Guidance

Guide UKF(M): Registration as a British citizen (accessible version)

Updated 4 October 2023

October 2023

Introduction

Becoming a British citizen is a significant life event. It allows you to apply for a British citizen passport and gives you the opportunity to participate more fully in the life of your local community.

This guide is for parents/guardians completing the form on behalf of a child under 18. References to ‘you’ refer to the applicant, unless otherwise stated.

You will need to show that you satisfy a number of requirements set out in British nationality law. This guide aims to help you to make a successful application. It will also help you to prepare for British citizenship. It tells you what information to put into each section of the application form and which documents you need to supply.

Before continuing with your application, you should be aware that under the nationality laws of some countries a person will automatically lose their nationality if they become a citizen of another country. If you have any questions about this, you should ask the authorities of the country of which you are a citizen through their Embassy or High Commission before making your application. If the country of which you are currently a citizen continues to recognise you as one of its citizens, you may continue to be subject to the duties of citizens of that country when you are in its territory. This may include obligations to undergo military service.

The law covering registration is contained in the British Nationality Act 1981 and the regulations made under it. This guide is intended to help you to apply. It is not a complete statement of the law or policy. Other information about citizenship and immigration is available on our website.

Definitions for the purposes of this guide

United Kingdom means:

• England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man; and

• the Republic of Ireland at a time when it formed part of the United Kingdom (that is to say, before 31 March 1922); and

• (in relation to birth) a ship or aircraft registered in the United Kingdom or an unregistered ship or aircraft of the Government of the United Kingdom.

Natural father means a man who is your biological parent.

OISC and Immigration Advice

You may, if you wish, use the services of an agent such as a solicitor or other competent adviser to help you with your application.

Immigration or nationality advisers acting in the course of business (whether paid or unpaid) are regulated by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC), an independent body. The provision of such advice is prohibited unless a person works for an organisation registered with, or exempted by, the OISC or is authorised to practise (like solicitors and barristers) by a designated professional body. Certain categories (for example public health bodies) are exempted from the regulatory scheme by Ministerial Order. It is a criminal offence to provide advice or services in contravention of the regulatory scheme. Further information about the regulatory scheme and a full list of OISC regulated advisers is available on its website at www.oisc.gov.uk.

The requirements you must meet

If you were born on or after 1 July 2006 you may already be a British citizen through your father. However, if your mother was married to someone other than your natural father at the time of your birth, that man will be your father for nationality purposes.

You can apply for registration if you meet all the requirements below:

• you would have become a British citizen automatically if your mother had not been married to someone other than your natural (biological) father

• you have never been a British citizen

To apply under these provisions, you will need to prove your relationship with your natural father. To do this you will have to provide evidence of paternity.

If you can provide genuine and reliable documents, we will recognise a man as your father in the following circumstances:

• He is named as your father on a birth certificate issued within one year of your birth, or

• A DNA test report shows he is your father, or

• A court has ruled that he is your father, or

• You can provide other evidence that is sufficient to establish paternity.

If you meet the requirements for registration set out in this Guide, there is discretion to waive the need to pay a fee. If you wish to be considered for a fee-free application tick the box in the Declaration section of Form UKF(M).

If your parents married after your birth you may already be a British citizen. This will depend on which country’s laws applied to your father at the time of the marriage.

Some countries’ laws – including the UK - state that where a child’s parents marry after the child’s birth, the child will be treated as if the parents had been married at the time of the birth. If your parents married after your birth you may wish to seek the advice of an immigration adviser.

Good character

The British Nationality Act 1981 contains a statutory requirement that those seeking to register as British must be of good character. This means you must observe UK laws and show respect for the rights and freedoms of its citizens.

Before you complete this section, you are advised to refer to the good character policy guidance which caseworkers use to decide your application. This is available on the GOV.UK website.

Checks will be carried out to ensure that the information you provide is correct. This may include checks with other government departments such as HM Revenue and Customs. If you are not honest about the information you provide, and you are registered on the basis of incorrect or fraudulent information you will be liable to have your British citizenship taken away (deprivation) and you may be prosecuted. It is a criminal offence to make a false declaration knowing that it is untrue.

Criminality

You must give details of all criminal convictions in the UK and overseas. This includes if you went to prison, or you received a non-custodial sentence such as a suspended sentence. You should also include any out-of-court disposal such as a fine, a caution, a warning or reprimand, a community sentence, a civil order, a civil penalty, a civil judgment, a hospital order or a restriction order. All fiscal fines must also be disclosed. If you are not sure, you should declare all penalties or orders.

Fixed penalty notices such as those issued under the coronavirus Regulations, or for traffic offences such as speeding or parking tickets must also be disclosed, although will not normally be taken into account unless you have failed to pay and there were criminal proceedings as a result, or you have received multiple fixed penalty notices in a short space of time.

Where a fixed penalty notice or fiscal fine in Scotland has been referred to a court due to non-payment, or the notice has been unsuccessfully challenged by the person in court, we will consider it as a conviction and assess it in line with the new sentence imposed.

