You can apply for citizenship if you’ve lived in the UK for 5 years and have had one of the following for 12 months:

You must also:

You must have lived in the UK for at least 5 years before the date of your application. You also should not have broken any UK immigration laws.

If you have indefinite leave to enter or remain, the Home Office will not usually check if you broke any immigration laws before then.

You cannot include any time spent in the UK when you’re exempt from immigration control as a:

You should not have:

You may have lost your indefinite leave to remain or enter if you’ve been away from the UK for:

You must have been physically present in the UK exactly 5 years before the Home Office receives your application.

Your application may be rejected if you were not in the UK exactly 5 years before the Home Office received it. This depends on the reason why you were not in the UK. The Home Office will consider if there are special circumstances, for example:

The date the Home Office receives your application depends on how you apply. If you apply online, your application will be received on the same day. It will take longer if you apply by post.

It costs £1,630 to apply.

You’ll also need to have your biometric information (fingerprints and a photo) taken - there’s no fee for this. You’ll be told how to do this after you’ve applied.