Naturalisation & Passport

British Naturalisation and Registration

Someone who holds British citizenship is entitled to a British passport and has various other rights, such as the right to vote in general elections. A British citizen can come and go from the UK without any restriction.

In most cases an adult will acquire British citizenship by the process of “naturalisation”. This requires that the applicant has spent a number of years lawfully in the UK and that they have already acquired settlement (ie indefinite leave to remain or permanent residence).

There are also requirements about not having spent too much time outside the UK during the qualifying period, and about English language and the Life in the UK test. There is also a “good character” requirement, ie the applicant should not have any recent criminal convictions or similar.

Children may be able to acquire British citizenship by the process of “registration”. The rules about this are much more flexible, and are largely dependent on the situation of the parents. Even if a child does not meet all the stated rules the Home Office may nevertheless employ discretion and grant the application anyway.

A British citizen does not need to hold a British passport – although it may be useful for identification purposes. A British passport application is different from an application for British citizenship and it is a purely administrative application, not really an immigration application.

We have many years of experience in this area, and we can help you with both your British citizenship application and British passport application.