Indefinite leave to remain (ILR, also called settlement) gives a person the right to live, work and study in the UK without a time limit. It is still a permission to stay, though, and it can lapse after a long time abroad. British citizenship removes that limit.
When a person can apply for citizenship depends mostly on two dates: the day they started living in the UK and the day they were granted ILR. Days spent abroad, English, the Life in the UK Test and the applicant’s record also count, and marriage to a British citizen shortens the wait.
Key takeaways
- ILR to British citizenship is usually a 12-month step: adults can apply after holding ILR for a year and living in the UK for five years.
- Spouses and civil partners of British citizens can apply as soon as they have ILR, after three years in the UK.
- Applicants also need English at B1 level, a pass in the Life in the UK Test and good character, and their days outside the UK must stay within set limits.
- The Home Office fee for an adult is £1,839, and a decision usually comes within six months. No change to the citizenship rules is in force as of 2026, although the government has announced reforms that need new legislation.
What British citizenship adds to indefinite leave to remain
A British citizen can live and work in the UK free of immigration rules and checks, which ILR does not fully provide. ILR usually lapses if the person spends more than two years in a row outside the UK, and they may then need a Returning Resident visa (a visa for former residents coming back to live in the UK). Citizenship has no such limit, because it is not a permission to stay.
Citizenship also brings rights that ILR does not. A British citizen can hold a British passport. Only registered voters aged 18 or over who are British, Irish or qualifying Commonwealth citizens can vote in a UK general election, so most people with ILR gain the vote only with citizenship.
How long after ILR can you apply for British citizenship?
Most adults can apply 12 months after they were granted ILR, once they have lived in the UK for five years. A person married to or in a civil partnership with a British citizen can apply as soon as they have ILR, after three years in the UK. For citizenship, settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme counts in the same way as ILR. The main differences between the two routes are these:
| Requirement | Standard route | Spouse or civil partner of a British citizen |
|---|---|---|
| Time living in the UK | 5 years | 3 years |
| Time holding ILR or settled status | At least 12 months | None, so the applicant can apply once ILR is granted |
| Days outside the UK during the 5 or 3 years of residence | No more than 450 (in 5 years) | No more than 270 (in 3 years) |
| Days outside the UK in the last 12 months | No more than 90 | No more than 90 |
| Intention to keep living in the UK | Required | Not required |
| English, Life in the UK Test and good character | Required | Required |
The requirements are set out in the GOV.UK guide to applying for citizenship with ILR and in more detail in the Home Office’s nationality guidance, Guide AN. Applicants must also be 18 or over.
Meeting every requirement does not guarantee citizenship, because the Home Secretary decides each application with discretion. In special circumstances the Home Secretary can also waive some requirements, such as the absence limits or presence in the UK on the first day of the qualifying period.
The 5-year route and the 12-month rule
The five years are counted back from the day the Home Office receives the application. The applicant must also have been in the UK on the first day of that period. An online application counts as received on the day it is submitted, so the first day is exactly five years before the submission date. A settlement application can be made up to 28 days early, but a citizenship application has no early window. An applicant who was abroad on that first day, or who had not yet started living in the UK, is likely to be refused unless special circumstances, such as health reasons or travel restrictions, explain the absence.
The second condition is 12 months with no time limit on the applicant’s stay, which in practice means holding ILR for a year. On a route that leads to settlement after five years, such as the Skilled Worker visa, the total is usually at least six years in the UK. A person who reaches ILR after three years, for example on the Global Talent visa, can usually apply once they have five years in the UK, because by then they have held ILR for more than 12 months.
Since the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, ILR on its own normally shows that the applicant lived in the UK lawfully during the five years. Presence on the first day and the days abroad are still checked separately.
The 3-year route for spouses and civil partners of British citizens
A spouse or civil partner of a British citizen does not wait 12 months after ILR, and needs three years in the UK instead of five. The total absence limit is lower, at 270 days over the three years, while the limit for the last 12 months stays at 90 days. This route does not ask the applicant to show an intention to keep living in the UK. The English, Life in the UK, good character and first-day rules apply in the same way as on the standard route.
Residence and absences
Only whole days outside the UK count toward the absence limits, so the days of departure and return are left out. Because the limits run back from the date the Home Office receives the application, the same trips can fall inside or outside the period depending on when the applicant applies.