Drink driving must also be declared. If you have any endorsements on your driving licence you must access the DVLA website to download and print a summary of your record and send it with your application, or provide the paper counterpart.

Criminal record checks will be carried out in all cases. If you have been charged with a criminal offence and are awaiting trial or sentencing, you are advised not to make any application for registration until the outcome is known.

You must give details of all civil judgments which have resulted in a court order being made against you, as well as any civil penalties under the UK Immigration Acts. For applicants from Scotland any recent civil penalties must also be declared. If you have been declared bankrupt at any time you should give details of the bankruptcy proceedings. (Your application is unlikely to succeed if you are an undischarged bankrupt).

You do not need to give details of family law proceedings such as divorce decrees, dissolved civil partnerships, guardianship orders, and parental responsibility orders.

You must also tell us if you have any children who have been convicted of an offence or who have received a court order.

You must say if your details have been recorded by the police as a result of certain sexual offences, or if you are subject to one of the following orders: notification order, sexual offences prevention order, foreign travel order, risk of sexual harm order (or equivalent order made in a British overseas territory or any other country).

You must say if there is any offence for which you may go to court, or which is awaiting hearing in court. This includes having been arrested for an offence and waiting to hear if you will be formally charged. If you have been arrested and not told that charges have been dropped, or that you will not have to appear in court, you may wish to confirm the position with the police. You must tell us if you are arrested or charged with an offence after you make your application and while the application is under consideration. You risk prosecution under section 46 of the British Nationality Act 1981 if you do not do so.

Terrorism and International Crimes

You must say whether you have had any involvement in terrorism or whether you have been involved in any crimes in the course of armed conflict, including crimes against humanity, war crimes or genocide, or if you are the subject of an international travel ban. If you are in any doubt as to whether something should be mentioned, you should mention it.

This guidance is not exhaustive. Before you answer these questions, you should consider the full definitions of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide which can be found in Schedule 8 of the International Criminal Court Act 2001.

Alternatively, copies can be purchased from: The Stationery Office (TSO).

It is your responsibility to satisfy yourself that you are familiar with the definitions and can answer the questions accurately.

Genocide - acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.

Crimes against humanity - acts committed at any time (not just during armed conflict) as part of a widespread or systematic attack, directed against any civilian population with knowledge of the attack. This would include offences such as murder, torture, rape, severe deprivation of liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law and enforced disappearance of persons.

War Crimes - grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions committed during an armed conflict. This includes an internal armed conflict and an international armed conflict. The types of acts that may constitute a war crime include wilful killing, torture, extensive destruction of property not justified by military necessity, unlawful deportation, the intentional targeting of civilians and the taking of hostages.

Travel bans - travel bans restrict the movement of individuals associated with regimes or groups whose behaviour is considered unacceptable by the international community.

Terrorist Activities - any act committed, or the threat of action, designed to influence a government or intimidate the public and made for the purpose of advancing a political, religious or ideological cause and which involves serious violence against a person or which may endanger another person’s life; creates a serious risk to the health or safety of the public; involves serious damage to property; is designed to seriously disrupt or interfere with an electronic system.

Organisations concerned with terrorism - an organisation is concerned with terrorism if it:

• commits or participates in acts of terrorism,

• prepares for terrorism,

• promotes or encourages terrorism (including the unlawful glorification of terrorism), or

• is otherwise concerned with terrorism.

Financial soundness

You must tell us if you have ever been declared bankrupt, found to have unreasonably failed to pay your council tax, engaged in fraud in relation to public funds (including claiming public funds to which you were not entitled or were prohibited from accessing, or failing to declare your full circumstances), or have an unpaid NHS debt of £500 or more.

Deception

You must tell us if you have practised deception in your dealings with the Home Office or other government departments (for example, by providing false information or fraudulent documents).

What if you haven’t been convicted but your character may be in doubt?

You must say if there is any offence for which you may go to court, or which is awaiting hearing in court. This includes having been arrested for an offence and waiting to hear if you will be formally charged. If you have been arrested and not told that charges have been dropped, or that you will not have to appear in court, you may wish to confirm the position with the police. You must tell us if you are arrested or charged with an offence after you make your application and while the application is under consideration. You risk prosecution under section 46 of the British Nationality Act 1981 if you do not do so.

You must say whether you have been involved in anything which might indicate that you are not of good character. You must give information about any of these activities no matter how long ago it was. Checks will be made in all cases and your application may fail and your fee will not be refunded if you make an untruthful declaration. If you are in any doubt about whether you have done something, or it has been alleged that you have done something, which might lead us to think that you are not of good character, you should say so.

What if you consider that you have mitigating factors?

You can also tell us about any genuine, meaningful attempts to change your behaviour and comply with the law. For example, any voluntary or charity work you participate in, or where you have engaged with programmes or activities aimed at addressing the cause of your offending such as treatments aimed at reduction of alcohol consumption, drug dependency or anger management courses.

You can tell us about this in the ‘further information not covered in other sections’ box on your application.

Referees

Your application must be endorsed by 2 referees.

