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Guidance

Automatic acquisition of British citizenship: caseworker guidance

Immigration staff guidance on whether an individual has an automatic claim to British citizenship.

Updates to this page

From:
UK Visas and Immigration
Published:
27 July 2017
Last updated:
21 November 2023
Show all updates

  1. Added information to clarify when a child’s parent is settled in the UK, taking into account the judgment in the judicial review brought by the Independent Monitoring Authority.

  2. Amended guidance to remove reference to the suspension of the policy for the acquisition of citizenship by individuals born in Great Britain and Northern Ireland between 1 January 1983 and 1 October 2000 inclusive to an EEA national parent.

  3. We have amended this guidance to reflect the fact that the policy for the acquisition of citizenship by individuals born in the UK between 1 January 1983 and 1 October 2000 inclusive to an EEA national parent has been suspended whilst the Home Office assesses recently identified legal issues, and to confirm that if someone has already been recognised as a British citizen, for example, through the issue of a British citizen passport, we will continue to treat them as such.

  4. Information added to reflect the entitlement of children born to EEA national parents from 1 July 2021 onward, including where the parent may not have held settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme at the time of the child’s birth.

  5. Updated guidance published.

  6. Updated guidance published.

  7. Updated guidance published.

  8. First published.

Documents

Automatic acquisition (accessible)

HTML

Automatic acquisition

PDF, 349 KB, 21 pages

Details

UK Visas and Immigration guidance for staff detailing the relevant legislation that sets out when an individual will have a claim to British citizenship, the different criteria an individual must meet and how to investigate claims.

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