Immigration Corner | Checking eligibility for UK citizenship

Dear Mr Bassie,

Please advise me on how to go about checking whether I am eligible to become a British citizen.

Thanks in advance.

– J.Z.

Dear J.Z.,

There are different ways to apply for British citizenship (or ‘naturalisation’) and it is based on the applicants’ circumstances. Persons who are eligible in more than one way can choose which way to apply.

Those persons who have applied for citizenship will need permission to stay in the UK until they are granted citizenship. Please note that permission will need to last until that person has had their citizenship ceremony.

If they 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 June 30, 2021. Please note that those who did not apply to the EU Settlement Scheme by the deadline might still be able to apply.

IF BORN IN THE UK

Persons do not automatically get British citizenship if they were born in the UK. It depends on when they were born and their parents’ circumstances. Persons need to check if they are a British citizen. They may be eligible to apply for citizenship if they were born in the UK and are not automatically a British citizen.

IF MARRIED TO OR IN A CIVIL PARTNERSHIP WITH A BRITISH CITIZEN

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

They will also need to have either:

• Indefinite leave to remain (ILR); or

• Settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme

If they do, they will be eligible to apply for citizenship immediately.

IF THEY HAVE ILR

Those persons can usually apply for ILR after they have lived in the UK for five years. To apply for citizenship with ILR persons must usually have lived in the UK for 12 months after obtaining it.

Please note that to apply for British citizenship as an Irish citizen, persons must have lived in the UK for five years.

All the best.

John S. Bassie is a barrister/attorney-at-law who practises law in Jamaica. He is a justice of the peace, a Supreme Court-appointed mediator, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a chartered arbitrator, the past global president of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a member of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association (UK). Email: lawbassie@yahoo.com