One referee can be of any nationality but must be a professional person. A professional person could include:

• a minister of religion

• civil servant

• a member of a professional body such as an accountant or a solicitor (but not one who is representing you with this application).

The other referee must be the holder of a British citizen passport and either a professional person or over the age of 25.

Each referee must have known you for at least 3 years.

Each referee must not be:

• related to you

• related to the other referee

• your solicitor or agent representing you with this application

• employed by the Home Office

We will not usually accept a referee who has been convicted of an imprisonable offence during the last 10 years.

Checks may be carried out to ensure that the referees do not have unspent convictions and are qualified to act for you and that their signatures are genuine. It is a criminal offence to provide false information knowingly or recklessly, punishable with up to 3 months imprisonment or by a fine not exceeding £5,000 or both under section 46(1) of the British Nationality Act 1981.

Biometric enrolment

As part of your application, all applicants are required to enrol their biometric details for the purpose of identity verification.

Children under 18 applying for registration as a British citizen must also enrol their biometric details. Children under the age of 5 do not need to provide fingerprints, but must have a digital photograph taken of their face.

Up to the age of 5 the Home Office only requires a digitised image of the child’s face, although the regulation does not prevent fingerprints being recorded from children aged less than 5 years. There is no upper age limit for biometric information to be taken.

Children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian at their biometric enrolment appointment.

Where you give your biometric information depends on how you’re making your visa or immigration application. You’ll be told where to go after you’ve applied.

Your application may be rejected as invalid if you do not enrol your biometrics when requested. For more information about enrolling biometrics and the current fee, please visit the following section of our website: https://www.gov.uk/biometric-residence-permits.

Documents

This section tells you the sort of documents you will need to provide to consider your application. We cannot consider your application unless we have supporting documents. If you do not submit your application with supporting documents and the application will be returned to you unprocessed.

Documentary evidence that (had the law been different) you would have become a British citizen

You will need to provide the following documents:

• Your passport (if held)

• Your full birth certificate and either:

  • Your father’s full birth certificate (if your father was born in the UK on or after 1 January 1983, we also need to see evidence that one of his parents was a British citizen or settled in the UK at that time), or

  • Your father’s certificate of naturalisation or registration as a British citizen or as a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies (or, before 1 January 1949, as a British subject), or

  • Papers showing your father’s legal adoption, or

  • Your father’s citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies or British citizen passport showing he had that status before you were born, or

  • Evidence that he was settled in the UK at the time of your birth, if you were born in the UK.

Proof of Paternity

If your natural father was named as your father on a birth certificate issued within 12 months of your birth and you were born before 10 September 2015, this will be acceptable evidence of paternity. If not, you must provide other evidence. This could include:

• DNA test reports. We will accept test results from a company that is on the government’s accredited list, or

• a court order, or

• other evidence that proves you are related as claimed.

Please provide any translations if these are applicable.

If the person applying is under 18, the consent of all those with parental responsibility should be provided.

The citizenship you will acquire

If neither your mother or her husband was a British citizen at the time of your birth, you will be a British citizen “otherwise than by descent” following registration under this provision. This means that you could pass on British citizenship to any children born abroad to you in the future.

If your mother or her husband was a British citizen at the time of your birth, you will be a British citizen “by descent” following registration under this provision. This would mean that a child born to you in the UK would be a British citizen automatically, but not a child born overseas (unless you were in Crown or similar service).

Further information about the requirements for citizenship can be obtained on GOV.UK.

Travelling to and from the UK after becoming a British citizen

Once you have completed the registration process, you will no longer be able to enter the UK using your BRP (if you hold one) or by presenting your citizenship certificate at the UK border.

For travel purposes, you can apply for a British passport or for a certificate of entitlement to the right of abode that can be placed in a valid foreign passport.

Deprivation of citizenship

You may be deprived of British citizenship if it is found to have been obtained by fraud, false representation or the concealment of any material fact. The Home Secretary may also deprive you of British citizenship if, in their opinion, it would be in the public interest for them to do so and you would not thereby be made stateless.

Ministers suggested during the passage of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 that deprivation may be appropriate where the person:

• has encouraged or assisted others to commit acts of terrorism;

• has committed war crimes, public order offences or other serious crime; or

• has carried out acts seriously prejudicial to vital national interests, including espionage and acts of terrorism directed at the United Kingdom or an allied power.

A certificate of registration will, as a matter of law, be ineffective from the outset if it is obtained by means of impersonation.

Citizenship-related queries

If, having read the information set out in this guidance, you have questions about applying for British citizenship, you can email the Citizenship and Nationality Enquiries team at nationalityenquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk.

You should also contact them to let them know if you have made an application and your circumstances change (for example, you move house, get married or are arrested).

If you have not had a response, we recommend checking your email spam or junk folder before contacting UKVI again.

Alternatively, you can also contact them via telephone on 0300 790 6268. You will need to select option 2, then option 2 again. You can call Monday to Thursday from 9am to 4:45pm, or Friday, 9am to 4:30pm. Information about call charges can be found here.