How discretion works
An applicant who is slightly over a limit is not automatically refused. According to Guide AN, the Home Office normally accepts total absences of up to 480 days on the five-year route (300 days on the spouse route), and up to 100 days in the final 12 months. Longer absences over the limit are considered only where the applicant has made their home, their family life and most of their property in the UK. Very long absences are accepted only rarely.
Plans to live abroad
On the five-year route, the applicant must also intend to keep living in the UK. Staying within the absence limits usually shows that intention. A stated plan to live abroad for more than six months in a row, by contrast, usually leads to refusal. The exceptions are time abroad for work, study or voluntary work that a UK-based career needs, and an established pattern such as work at sea.
English and the Life in the UK Test
Applicants need English speaking and listening at level B1 or higher (an intermediate level on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages), and a pass in the Life in the UK Test, unless an exemption applies.
Proving English
English can be shown in one of these ways:
- an approved Secure English Language Test (SELT) passed in the two years before applying
- an academic degree taught or researched in English, with confirmation from Ecctis (the UK agency that assesses overseas qualifications) for a degree from outside the UK
- nationality of a listed majority English-speaking country, such as the USA, Canada or Australia
A person who was granted ILR with a B1 qualification does not need to take a new English test. The Immigration Rules raise the English level for ILR on some routes, including Skilled Worker and Global Talent, to B2 from March 26, 2027. That change applies to settlement applications, so the level for citizenship stays at B1.
The Life in the UK Test and exemptions
The Life in the UK Test asks 24 questions drawn from the official handbook for new residents. A test already passed for settlement does not have to be taken again.
People aged 65 or over are exempt from both the English requirement and the test, and so are people whose long-term physical or mental condition stops them from meeting these requirements. Length of residence and being unable to read or write are not grounds for exemption.
Good character
The good character requirement looks at an applicant’s criminal record, how they entered the UK, and their tax and debts. The Home Office good character guidance (version 7.0, April 30, 2026) sets out how each is weighed.
Criminal record
An application will normally be refused if the applicant has received a prison sentence of at least 12 months in the UK or abroad, or has a pattern of repeat offending. It will also normally be refused for an offence that caused serious harm and for a sexual offence. Shorter sentences, non-custodial sentences and out-of-court outcomes such as cautions are weighed case by case. Applicants must disclose every conviction, including spent ones, because nationality decisions are exempt from the rule that lets spent convictions go undeclared.
Entry to the UK
An application made on or after February 10, 2025 by someone who entered the UK illegally will normally be refused, however long ago the entry was. The same applies to someone who arrived without a required visa or electronic travel authorisation (ETA) after a dangerous journey, such as a small boat crossing.
Tax and debts
The Home Office may ask HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to confirm the applicant’s tax and National Insurance affairs. For that reason, applicants must declare any bankruptcy, any unreasonable failure to pay council tax, any fraud involving public funds and any unpaid NHS debt of £500 or more.
Fees, processing time and how to apply
According to the Home Office fees table effective October 8, 2026, the Home Office fee for an adult naturalisation application is £1,839, including the citizenship ceremony. A decision usually comes within six months. The Life in the UK Test and any English test are paid for separately.
| Item | Cost or time |
|---|---|
| Application fee | £1,709 |
| Citizenship ceremony fee | £130 |
| Total Home Office fee per adult | £1,839 |
| Life in the UK Test | £50 |
| Decision time | Usually within 6 months |
| Priority service (optional, online only) | £500, decision usually within 30 working days |
| First adult British passport | £102 online, £115.50 on paper |
| Registering a child under 18 as a British citizen | £1,000 |
The priority service cannot be added to a paper application, and a decision can take longer when extra checks are needed. The super priority service, which gives a next-day decision on some visa and settlement applications, is not available for citizenship.
How to apply
A citizenship application runs in this order:
- The applicant completes the online form and pays the fee.
- Two referees endorse the application, and each must have known the applicant for at least three years. One must be a professional person of any nationality. The other must hold a British passport and be either a professional person or over 25. Neither may be related to the applicant or to the other referee, or act as the applicant’s representative.
- The applicant gives their biometrics (fingerprints and a photo), usually within 45 days of applying. If they do not, the application becomes invalid.
- The Home Office decides the application and, if it is approved, invites the applicant to a citizenship ceremony.
A citizenship application gives no immigration status of its own, so the applicant must keep valid permission to stay, such as ILR, until the decision and the ceremony.
