Becoming a British citizen is a wonderful way to express your pride in your new country and make a formal commitment that you will always be part of it. You can become a British citizen after living in the UK for 5 years, and must have been living in the UK for 2 of the last 5 years. If you are married to a British citizen, then you may become naturalized after 3 years. There are other tests based on language skills, knowledge of British history or heritage and good character that apply to many applications for naturalization.
how to become a british citizen
How to become a British citizen? You can achieve your dream of becoming a British citizen if you have already been in the UK for a certain period of time, or are married to or the partner of a British person. This guide explains exactly what you need to do.
Work Permit Route
Skilled Worker or Tier 2 is one of the common ways that you can take to secure an Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) status. Given that you have satisfactorily complied with the Tier 2 requirements and have stayed and worked in the UK for 5 years of continuous residence.
Business / Entrepreneur Visa
The Tier 1 category visa is focused on the Entrepreneurial route. You must have at least £50,000 investment money with a view to setting up a company here in the UK.
Private Life Route
The Private Life Route is a special type of permit in the UK where the applicant must already be living in the UK for a certain number of years. This is for applicants with exceptional circumstances on why they should remain in the UK.
Asylum Protection Route
Claiming Asylum in the UK is not an easy process but it is one of the possible ways to become a UK citizen.
You must prove that your life will be in great danger when you go back to your home country. After 5 years under the Asylum/ Refugee status, you can then apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain for free and then go on to apply for your British Citizenship.
Ancestry Visa
The Ancestry Visa requires the applicant to have at least one grandparent that was born in the UK among other eligibility requirements like a citizen from the Commonwealth countries.
Through the Ancestry visa, you can then apply for ILR and further on to acquire British citizenship by descent.
Spouse and Partner Visa (British or EU citizen)
The Spouse and Partner Visas are a part of the UK Family Visa. To apply for this visa, you must be in a genuine relationship with a British citizen or someone with a settled status here in the UK. You have to show proof that your relationship is genuine through email exchanges, photos etc.
You should be able to prove that you are cohabiting for at least two years when you submit your application. Most importantly, you have to meet the financial requirements.
This is the route that my husband and I took, after switching my Student visa to a Spouse visa back in 2011. Applying for any visa is a stressful one, but since our application is a very straightforward one because we were both single and had never been married before we decided to sort out our own application.
Before the immigration rule changes in 2012, the requirement for applying for an Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) status for Spouse visa holders is only two years and another one year before applying for British citizenship (To comply with the 3-year residency period).
The current policies have now changed to 5 years on a Spouse visa before you can apply for ILR then for your British citizenship.
Can a child born in the UK get UK citizenship?
If one of the parents of the child is a British Citizen or has an Indefinite Leave to Remain (Settled status) the child has a right to become a British citizen.
The child will inherit the immigration status of the parents at the time that the child is born.
In order to become a citizen of the United Kingdom, there are a number of documents that you need to acquire. The first is a passport from your country. This will have your current name and photograph, which is used in filing the rest of the forms. If you use any other surname or if you have changed your name since being issued your passport, you must get a certified copy of the change. Next, find three friends or relatives of yours who live in the UK to write letters stating that they know you and that they do not believe that you will be a burden to the UK state. Contact the Secretary of State’s office to apply for an Application Form and an Application Fee Letter. When these are received, and along with all other required documents, begin to file them with the Home Office’s office. Due to massive processing backlogs, this could take as long as 3 years, so plan accordingly before applying for citizenship.