Naturalising As A British Citizen – What Applicants Need To Know

On the face of it, becoming a British citizen is a straightforward application with relatively few requirements compared with the long and complicated applications you will have already completed under the Immigration Rules. For many, obtaining their first visa or getting ILR is much more complicated than the seemingly simple process of applying to naturalise as British.

Unfortunately, complacency at this stage can easily result in refusal and, with no right of appeal, many people are required to apply again, paying application and possibly legal fees once more.

Citizenship requirements are set out in the British Nationality Act 1981; for naturalisation these are in section 6 and Schedule 1. You can follow along here.

Basic requirements

Section 6 states an applicant must be of "full age" – this means at least 18 years old – and hold "capacity" – which is assumed unless there are clear reasons to doubt a person's capacity to manage their own affairs. It goes on to say that the requirements of Schedule 1 must also be fulfilled.

Schedule 1 adds the following requirements:

• That the applicant is of good character
• That they have sufficient knowledge of English, Welsh or Scottish Gaelic
• That they have sufficient knowledge of life in the UK
• That their principal home will be in the UK OR they will continue in Crown Service abroad (working for the UK government) – note this doesn't apply to applicants who are married to a British citizen, see below
• That they meet the absences requirement
• That they have held ILR for at least 12 months
• That they have not been in breach of the immigration laws in the past 5 years

These basic requirements all seem very clear and easy to satisfy. Unfortunately, many have hidden complexities and pitfalls which can lead to refusals and wasted time and money.

Marriage to a British citizen

An applicant who is married to, or in a civil partnership with, a British citizen has slightly different requirements. They need only to have ILR, they don't need to wait at least 12 months, and their absence requirement looks at the last 3 years rather than the last 5 years. And, as mentioned above, there is no requirement that the applicant's home must envisaged as the UK.

Guidance documents

A key source of the hidden complexity is the use of guidance documents. The Home Office issues guidance documents to its decision makers. These are publicly available documents – redacted in a few key areas such as national security cases - and failure to follow guidance is a reason to challenge a refusal – this means the decision makers should follow the published guidance.

These guidance documents go much further than the basic requirements listed above. They include definitions and examples which are not obvious from the basic requirements and the guidance documents include many reasons an application might be refused which cannot be known looking only at the basic requirements.

The three most important guidance documents are:

Good character requirement

Knowledge of language and life in the UK

Naturalisation by discretion

These documents explain how the 'basic' requirements in legislation are much more detailed and complicated than they appear.

Common pitfalls

Good Character

Most people think they are of good character, but this is a fairly clearly defined term in the guidance document. It mainly looks at criminal offending and bankruptcy but, more recently, unlawfully entering and remaining in the UK

A sentence, or consecutive sentences, of at least 12 months will normally result in refusal. An offence which received a lesser sentence but caused "serious harm" will normally result in refusal. Serious harm is often attributed to sexual and drug related offences.

An application will also be refused if they have a sentence of less than 12 months in prison OR a non-custodial sentence AND they are, on balance, not of good character.

This is fairly uncontroversial – the UK government does not want to grant citizenship to those who have committed offences unless the circumstances are exceptional. Some people will have exceptional cases as a result of family connections, other connections in the community or the time that has passed since their offending but the general rule must be that a prison sentence will very likely lead to refusal without clear evidence of good character. Non-custodial sentences are more likely to result in successful applications if there is a broad range of supporting evidence.

Immigration breaches in the past 5 or 10 years are now not normally considered if an applicant has ILR. However, if the Home Office know of these breaches they may consider them and they may be a reason for refusal without clear evidence of your good character.

Two recent additions to the good character requirements, which are catching many applicants out, are the illegal entry and dangerous journey considerations.

An illegal entrant will usually have to wait at least 10 years from the date of their illegal entry before they can make a successful application. Even worse, those who enter having made a dangerous journey (by small boat or concealed in a vehicle) will normally be refused.

The only possible defence to these cases will be where a person entered illegally, or via a dangerous journey, successfully claimed asylum AND can show that they travelled directly from their home country or had no reasonable opportunity to claim protection in any other country. These additions are being litigated and cases are moving through the courts. We are hoping for positive decisions from the senior courts.

Knowledge of Language and Life (KoLL)

Most people will have passed the English language and Life in the UK requirements to obtain their ILR. You can rely on the same tests when applying for citizenship. Refugees, and in certain other rare cases, can receive ILR without taking these tests but they must still pass them before applying for citizenship.

Some refugees think that they do not need them as they were not needed for ILR. This is wrong. You must pass the tests before submitting your application.

You can obtain medical exemptions and those over 65 are exempted too.

Absences – in the discretionary guidance

The absences threshold for an applicant who is not married to a British citizen is 450 days in the preceding 5 years. Guidance confirms that absences of up to 480 days will be acceptable if there are no other reasons for refusal.

However, it's important to be aware that absences between 480 and 900 days can still result in successful applications if other requirements are met.

In the twelve months before the application the limit is 90 days of absence. However, guidance permits up to 100 days automatically and absences between 100 and 180 days can result in successful applications.

If your absences are the only reason you do not think you can apply then do seek legal help in preparing the application as you may be able to apply much sooner than anticipated.

Conclusion and checklist

The basic requirements for a citizenship application are deceptively simple and it is the various guidance documents that set out the more detailed, and more complex, requirements.

The following checklist will help all applicants but is written for those NOT married to a British citizen. The checklist is a good start but nothing beats good quality legal advice and representation:

1. Are you at least 18 and do you have mental capacity to make the application
2. Have you held ILR for at least a year (unless married to a British citizen)
3. Have you entered the UK via a dangerous journey – if yes, you are likely to be refused at this time.
4. Have you entered the UK illegally in the past 10 years – if yes, you are likely to be refused at this time.
5. Have you committed a criminal offence – if yes, you are likely to be refused and will be refused if sentenced to at least 12 months in prison
6. Have you breached the immigration laws in the past 5 years
7. Have you been bankrupt or have any other instances of poor character – if yes, you are likely to be refused without clear evidence of good character
8. Have you passed the Life in the UK test and can you meet the English language requirement with a suitable test or degree from a UK university
9. Will you continue to live in the UK and is your life here i.e. family, work, study
10. Were you in the UK 5 years before the date of your application – if you apply on 1 March 2026 were you in the UK on 1 March 2021
11. Are your absences below the required limits of 90/450 in the previous 12 months/5 years – if they are above you may still be able to apply but you'll need to meet the more onerous discretionary requirements

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.