU, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland or Liechtenstein
You can usually apply for British citizenship 12 months after:
- you get settled status - from the EU Settlement Scheme
- the date on your ‘permanent residence’ document, if you have one
If you don’t have either of those, you should check if you’re eligible for settled status. It’s free to apply and usually easy to get.
You can only get a permanent residence document up until 31 December 2020 - and you might not be able to use it to apply for citizenship after that date.
Other things you need to be eligible
You also need to:
- prove you’ve lived in the UK for the past 5 years (or 3 years if you have a British husband, wife or civil partner)
- pass the Life in the UK Test
- prove you speak and understand English
- be ‘of good character’ - for example, you have no recent or serious criminal convictions, or problems with debts, unpaid taxes or immigration
Find out how to prepare for the Life in the UK Test, prove you know English and meet the good character requirement.
Proving you’ve lived in the UK for 5 years
You need to do this even if you already proved how long you’ve lived in the UK - for example, to get settled status.
You need to prove you were:
- living in the UK for the 5 years before you apply
- outside the UK for no more than 450 days in those 5 years
- outside the UK for no more than 90 days in the past 12 months
- in the UK exactly 5 years ago - on the same day of the year you apply
If you have settled status, you also need to prove you were in the UK ‘lawfully’ for those 5 years. Being in the UK lawfully means you were doing something allowed by EEA regulations - for example, working, looking for work or studying. Check what you need to prove in the naturalisation guide on GOV.UK.
If you have settled status and can’t prove you were in the UK lawfully, you should contact your nearest Citizens Advice before you apply.
If you’ve been outside the UK for longer
You might still be eligible if the Home Office caseworker processing your application decides to use ‘discretion’. There are guidelines for when caseworkers can do this. For example, they can ignore time you spent outside the UK for:
- up to 480 days in 5 years
- even longer in some cases - for example, if you travel frequently for work
Before you apply, you should check the naturalisation guide on GOV.UK for information about absences from the UK.
If the Home Office decides you’re not eligible for citizenship because of the time you’ve spent outside the UK, you won’t get your application fee back.
If you think you might not be eligible, you should contact your nearest Citizens Advice before you apply.
Find out more about eligibility
You can find out more on GOV.UK about eligibility for citizenship if you have:
If you’re from a country outside Europe
You can usually apply for citizenship 12 months after you get indefinite leave to remain (or ‘indefinite leave to enter’).
If you don’t have either of those, you can check if you’re eligible for indefinite leave to remain on GOV.UK.
Other things you need to be eligible
You also need to:
- prove you’ve lived in the UK for the past 5 years (or 3 years if you have a British husband, wife or civil partner)
- pass the Life in the UK Test
- prove you speak and understand English
- be ‘of good character’ - for example, you have no recent or serious criminal convictions, or problems with debts, unpaid taxes or immigration
Find out how to prepare for the Life in the UK Test, prove you know English and meet the good character requirement.
Proving you’ve lived in the UK for 5 years
You need to do this even if you already proved how long you’ve lived in the UK - for example, to get indefinite leave to remain.
You need to prove you were:
- living in the UK for the 5 years before you apply
- outside the UK for no more than 450 days in those 5 years
- outside the UK for no more than 90 days in the past 12 months
- in the UK exactly 5 years ago - on the same day of the year you apply
If you’ve been outside the UK for longer
You might still be eligible if the Home Office caseworker processing your application decides to use ‘discretion’. There are guidelines for when caseworkers can do this. For example, they can ignore time you spent outside the UK for:
- up to 480 days in 5 years
- even longer in some cases - for example, if you travel frequently for work
Before you apply, you should check the naturalisation guide on GOV.UK for information about absences from the UK.
If the Home Office decides you’re not eligible for citizenship because of the time you’ve spent outside the UK, you won’t get your application fee back.
If you think you might not be eligible, you should contact your nearest Citizens Advice before you apply.
Find out more about eligibility
You can find out more about eligibility if you have indefinite leave to remain on GOV.UK .
Getting British citizenship for children
Your children might be able to apply at the same time as you. [Find out about getting British citizenship] for children.
Other ways you can be eligible for citizenship
There are some other ways you can apply for citizenship. You can find out on GOV.UK if you’re eligible as someone who:
- was born in the UK
- has a British parent
- is stateless
- has another type of British nationality (such as ‘British overseas citizen’)
- has a connection with a past or present British territory (such as Gibraltar)
If you‘re an Irish citizen
You already have the right to live and work in the UK permanently as an Irish citizen - you don’t need British citizenship to stay in the UK.
But you can apply if you‘re eligible. [Check if citizenship is right for you] before you apply - it can cost more than £1,300.
If you‘re a Commonwealth citizen
You might be able to apply to the Windrush scheme if you or one of your parents are Commonwealth citizens who arrived in the UK before 1973.
It’s free to apply, and you could be eligible for either:
- British citizenship
- an immigration document proving your right to live in the UK permanently
If you’re eligible for citizenship though the Windrush scheme, you won’t need to pass the Life in the UK Test or prove you speak and understand English.
Check if you can apply to the Windrush scheme.
If have ‘right of abode’ in the UK
‘Right of abode’ means you can live and work in the UK permanently, without immigration restrictions - you don’t need to apply for British citizenship to get this right.
You can prove your right of abode if you have a UK passport describing you as a ‘British citizen’ or ‘British subject with right of abode’. If you don’t have a UK passport, you can apply for a ‘certificate of entitlement’ to prove your right of abode.
You can find out more about who has right of abode and how to prove it on GOV.UK.
If you’re a Commonwealth citizen with right of abode
Most Commonwealth citizens with right of abode are already British citizens. This usually includes people who got right of abode through their parents. You can check if you’re already British and find out how to apply for a passport on GOV.UK.
You won’t be a British citizen if either:
- you’re described as a ‘British subject with right of abode’ on your passport or certificate of entitlement
- you got your right of abode through marriage
You’ll only have right to abode through marriage if you’re a woman who married someone with right of abode before 1 January 1983.
You might be eligible to apply for citizenship in some situations, but you don’t need it to live and work in the UK permanently. You should [check if citizenship is right for you] before you apply - it can cost more than £1,300.