If you or your parents were born in the UK, you might automatically be a British citizen. If you’re not a British citizen automatically, you may still be able to apply to become a British citizen.

You can apply for British citizenship by ‘naturalisation’ if you:

• are 18 or over

• are married to, or in a civil partnership with, someone who is a British citizen

• have lived in the UK for at least 3 years before the date of your application

If your child isn’t already a British citizen, you might be able to apply for citizenship for them. It depends on where they were born and your immigration status. For your child’s application to be successful, they usually need to have at least one British parent. 

There are 6 different types of British nationality. These are:

• British citizenship

• British overseas territories citizen

• British overseas citizen

• British subject

• British national (overseas)

• British protected person