Becoming a British citizen
This advice applies to Wales. See advice for See advice for England, See advice for Northern Ireland, See advice for Scotland
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 can check if you're a British citizen on GOV.UK.
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.
Citizenship isn’t the only way to live and work in the UK permanently. You can find out if citizenship is right for you before you apply.
Check if you can apply for British citizenship
You might be able to apply for British citizenship by ‘naturalisation’ if you’re over 18 years old and you either:
moved to the UK
were born in the UK
Naturalisation is the most common way to get citizenship if you were born outside the UK and don’t have a British parent.
Before you apply
You need to have permission to live in the UK permanently - for example, getting indefinite leave to remain or ‘settled status’ from the EU Settlement Scheme. You need to do this even if your husband, wife or civil partner is a British citizen.
You’ll also need to meet some other requirements. It’s easier to meet the requirements if your husband, wife or civil partner is a British citizen. There are different ways you could meet the requirements if you’re a citizen of a country in the EU, European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland, or their family member.
You should find out what status you need to have and other requirements that apply to you before you start your application.
If your husband, wife or civil partner is a British citizen
To apply for British citizenship you usually need:
indefinite leave to remain (or ‘indefinite leave to enter’)
settled status - from the EU Settlement Scheme
If you don’t have indefinite leave to remain or settled status, check if you’re eligible for either:
settled status if you or a family member is an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen - you might still be able to apply if you had a good reason for missing the scheme’s deadline of 30 June 2021
indefinite leave to remain on GOV.UK
Once you’ve got one of these things, you can apply straight away - as long as you meet the other requirements.
Check what other requirements you need to meet before you apply
You also need to have:
lived lawfully in the UK over the past 3 years
passed the Life in the UK Test
a qualification that shows you speak and understand English - unless you’re exempt
‘good character’ - for example, you've had 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’ve 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
You also need to make sure you were in the UK on the same day 3 years ago as the day you’re applying. If you weren’t in the UK exactly 3 years ago, it’s usually best to wait until it’s been 3 years since the date you returned to the UK and then apply. If you were out of the UK for a long time, talk to an adviser.
If you’ve been outside the UK for more than 270 days
You might still be eligible if the Home Office decide to make an exception (‘use discretion’). 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 to find out if the Home Office can make an exception for your absences from the UK.
If the Home Office decide 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 talk to an adviser 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
If your husband, wife or civil partner is a British citizen, you'll need to meet the requirements for people who have a British husband, wife or civil partner instead.
You can usually apply for British citizenship 12 months after:
you got settled status - from the EU Settlement Scheme
you got indefinite leave to remain
If you don’t have settled status or indefinite leave, you might still be able to apply, even though the deadline has passed. You will need to show you had a good reason for missing the deadline.
Check if you can make a late application for settled status.
Check what other requirements you need to meet before you apply
You also need to have:
lived in the UK over the past 5 years
passed the Life in the UK Test
a qualification that shows you speak and understand English - unless you’re exempt
‘good character’ - for example, you've had 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’ve 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
You also need to make sure you were in the UK on the same day 5 years ago as the day you’re applying. If you weren’t in the UK exactly 5 years ago, it’s usually best to wait until it’s been 5 years since the date you returned to the UK and then apply. If you were out of the UK for a long time, talk to an adviser.
If you’ve been outside the UK for more than 450 days
You might still be eligible if the Home Office decide to 'use discretion' (make an exception). 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
The Home Office will ignore absences for a compassionate or exceptional reason - for example, coronavirus travel restrictions delayed their return to the UK.
Before you apply, you should check the naturalisation guide on GOV.UK to find out if the Home Office can make an exception for your 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 talk to an adviser before you apply.
Find out more about eligibility
You can find out more on about eligibility for citizenship on GOV.UK.
If you're from any other country
You can usually apply for citizenship 12 months after you get indefinite leave to remain (or ‘indefinite leave to enter’) unless you’re married to a British citizen.
If you don’t have either of those, you can check if you’re eligible for indefinite leave to remain on GOV.UK.
Check what other requirements you need to meet before you apply
You also need to have:
lived in the UK for the past 5 years (or 3 years if you have a British husband, wife or civil partner)
passed the Life in the UK Test
a qualification that shows you speak and understand English - unless you’re exempt
‘good character’ - for example, you’ve had 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’ve 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
You also need to make sure you were in the UK on the same day 5 years ago as the day you’re applying. If you weren’t in the UK exactly 5 years ago, it’s usually best to wait until it’s been 5 years since the date you returned to the UK and then apply. If you were out of the UK for a long time, talk to an adviser.
If you’ve been outside the UK for more than 450 days
You might still be eligible if the Home Office decide to make an exception (‘use discretion’). 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
The Home Office will ignore absences for a compassionate or exceptional reason - for example, coronavirus travel restrictions delayed your return to the UK.
Before you apply, you should check the naturalisation guide on GOV.UK to find out if the Home Office can make an exception for your absences from the UK.
If the Home Office decide 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 talk to an adviser 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
There are a few ways you can be eligible to apply for citizenship. Most adults who have migrated to the UK get citizenship by applying to ‘naturalise’. You can find out how to apply for British citizenship.
Getting British citizenship for children
Your children can also apply for British citizenship at the same time as you.
Some children can apply before you do if either:
they were born in the UK
their other parent became British first
You can find out about getting British citizenship for children.
Check 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 because you:
were born in the UK
have a British parent
are stateless
have another type of British nationality (such as ‘British overseas citizen’)
have a connection with a past or present British territory (such as Gibraltar)
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