If you hold settlement status in the UK and in most cases, you need to have settlement for 12 months, you can apply if you are aged 18 or over under AN application form which is naturalisation.

If the Home Office approves your naturalisation application, you are then invited to attend your ceremony at an agreed local authority office.

To obtain naturalisation you must be of good character and meet the other guidelines.

Once you attend the ceremony, you can then apply for your British passport. Because this is your first British passport, you must attend a face-to-face interview with passport authorities and then you will receive your new UK passport.

If you hold settlement status in the UK and in most cases, you need to have settlement for 12 months, you can apply if you are aged under 18 and you need to apply under MN1 application form which is naturalisation.

If the Home Office approves your naturalisation application, you are exempt from having to attend the ceremony but if you turn 18 during the application process, you must attend the ceremony.

The good news is this, if you submit the applciation before you turn 18, you are exempt from meeting the English and Life in the UK Test requirements.

To obtain naturalisation you must be of good character and meet the other guidelines.

Once you attend the ceremony, you can then apply for your British passport. As this is your first British passport, you must attend a face-to-face interview with passport authorities and then you will receive your new UK passport.

All British citizens automatically have right of abode in the UK and some Commonwealth citizens may also have right of abode.

The way to prove this is by proving you have RoA if you have a UK passport describing you as a British citizen or British subject with right of abode.

If you cannot provide the above, you will need to apply for a 'Certificate of Entitlement'. If you need such a certificate, you can apply in the UK or from outside the UK.

If applying within the UK, you need to fill out the RoA form (currently paper form) and from abroad you would register online at www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk.

Tip: If your RoA is approved, a certificate will be issued in your foreign passport, if your passport expires so does your RoA so make sure you obtain a new valid passport in time as you will need to apply for a new RoA otherwise you can live in the UK, but have no permission to work.

If you were born to a British mother on the 31 December 1982 or earlier,  you can register as a British citizen, if this applies to you:

you would have automatically become a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies by descent if women had been able to pass this citizenship on to their children in the same way as men at the time of your birth or 

you would have had the right of abode in the UK and have become a British citizen on 1 January 1983 if you had become a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies.

If this applies to you, you would complete UKM form.

If you are not of 'good character' your application can be refused.

If you have been living in the UK and the above does not apply to you, you might be eligible to apply under naturalisation.

If you were born to a British father on or before 30 June 2006, you would have become a British citizen automatically if your parents had been married and you are of 'good character'.

If your children were born outside the UK, they won’t automatically become British.

If you have been living in the UK and the above does not apply to you, you might be eligible to apply under naturalisation.

If you were born in the UK after 1 January 1983 you are automatically a British citizen if one (1) of your parents was a British citizen or settled in the UK at that time. You don’t need to register.

What if my parent has become a British citizen or settled since my birth?

You can register to become a British citizen if you fulfill the criteria:

you were born in the UK on or after 1 January 1983 and

you are under 18 when you apply and

one of your parents has become a British citizen or settled in the UK since you were born.

You would need to complete MN1   application form.

What if I lived in the UK until I was 10 years of age?

If you are 10 years of age or older and lived in the UK all this time, you can register to become a British citizen if you were born in the UK on or after 1 January 1983 and neither of your parents were a British citizen or settled at that time.

You need to complete  T application form.

You might be able to register your children as a British citizen if the child was born overseas or adopted outside the UK.

To comply to this application, the Home Office cannot receive the application if the child has turned 18.

You will need to complete MN1 application form.

If the child is linked to Gibraltar, born in Hong Kong on or after 4 February 1997, born in the UK after 1 January 1983 or is Stateless, the child cannot apply via this route.

GIBRALTAR

If you were registered as a British overseas territories citizen in Gibraltar before 21 May 2002 you probably became a British citizen automatically.

You can register as a British citizen if you were either:

Naturalised after 21 May 2002 in Gibraltar as a British overseas territories citizen in Gibraltar as a minor or registered after 21 May 2002 as a minor in Gibraltar.

Get an application form from the Civil Status and Registration 

officecsro@gibraltar.gov.gi or call +00 350 2005 1726.

HONG KONG

You can apply if you were resident in Hong Kong on 3 February 1997 as a ordinarily resident at the date of your application.

For children born after this date must be ordinarily resident at the time of their birth.

Ordinarily resident means:

you live in Hong Kong full-time and

you are not breaking any immigration rules and 

you’ve moved to Hong Kong voluntarily with the intention of settling there.

Apply for this application under EM form.

If you are not recognised as a citizen of any country (‘stateless person’), you may be able to register as a British citizen.

To register as a stateless person, you must apply to these:

you have lived in the UK or an overseas territory for 3 years or more 

and one of your parents is a British citizen, subject or protected person and

you were born outside the UK and qualifying territories on or after 1 January 1983.

What are the qualifying territories?

Anguilla  | Bermuda  |   British Antarctic Territory   |   British Indian Ocean Territory  |   British Virgin Islands  |   Cayman Islands |   Falkland Islands  |    Gibraltar  |    Montserrat   |   Pitcairn Islands  |   Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha  |  Sovereign base areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia |   South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands   |   Turks and Caicos Islands.

These are all the British overseas territories, except sovereign base areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (in Cyprus).

If you were born on or after 1 January 1983 outside the UK or the British overseas territories you need to complete S2 form.