Live permanently in the UK

 Settle in the UK (indefinite leave to remain)

  • Check if you can get indefinite leave to remain

Other types of settlement

  • Apply to the EU Settlement Scheme (settled and pre-settled status)
  • Prove you have right of abode in the UK
  • Apply to stay in the UK as a stateless person

Become a British citizen

  • Check if you can become a British citizen
  • Prove your knowledge of English for citizenship and settling
  • Life in the UK Test

Check if you can get indefinite leave to remain

Indefinite leave to remain is how you settle in the UK. It’s also called ‘settlement’. It gives you the right to live, work and study here for as long as you like, and apply for benefits if you’re eligible. You can use it to apply for British citizenship.

There are different ways to apply for indefinite leave to remain based on your circumstances.

If you or your family member are an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen, you may be able to apply for settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme instead.

If you work in the UK

You may be able to apply if you have a work visa.

You must usually have lived and worked in the UK for 5 years. If you have a tier 1 visa, it can be 2 or 3 years. If you have an Innovator or Global Talent visa, it can be 3 years.

You may also need to meet the salary or financial requirements – this depends on your visa.

How you apply depends on whether you:

  • have a tier 2, T2, International Sportsperson or Skilled Worker visa
  • have a Global Talent, Tier 1 Entrepreneur or Investor visa
  • have an Innovator visa
  • represent an overseas business
  • have a Turkish Worker or Businessperson visa
  • are a private servant in a diplomatic household with an International Agreement visa, or a domestic worker

If you have family in the UK

You may be able to apply if you have a partner, parent or child or other relative settled in the UK – either as a British citizen or a person with indefinite leave to remain.

How you apply depends on which visa you have and how your family member settled.

There are other ways to apply if:

  • your partner has died
  • your relationship ended because of domestic violence

If you’ve lived in the UK for 10 years

You may be able to apply if you’ve been living here for 10 years or more.

There’s a different way to apply if you have a visa that’s on the basis of your private life. Applications open in June 2022.

If you’re a Commonwealth citizen

You can apply if you’ve been living in the UK for 5 years on a UK Ancestry visa.

Some Commonwealth citizens have ‘right of abode’ in the UK. This means you can live or work in the UK without immigration restrictions. Check if you can apply to prove you have right of abode in the UK.

You may be eligible for citizenship instead, for example by applying under the Windrush scheme.

Apply to the EU Settlement Scheme (settled and pre-settled status)

Contents

  1. Overview
  2. Who can apply
  3. What you’ll get
  4. What you’ll need to apply
  5. Switch from pre-settled status to settled status
  6. Applying for your child
  7. Applying as the family member of someone from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
  8. Applying if you’re the family member of an eligible person of Northern Ireland
  9. Apply to the EU Settlement Scheme
  10. If you have permanent residence or indefinite leave to remain
  11. If you stop working in the UK or start working in an EU country
  12. After you’ve applied

Overview

If you’re from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, you and your family might be able to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme to continue living in the UK. You might also be able to apply if you’re the family member of an eligible person of Northern Ireland.

The deadline for most people to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme was 30 June 2021.

If you or your family are from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, you can still apply if you or a family member were living in the UK by 31 December 2020. You must also either:

  • meet one of the criteria for a later deadline to apply
  • have ‘reasonable grounds’ for not applying by 30 June 2021

You can also apply if you already have pre-settled status, and you’re applying for settled status.

You may be able to stay in the UK without applying – for example, if you’re an Irish citizen, or you already have indefinite leave to enter or remain.

If your application is successful, you’ll get either settled or pre-settled status.

Criteria for later deadlines and ‘reasonable grounds’ for not applying by the deadline

In some cases, you can still apply after 30 June 2021.

For example, if you’re joining a family member who was living in the UK by 31 December 2020, your deadline will be based on when you arrive in the UK, as long as:

  • you were their family member by 31 December 2020 (this does not apply to children born or adopted after this date)
  • the family relationship still exists when you apply

You can also apply if you can show ‘reasonable grounds’ (such as medical reasons, or being the victim of domestic abuse) for why you did not apply by 30 June 2021.

Check if you can still apply to the EU Settlement Scheme, including further examples of what counts as reasonable grounds for not applying by the deadline.

If you already have pre-settled status

If you applied to the EU Settlement Scheme and were given pre-settled status, you need to apply for settled status before your pre-settled status expires.

Settled status will let you stay in the UK for as long as you like. You can usually apply for citizenship once you’ve had settled status for 12 months.

Check what you’ll need to do to apply.

If you’re waiting for a decision

After you’ve applied, you’ll get a certificate of application. The certificate will explain what you can use it for while you’re waiting for a decision – for example, whether you can use it to prove your right to work in the UK.

Check what you’ll need to do once you’ve got a decision on your application.

Fees

It’s free to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme.

Prove you have right of abode in the UK

 

Contents

  1. Overview
  2. Commonwealth citizens
  3. Apply for a certificate of entitlement

Overview

Having right of abode means you’re allowed to live or work in the UK without any immigration restrictions, which means:

  • you will not need a visa to come to the UK
  • there’s no limit on the length of time you can spend in the country

All British citizens automatically have right of abode in the UK.

Some Commonwealth citizens may also have right of abode.

You can prove you have right of abode if you have a UK passport describing you as a British citizen or British subject with right of abode.