The applicant can travel while the application is pending. That is worth knowing because a settlement application works differently: travelling outside the UK and Ireland before the decision withdraws it.
The citizenship ceremony and the first British passport
A successful applicant aged 18 or over becomes a British citizen at a citizenship ceremony, by swearing or affirming allegiance and making a pledge. The local council usually arranges the ceremony, and the applicant must attend within 90 days of the invitation. An applicant who misses that window without a good reason is refused. The certificate of naturalisation is presented at the ceremony, and applicants can usually bring two guests.
After the ceremony, a new citizen enters the UK on a British passport or a certificate of entitlement to the right of abode. The naturalisation certificate, an eVisa (the online record of immigration status) and a biometric residence permit (BRP) cannot be used to enter as a British citizen. British citizens also cannot get an ETA, and any BRP must be destroyed after the ceremony.
A new citizen who plans to travel therefore applies for a passport first. The application includes the naturalisation certificate and the passport the person used to come to the UK, and a first adult passport is valid for 10 years.
Children and dual nationality
Whether a child is British depends mainly on where the child was born and on the parents’ status at the birth. The UK also lets new citizens keep their other nationality, though not every country does the same.
Children born in the UK
A child born in the UK is automatically British if, at the time of the birth, a parent was a British citizen or settled in the UK, for example with ILR or settled status. A child born while both parents held time-limited visas, such as Skilled Worker visas, is not British at birth. The parents then apply for the child’s own dependant visa, before the child turns 18, so that the child can stay in the UK and travel in and out.
Such a child can be registered as a British citizen while under 18 if a parent later becomes British or settled. Registration is also open to a child who lived in the UK for their first 10 years without spending more than 90 days outside the UK in any one of those years.
Children born abroad
A child born outside the UK after a parent became British by naturalisation is automatically British. That child is British by descent, though, and does not automatically pass citizenship on to their own children born outside the UK. Children born abroad before the parent naturalised can be registered as British citizens.
Keeping another nationality
The UK allows dual citizenship, and no separate application is needed to keep another nationality. Some countries do not allow it, so an applicant may lose or have to give up their existing nationality, and the Home Office advises checking with that country before applying. A dual national also cannot get British diplomatic help while in their other country of citizenship.
What may change for citizenship
No change to the citizenship rules is in force, and the settlement reforms the government confirmed on November 2, 2026 do not change them directly. The reforms still affect when people reach citizenship, because ILR comes first.
How the settlement reforms affect citizenship
Under the government response published that day, 10 years becomes the starting point for ILR, with three or five years for higher earners and some public service workers. No start date has been set. Once those pathways apply, most people who settle under them will reach citizenship later than they would today. People who already hold ILR are not affected in this way, because the Home Office has said settled status will not be removed from anyone who holds it. Our guide to earned settlement explains the pathways and how they may apply to people still on a visa.
Citizenship reforms announced in 2025
Reforms to citizenship itself were announced in the May 2025 Immigration White Paper, without figures or dates. It committed to:
- a longer standard qualifying period for citizenship
- a points-based approach that lets people who contribute more qualify sooner
- a refresh of the Life in the UK Test and how it operates
- considering ways to reduce the cost of British nationality for young adults who grew up in the UK
The earned settlement consultation of November 2025 said that changing the British Nationality Act 1981 requires primary legislation (a new Act of Parliament). Until such an Act is passed, the five-year residence rule and the 12-month ILR rule remain in force.
Choosing the application date
The application date decides which five years the Home Office looks at, so it is worth working out before applying. A person who started living in the UK on March 1, 2020 and was granted ILR on March 1, 2025, for example, can apply from March 1, 2026, when the ILR is 12 months old. An application on that day looks back to March 1, 2021. The person must have been in the UK on that day, with no more than 450 days abroad between that day and the application and no more than 90 in the last 12 months.
Adding up the whole days abroad from travel records shows whether an application sits within the limits or relies on the Home Office’s discretion. Where it relies on discretion, a later date that brings the count within the limits is safer.
For readers not yet on a route to settlement, our overview of UK visa routes shows the work and talent visas that lead to ILR.
The rules and fees above were checked against GOV.UK guidance, Home Office nationality guidance and the Home Office fees table as of November 2026.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Every immigration case depends on its own facts. For an assessment of your specific situation, consult an immigration attorney.
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