Citizenship / Naturalisation

This section is meant for those who are able to be naturalised as British citizens. Most people will be naturalised under the standard required however there are alternative requirements to be met if you are the husband, wife or civil partner of a British citizen.

These standard requirements are to be met by any person applying for naturalisation that is not married or in a civil partnership with a British citizen.

Before you apply the following requirements must be met:

• You must be aged 18 or over.
• You must be of sound mind.
• You must intend to continue living in the UK, or to continue in Crown service, the service of an international organization of which the UK is a member, or the service of a company or association established in the UK.
• You must be able to communicate in English, Welsh or Scottish Gaelic to an acceptable degree.
• You must have passed the Life in the UK test
• You must be of good character
• You must have Indefinite Leave to Remain or Settled Status
• You must meet the residential requirements.

To demonstrate the residential requirements you must have:

• Been resident in the UK for at least five years and
• Been present in the UK five years before the date of your application and
• Not spent more than 450 days outside the UK during the five-year period and
• Not spent more than 90 days outside the UK in the last 12 months of the five-year period and
• Not been in breach of the Immigration Rules at any stage during the five-year period

For spouses and civil partners there are seven requirements that must be fulfilled before you apply:

• You must be aged 18 or over.
• You must be of sound mind.
• You must intend to continue living in the UK, or to continue in Crown service, the service of an international organization of which the UK is a member, or the service of a company or association established in the UK.
• You must be able to communicate in English, Welsh or Scottish Gaelic to an acceptable degree.
• You must have passed the Life in the UK test
• You must be of good character.
• You must have Indefinite Leave to Remain or Settled Status.
• You must meet the residential requirements.

To demonstrate the residential requirements you must have:

• Been resident in the UK for at least three years and
• Been present in the UK three years before the date of your application and
• Not spent more than 270 days outside the UK during the three-year period and
• Not spent more than 90 days outside the UK in the last 12 months of the three-year period and
• Not been in breach of the Immigration Rules at any stage during the three-year period.

This category is for British citizens or persons settled in the UK to apply for their child or children who are under 18 years of age to join them in the UK.

Both parents must be settled here, or have permission to settle here unless:

The child must show that they:

You must also show that you can afford to support your child or children here in the UK without recourse on public funds. There are additional requirements to be met for adopted children. For further information please contact our office.

A child under 18 can be registered as a British citizen for a number of different reasons. These will depend on where the child was born, the date on which the child was born and the nationality of his/her parents at the time of their birth. You may also be able to register as a British Citizen if you are not recognised as a citizen of any other country (stateless).

If you’re from Hong Kong and are a British national (overseas) you and your family members can apply for a British National (Overseas) visa. This is known as a BNO visa. It allows you to live, work and study in the UK.

You can apply for a BNO visa if you’re:

• a British national (overseas)
• 18 or older

Your permanent home must be:

• in Hong Kong, if you’re applying from outside the UK
• in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man or Hong Kong if you’re applying in the UK

Your family members
Your family members can apply for a BNO visa if they’re eligible. They must usually apply at the same time as you.

How long you can stay
You can apply to stay for either:

• 2 years and 6 months
• 5 years

You will be able to extend your visa if you want to stay longer. You can apply to extend your visa as many times as you want.

After you’ve lived in the UK for 5 years, you can apply to live in the UK permanently.

What you can and cannot do

You can:

• work (except you cannot work as a professional sportsperson or sports coach)
• study (including at school, college or university)

You cannot apply for most benefits (public funds).