British Citizenship consultants in Mumbai | Delhi | Bengaluru

British nationality law is the law of the United Kingdom which concerns citizenship and other categories of British nationality. British nationality laws can at times be complex owing to UK’s historical standing as an imperial power with colonies.

UK allows dual citizenship (also known as dual nationality). This means you can be a British citizen and also a citizen of other countries. There is no need to apply for dual citizenship. Individuals can apply for foreign citizenship and keep their British citizenship. However, many countries (e.g. India) do not accept dual citizenship.

Also you don’t automatically become a British citizen when you marry a person from the UK.
Coat of Arms of UK | Source: By Sodacan

(Click on the topics to know more)

Naturalisation as British Citizen

An individual who has lawfully been a resident in the UK for five years and has held Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) for last one year can apply for naturalisation as a British Citizen. In order to apply for naturalization as British citizen the individual must not have any unspent criminal conviction and must have passed Life in the UK Test.

According to current UK Nationality laws an individual can apply for British citizenship by naturalisation if they:

are aged 18 or over
are of good character, for example, you don’t have a serious or recent criminal record, and you haven’t tried to deceive the Home Office or been involved in immigration offences in the last 10 years
will continue to live in the UK
have met the knowledge of English and life in the UK requirements
meet the residency requirement

At Smartmove2UK our UK Qualified Solicitors and UK Immigration experts have helped individuals to successfully apply for naturalisation as British citizen. If you would like to ascertain your eligibility to apply for British citizenship you can contact our UK qualified Solicitors for advise and assistance in registering as British national on +91 98191 27002 or email your query at info@smartmove2uk.com

Register as a British citizen

Registering as a British citizen is usually simpler than becoming naturalised. However individuals would have to affirm their eligibility to apply for the same.
Individuals may be eligible if they:

have another form of British nationality
were born before 1 January 1983 to a British mother
were born to a British father, even if he was not married to your mother
were born in the UK on or after 1 January 1983
are under 18 and don’t fit into the other categories
have a connection with Gibraltar or Hong Kong
are stateless

At Smartmove2UK our UK Qualified Solicitors and UK Immigration experts have helped individuals to successfully apply for naturalization as British citizen. If you would like to ascertain your eligibility to apply for British citizenship you can contact our UK-qualified Solicitors for advise and assistance in registering as British national on +91 98191 27002 or email your query at info@smartmove2uk.com

are aged 18 or over
are of good character, for example, you don’t have a serious or recent criminal record, and you haven’t tried to deceive the Home Office or been involved in immigration offenses in the last 10 years
will continue to live in the UK
have met the knowledge of English and life in the UK requirements
meet the residency requirement

Apply for British Passport overseas

British passports are issued by the UK government’s Identity and Passport Service (IPS). Normal processing times are about 6 weeks. However passport applications made from outside the UK can take longer. Processing times would vary on a case to case basis. If you are a British citizen and want to apply for a passport for your child overseas or you would like to apply for a Passport for yourself we can help.

At Smartmove2UK our UK Qualified Solicitors and UK Immigration experts have helped individuals to successfully apply for their British Passports (including for children born overseas to British parents). If you would like to ascertain your eligibility to apply for British Passport you can contact our UK qualified Solicitors for advise and assistance in applying for British Passports on +91 98191 27002 or email your query at info@smartmove2uk.com

Move to UK

For example, if you have moved to the UK on a settlement visa category or are from a European Economic Area (EEA) country, then you can usually apply if you’ve lived in the UK for the last 5 years and have been granted indefinite leave to remain for the last 12 months

EEA nationals who have had permanent residence status for the last 12 months can also apply for British citizenship.

Marrying a British citizen

Applicants whose spouse or civil partner is a British citizen can usually apply as the spouse of a British citizen if you have lived in the UK for the last 3 years and have been granted indefinite leave to remain or a permanent residence document (if you’re from the EEA).

You don’t automatically become a British citizen when you marry a person from the UK.

Born in UK

You may be eligible to apply for citizenship if you were born in the UK. It depends on when you were born and your parents’ circumstances at the time of your birth.

Read Does a child born abroad need a visa to enter the UK?