Foreign nationals who are residing and working in the UK can go for a British citizenship application and gain a permanent settlement. Once you acquire British Citizenship you can receive and enjoy the same benefits as other citizens of the country. This includes medical, healthcare, and financial benefits, work, and living advantages, unemployment allowances, right to vote, and participation in all social, economical, and developmental programs within the country. You can freely move about and travel anywhere and be part of one of the most developed economies.
Steps towards your application
Firstly, you must check whether you are meeting all the requirements. Secondly, you need to fill your application form. There are 2 ways for it
- Submitting the application by yourself via an online process of Naturalization
- Applying through a representative or a UK immigration lawyer
Thirdly, after submitting your form, register for Biometrics.
After a successful Biometrics, pay the fee and send the form to UK Visa and Immigration(UKVI) and wait for their approval.
Lastly, once it is approved by the Home office, you can attend a citizenship ceremony and will be granted British citizenship.
In case, you go through a UK immigration lawyer, you will have to send all the documents through them.
Check your Eligibility?
There are a number of ways with which one can apply for British Citizenship. You can even choose to apply if you fall in the bracket of eligibility in more than one.
The basic eligibility requirements include:
- Above 18 years of age
- Individuals ‘Good character’ and no criminal offence in his/her name
- Intention to reside in the UK for the long term
- Individual to pass the ’Life in the UK’ test
- English language proficiency
Other factors for eligibility
Eligibility through Indefinite Leave to Remain(ILR): with ILR, individuals are eligible to fill for British citizenship application form. The individual should have been residing in the UK for 5 years with an active permanent residence status of 12 months.
Individuals must also abide by certain rules, such as staying outside the UK for more than 90 days in the last 2 years, you may lose ILR.
a). Eligibility by birth: Under this criterion, one is a British citizen, if
- Born before 1983, 1st January
- Born after the year 1983, if either of your parents is settled or have British Citizenship when you were born, you are then a British citizen.b). Eligibility by marriage: In order to get British citizenship upon marriage,
- Individuals to have lived for 3 years in the UK before your application process.
- If under European Union settlement scheme, individual to have ‘settled status’ or ILR
Know your form before applying
Before applying for British citizenship it’s imperative to know the correct form. While mostly it is an online process. But if necessary, you may have to post as well. Form AN is used for completing the application through Naturalization.
You will have to fill form MN1 if you need to register for a child who is a minor.
Also Read: Logical Reasoning Tests: Getting To Know The Different Types
What is the fee and time duration for approval?
It takes￡1330 for the application and ￡19.20 for the biometric process.
The process goes usually for 6 months, once the application is successfully reviewed and approved by the Home Office, they will send approval. After which you attend a citizenship ceremony and receive a certificate of citizenship and then you can apply for a British passport.
If you want to read more visa-related blogs or want to write for law then click on here!