British Citizenship by Marriage

Applicants, who are married to, or in a Civil Partnership with a UK National, will be eligible for Naturalisation provided they are over 18 years, resident in the UK for at least three (3) years and held Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). They should not spend more than 270 days outside the UK and not spent more than 90 days outside the UK in the last 12 months of the five-year period.

Applicants over the age of 18 years and under the age of 65 years are required to meet a Knowledge of Language and Life in the UK test and to have speaking and listening qualification in English at B1 CEFR or higher, or its equivalent.

Furthermore, applicants must be a person of good character.

FAQ

• What is Automatic acquisition of British citizenship?v

  • A child born in the UK to parents one or both of whom are British citizens, or are settled in the UK at the time the child is born, or members of the UK armed forces is automatically a British citizen otherwise than by descent and does not need to be registered. Similarly, a child born overseas to a British parent is a British citizen by descent and does not need to be registered.

• How many days am I allowed to stay outside UK to apply for Naturalisation?v

  • In order to meet the continuous residency requirement, applicant should not be outside UK for more than 450 whole days in the five year period or 270 whole days in the three year period (if married to a British national).  Furthermore, they should not spend more than 90 days outside the UK in the last 12 months of the five-year period or three-year period.

• Will my work related absence be disregarded towards the residency requirement?v

  • Applicant’s absences between 301 and 540 days may be disregard this if they meet all the other requirements and have established your home, family and a large part of their estate here. The absences were unavoidable owing to the nature of their work for a UK-based business which requires frequent travel abroad.

    Absences during the final year: - Applicants absences from the UK for between 101 and 180 days in total during the final year may be disregard the absence if they meet the met the residence requirements over the qualifying period and have demonstrated a link with the UK by establishing their home, family and a large part of their estate here.

• What is British Citizen ‘Otherwise than by descent’ and ‘by descent’?v

  • There are two ‘types’ of British citizen: ‘otherwise than by descent’ and ‘by descent’. In general terms, someone born in the UK will be a British citizen ‘otherwise than by descent’ and someone born abroad who qualifies for British citizenship will obtain it on the basis of ‘descent’. 

• What is Good Character requirement? v

  • From the 1^st October 2012, certain immigration and nationality decisions were exempt from s4 of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. As a result, the concept of a conviction becoming "spent" no longer applies when making an assessment of good character.  The Good Character or Criminality test is applied to all persons over the age of ten (10) year. 

    Some of the following issues that are considered against the ‘Good Character’ requirement are -

    • They have not respected, and/or are not prepared to abide by the law; or
    • They have been involved in or associated with war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide, or other actions that are considered not to be conducive to the public good ;
    • Their financial affairs were not in appropriate order; or
    • Their activities were notorious and cast serious doubt on their standing in the local community; or
    • They had been deliberately dishonest or deceptive in their dealings with the UK Government;  or
    • They have assisted in the evasion of immigration control.
• When can I apply for British Passport?v

  • Once the application for Naturalisation is successful, applicants will have to attend the citizenship ceremony organised by local authorities where they have to take oath of allegiance (or you can make an affirmation if you prefer not to swear by God) and a pledge to the Queen.  After this, the applicant will be handed over the ‘Certificate of Naturalisation’. From this day, the applicant will become a British Citizen and then apply for a British Passport.

• Can I have two nationalities at the same time?v

  • British Nationality law allows you to have more than one nationality. However, you should check with the authorities of your original country before you apply for naturalisation, as some countries do not allow you to be a citizen of that country if you are a British citizen.

• Biometric Requirementv

  • From 6th April 2015, applicants applying for Naturalisation need to supply biometric information with their application. Once the application is submitted, the Home Office will send them a letter asking them to enrol their biometrics after the Home Office have received their application. Applicants will be able to enrol their biometric information one of the Post Offices offering this service across the UK using their walk-in service.

• Government Feesv

  • Home Office fees for Naturalisation/Registration
    	Postal	Same day	Overseas
    Main Appplicant	£1,330.00	N/A	N/A
    Partner (if applying together)	£1,330.00	N/A	N/A
    Child aged under 18 applying for registration	£1,330.00	N/A	N/A

• Our Feesv

  • Service	Fees (GBP)
    Manage your application	£50
    Standard or Postal- Full representation service	£300
    Super Priority Service - Minus Representation	N/A
    Super Priority Service- Full Representation	N/A
    Document Verification Service	£150
    Telephone Consultation	£100 per/hour
    Face to Face consultation	£100 per/hour
    Form Filling Service	£150 per application
    * For full description of the services, please refer to our 'Services' section on our website.

• Processing Timesv

  • In line with the Home Office service standards for processing British citizenship applications, they decide 95 per cent of settlement applications within six (6) months of the application date.