The Home Office generally makes decisions on British nationality applicants within six months. Prior to applying for a British passport, applicants must attend a citizenship ceremony to get their Naturalisation certificate.
British Citizenship provides an individual with the right to live and work in the UK permanently without any restrictions. British citizenship can be obtained automatically by birth, by registering as a British citizen by entitlement/discretion or by naturalisation after obtaining indefinite leave to remain in the UK.
In order to be eligible to naturalise as a British Citizen, the applicant must normally satisfy a range of criteria including immigration status, length of residence in the UK, future intentions, knowledge of the English language and life in the UK as well as good character. The applicants would need to satisfy the following general criteria.
If the applicant is the spouse of a British citizen at the time of application, then they can apply immediately after obtaining Indefinite Leave to Remain and slightly different rules apply as summarised below.
This route is for those qualified either by way of entitlement or on a discretionary basis to apply for British Citizenship by registration. In order to be eligible to register as a British Citizen, the applicant may qualify in a number of permitted categories, the most common route being children under the age of 18 applying for registration. Children cannot apply to ‘naturalise’, but instead must apply to ‘register’ as British citizens.
In order to be eligible to register as a British Citizen by the way of entitlement, the child must satisfy one of the following requirements.
The Home Office may also register a child under the discretion and grant British citizenship. The applications are decided on individual merits and normally consider the child’s future intentions, the citizenship and immigration status of the child’s parents, the length of the child’s residence in the UK, whether or not the child is settled, parental consent and what is in the child’s best interests. The good character requirement applies to both types of registration and a high threshold applies to the discretionary registrations.
Our Immigration lawyers at City Legal have immense experience in assisting clients on obtaining British Citizenship. . As an SRA regulated firm, we act with the utmost integrity and carefully assess each of our client’s circumstances to ensure that the eligibility requirements are met and to identify any potential issues with the application. We are a multi-award-winning law firm and pride ourselves in being approachable, innovative and always going that extra mile to make sure our clients receive the individual attention they deserve. Our Immigration team maintains a high reputation and is committed to providing clear, transparent, and reliable advice to our clients.
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The Home Office generally makes decisions on British nationality applicants within six months. Prior to applying for a British passport, applicants must attend a citizenship ceremony to get their Naturalisation certificate.
As part of the nationality application, the applicant must generally present two referees. One must be a person of professional standing and the other one a British citizen, both aged at least 25 years old.
Once you have been granted Indefinite Leave to Remain, you may apply for British Citizenship by Naturalisation if you are married to a British citizen. You will need to satisfy all of the other requirements for British Citizenship by Naturalisation outlined above. If you are not married to a British citizen, you must have been free of immigration time constraints for at least 12 months before to the date of your application. This implies that 12 months after being granted ILR, you will be eligible to apply for British Citizenship by Naturalisation.
If you have been living legally and continuously in the UK as a settled person for three years and are married to a British citizen, you may apply for naturalisation. If your spouse is a UK resident but does not have a British passport, you will need to take a different immigration path to obtain permanent residence.
According to the British Nationality Act of 1981, anyone wishing to naturalise as a British citizen must be of “good character.” The term ‘good character’ is not defined in the Act, however the Home Office nationality policy guidance describes how the ‘good character’ criteria will be examined. This includes a non-exhaustive list of behaviors that indicate an applicant is not of “good character,” such as criminality, terrorism, financial stability, notoriety, deception and dishonesty, and immigration-related issues. Any application for British Citizenship by Naturalisation must carefully evaluate the good character criteria because even seemingly little details can result in an adverse outcome. Advice from an immigration lawyer will ensure that any potential good character issues are identified and properly addressed as part of your UK Citizenship application.
