How do I apply for naturalisation as a British citizen?

This section explains how to apply for naturalisation as a British citizen.

Changes to 'knowledge of language and life' requirements

Requirements for applicants for settlement or naturalisation will change from 28 October 2013.

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To apply for naturalisation, you should use application form AN. Before you apply, you should ensure that you have read the section on eligibility.

You must be aged 18 or over to apply for naturalisation. If you are under 18, you should read the section on registering a child as a British citizen.

Before you make your application, you should read our guidance documents, Booklet AN and Guide AN. These provide full details of the requirements that you must meet, and how to complete the application form. You will need to confirm on the application form that you have read and understood both documents. Guide AN, section 9 refers to the leaftlet 'Wiping the slate clean', this leaflet is no longer available. To find information on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, see the Ministry of Justice website. You can download the documents as a single PDF from the right side of this page.

Knowledge of language and life in the United Kingdom

This page provides details of how you can demonstrate knowledge of language and of life in the United Kingdom; you will need to do this before you make your application for naturalisation.

Completing the form

This page provides details of how to complete the application form AN.

The documents we require

This page provides details of the documents you need to provide to us to support your application. The page includes a document checklist you can download to make sure you send us all the documents we need.