Check if you can become a British citizen

There are different ways to apply for British citizenship (or ‘naturalisation’) based on your circumstances.

If you’re eligible in more than one way you can choose which way to apply.

If you’ve applied for citizenship, you’ll need permission to stay in the UK until you’re granted citizenship. Your permission needs to last until you have had your citizenship ceremony.

If you have indefinite leave to remain (ILR) or settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, this counts as permission to stay.

You may be able to pay to get a faster decision.

If you were born in the UK

You do not automatically get British citizenship if you were born in the UK. It depends on when you were born and your parents’ circumstances. You need to check if you’re a British citizen.

You may be eligible to apply for citizenship if you were born in the UK and are not automatically a British citizen.

If you’re married to or in a civil partnership with a British citizen

To apply as the spouse or civil partner of a British citizen you must have lived in the UK for the last 3 years.

You’ll also need to have either:

• indefinite leave to remain (ILR)
• settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme

If you do, you’ll be eligible to apply for citizenship immediately.

If you have indefinite leave to remain (ILR)

You can usually apply for ILR after you’ve lived in the UK for 5 years.

To apply for citizenship with ILR you must usually have lived in the UK for 12 months after getting it.

If you’re an Irish citizen

To apply for British citizenship as an Irish citizen you must have lived in the UK for 5 years.

If you have settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme

To apply for citizenship with settled status you must usually have lived in the UK for 12 months after getting it.

If you have pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme

You may be able to apply for citizenship if you can show all of the following:

• you have pre-settled status
• you’re from the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and started living in the UK by 31 December 2020 (or you’re their family member)
• you’ve lived in the UK for 5 years in a row and in that time you’ve been working (or looking for work for up to 3 months), studying or you’re self-sufficient

You’ll then need to live in the UK for another year before you can apply, unless your spouse or partner is a British citizen.

If you have not applied to the EU Settlement Scheme

You might still be able to apply for settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme. You can then use this to apply for citizenship.

The deadline to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme for most people was 30 June 2021. You can still apply if you have ‘reasonable grounds’ for not being able to apply by the deadline.

Other ways you can be eligible

You may be eligible to apply for citizenship if:

• you have a British parent
• you have another type of British nationality
• you have a parent with British overseas territories citizenship
• you’re stateless
• you previously gave up (renounced) your citizenship
• other special circumstances apply to you
• you’re a Chagossian descendant (a direct descendant of someone born in British Indian Ocean Territory)

If you’re a Commonwealth citizen

You may be eligible to apply for citizenship under the Windrush Scheme if both:

• you or one of your parents arrived in the UK before 1973
• you’ve lived in the UK and not been away from it for more than 2 years

If your parent arrived in the UK before 1973, you must have either:

• been born in the UK
• arrived in the UK before you were 18