• 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

You must also:

• prove you were in the UK exactly 3 years before the day the Home Office receives your application
• prove your knowledge of English, Welsh or Scottish Gaelic
• have passed the life in the UK test
• be of good character – read Naturalisation booklet AN

You’re from the European Economic Area (EEA)

You must have one of the following:

• a permanent residence card to prove you have permanent residence status
• indefinite leave to remain in the UK
• indefinite leave to enter the UK

You may have lost your indefinite leave to remain or enter if you’ve been away from the UK for more than 2 years at any time since you got it.

You’re from outside the EEA

You must have either:

• indefinite leave to remain in the UK
• indefinite leave to enter the UK

’Indefinite leave to enter’ is permission to move to the UK permanently from abroad – for example, on a Returning Resident visa.

Residency requirements

You should not have:

• spent more than 270 days outside the UK during the 3 years before your application
• spent more than 90 days outside the UK in the last 12 months
• broken any UK immigration laws (for example working illegally in the UK)

You may be exempt from the residency requirements if your partner works abroad either for the UK government or an organisation closely linked to government.

Children under 18

Your child is usually automatically a British citizen if they were born in the UK and when they were born either:

• their other parent was a British citizen
• you had indefinite leave to remain in the UK or permanent residence status

If your partner has died

You cannot apply for citizenship as the partner of a British citizen if your partner has died.