Otherwise you need to apply for a ‘certificate of entitlement’.

If you’re from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein

If you or your family member started living in the UK by 31 December 2020, you may be able to apply to the free EU Settlement Scheme.

The deadline to apply was 30 June 2021 for most people. You can still apply if either:

  • you have a later deadline – for example, you’re joining a family member in the UK who was living in the UK by 31 December 2020
  • you have ‘reasonable grounds’ for being unable to apply by 30 June 2021 – for example, you had an illness or were the victim of domestic abuse

Check if you can still apply to the EU Settlement Scheme.

Otherwise you need a visa to work in the UK.

Irish citizens do not need to apply for a visa or to the EU Settlement Scheme.

Check if you can become a British citizen

There are different ways to apply for British citizenship (or ‘naturalisation’) based on your circumstances.

If you’re eligible in more than one way you can choose which way to apply.

It might take longer than usual to process applications because of coronavirus (COVID-19). This will not affect the decision. Extra time will be allowed to enrol biometrics, provide additional information and arrange a citizenship ceremony. Do not apply by post if you’ll need your documents back by a specific date.

If you’ve applied for citizenship, you’ll need permission to stay in the UK until you’re granted citizenship. Your permission needs to last until you have had your citizenship ceremony.

If you have indefinite leave to remain (ILR) or settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, this counts as permission to stay.

The deadline to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme for most people was 30 June 2021. If you did not apply to the EU Settlement Scheme by the deadline, you might still be able to apply.

If you were born in the UK

You do not automatically get British citizenship if you were born in the UK. It depends on when you were born and your parents’ circumstances. You need to check if you’re a British citizen.

You may be eligible to apply for citizenship if you were born in the UK and are not automatically a British citizen.

If you’re married to or in a civil partnership with a British citizen

To apply as the spouse or civil partner of a British citizen you must have lived in the UK for the last 3 years.

You’ll also need to have either:

  • indefinite leave to remain (ILR)
  • settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme

If you do, you’ll be eligible to apply for citizenship immediately.

If you have indefinite leave to remain (ILR)

You can usually apply for ILR after you’ve lived in the UK for 5 years.

To apply for citizenship with ILR you must usually have lived in the UK for 12 months after getting it.

If you have ‘settled status’ under the EU Settlement Scheme

To apply for citizenship with settled status you must usually have lived in the UK for 12 months after getting it.

If you had permanent residence status before you got settled status

You can no longer apply for citizenship based on your permanent residence status.

If you had permanent residence status, you can count the time that you had it towards the 12 months you need to wait before applying for citizenship with your settled status.

Example
You came to the UK in 2013 and gained permanent residence status in 2018. In April 2021, you got settled status.

Usually, you would need to wait 12 months after getting settled status to apply for citizenship – but because you had permanent residence status for 3 years already, you can apply straightaway.

If you have ‘permanent residence’ status

You can no longer apply for British citizenship with ‘permanent residence’ status.

You might still be able to apply for settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, if you have not already. You can then use this to apply for citizenship.

The deadline to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme for most people was 30 June 2021. You can still apply if you have ‘reasonable grounds’ for not being able to apply by the deadline.

Other ways you can be eligible

You may be eligible to apply for citizenship if:

  • you have a British parent
  • you have another type of British nationality
  • you’re stateless
  • you previously gave up (renounced) your citizenship

If you’re a Commonwealth citizen

You may be eligible to apply for citizenship under the Windrush Scheme if both:

  • you or one of your parents arrived in the UK before 1973
  • you’ve lived in the UK and not been away from it for more than 2 years

If your parent arrived in the UK before 1973, you must have either:

  • been born in the UK
  • arrived in the UK before you were 18

Some Commonwealth citizens have ‘right of abode’ in the UK. This means you can live or work in the UK without immigration restrictions. Check if you can apply to prove you have right of abode in the UK.

Prove your knowledge of English for citizenship and settling

Contents

  1. Overview
  2. Who does not need to prove their knowledge of English
  3. Approved English language qualifications
  4. If your degree was taught or researched in English

Overview

You might need to prove your knowledge of the English language if you’re 18 or over and applying for citizenship or to settle in the UK (known as ‘indefinite leave to remain’).

You can prove it by having either:

  • an English qualification at B1, B2, C1 or C2 level
  • a degree taught or researched in English

You do not need to prove your knowledge of English in certain circumstances.

Your citizenship or settlement application will be refused if you send the wrong qualifications.

If you need more time

If you’re already in the UK you may be able to extend your permission to stay, so that you can prove your knowledge of English.

Check the guide for your current visa for instructions on how to apply for an extension.

Life in the UK Test

 

Contents

  1. Book the Life in the UK Test
  2. What happens at the test
  3. Cancellations, refunds and complaints

Book the Life in the UK Test

This is the only official government service for booking the Life in the UK Test. You need to take the test as part of your application for British citizenship or settlement in the UK.

You must book your Life in the UK Test online at least 3 days in advance. It costs £50.

There are over 30 test centres in the UK. You can choose where to take your test when you book.

Prepare for the test

You’ll be tested on information in the official handbook for the Life in the UK Test. You should study it to prepare for the test. The handbook is available as a book, an eBook, an e-Learning subscription or in audio formats.

You’ll have 45 minutes to answer 24 questions about British traditions and customs.

 

 Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.