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What to send with your application

This page tells you what you must send us when you apply for a certificate of entitlement to right of abode in the United Kingdom. For more details about applying, see the page on how apply for a certificate of entitlement to right of abode.

For information on who has right of abode see the section on the right to live in the United Kingdom.

You must send us:

  • your valid passport or travel document. If your passport was not issued in the United Kingdom and you are making your application in the United Kingdom, your passport must contain immigration stamps showing that you are living here;
  • two passport-size photographs taken within the past six months; and
  • the documents needed to prove that you have a right of abode (see below).

Documents to prove your right of abode

The list below shows the different ways in which you can prove right of abode and the documents you must send us as evidence of that. You must send us the original documents, not photocopies. Birth certificates and marriage certificates must be the ones issued at the time of birth or marriage. If they are not, please explain why.

If you need us to return your documents urgently, you may phone us on 0845 010 5200. Please do not phone us to check the progress of your application. To find out how long your application is likely to take, see waiting times.

If you were registered or naturalised as a British citizen on or after 1 January 1983

or
you were registered or naturalised as a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies in the United Kingdom before 1 January 1983

You should send your registration or naturalisation certificate.

If you were born in the United Kingdom before 1 January 1983

You should send your full birth certificate, showing your parents' details.

If you are a Commonwealth (not British) citizen born before 1 January 1983 to a parent who was born in the United Kingdom

You should send:

  • your full birth certificate, showing your parents' details; and
  • your parent's full United Kingdom birth certificate.

If you are a female Commonwealth citizen who was married before 1 January 1983 to a man with right of abode in the United Kingdom

You should send:

  • your marriage certificate; and
  • evidence of your husband's right of abode, such as his passport or United Kingdom birth certificate.

If you were born in the United Kingdom or the Falkland Islands on or after 1 January 1983, or in another qualifying British overseas territory on or after 21 May 2002

You should send:

  • your full birth certificate, showing your parents' details; and
  • evidence of either parent's British citizenship or settled status at the time of your birth, such as a passport describing that parent as a British citizen or showing that he or she had indefinite leave to remain at the time of your birth; and
  • your parents' marriage certificate, if you are claiming through your father.

If you were born outside the United Kingdom and the Falkland Islands on or after 1 January 1983, outside the United Kingdom or any qualifying British overseas territory on or after 21 May 2002, to a parent who was born in the United Kingdom or the Falkland Islands or, on or after 21 May 2002, any qualifying British overseas territory;
or
registered or naturalised in the United Kingdom before your birth

You should send:

  • your full birth certificate, showing your parents' details; and
  • your parents' marriage certificate, if you are claiming through your father; and
  • the relevant parents' full birth certificate, registration or naturalisation certificate.

If you were born outside the United Kingdom or the Falkland Islands on or after 1 January 1983, or outside the United Kingdom and any qualifying British overseas territory on or after 21 May 2002, to a parent who, at the time of your birth, was a British citizen in Crown service or a designated service

You should send:

  • your full birth certificate, showing your parents' details; and
  • your parents' marriage certificate, if you are claiming through your father; and
  • evidence of your parent's relevant employment at the time of your birth, such as a letter from the employer.

If you were adopted in the United Kingdom, a qualifying British overseas territory, or otherwise under the terms of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption

You should send:

  • your adoption certificate; and
  • evidence of your adoptive parents' citizenship (such as a passport); and
  • if a convention adoption, evidence of your parents' place of habitual residence at the time of the adoption (such as your adoption certificate).

If you were a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies and were ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom for a continuous period of five years before 1 January 1983 and were settled in the United Kingdom at the end of that period

Evidence of:

  • your citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies, such as a passport, or certificate of naturalisation or registration; and
  • your settlement and five years of ordinary residence in the United Kingdom before 1983, such as your passport, P60 tax forms, details of National Insurance contributions, social security claims, or employers' letters.

If you were a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies and had a parent who was born, adopted, registered or naturalised in the United Kingdom before your birth or adoption

You should send:

  • your full birth certificate, showing your parents' details, or your adoption certificate; and
  • your parents' marriage certificate, if claiming through your father; and
  • the relevant parent's full birth certificate or certificate of adoption, registration or naturalisation.

If you were a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies and had a grandparent who was born, adopted, registered or naturalised in the United Kingdom before your parent's birth or adoption

You should send:

  • your parents' marriage certificate, if you are claiming through your father; and
  • your relevant parent's full birth certificate or adoption certificate; and
  • your full birth certificate, showing your parents' details, or your adoption certificate; and
  • your grandparents' marriage certificate, if you are claiming through your grandfather; and
  • the relevant grandparent's full birth certificate, or certificate of adoption, registration or naturalisation.

See also

Terms explained

  • Adopted

    An adopted child is one who has legally become the child of a parent or parents who are not the child's biological parents. To be legally recognised in the United Kingdom, the adoption must be made by order of a court or under the terms of the Hague Convention (see Hague Convention). A foreign adoption order will be recognised in the United Kingdom if it was made in a 'designated country' - a country included in the Adoption (Designation of Overseas Adoptions) Order 1973. The current list of these countries is on the Department for Children, Schools and Families website.

  • British overseas territory

    These were formerly known as the British dependent territories. The territories are: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands and Dependencies, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, St Helena and Dependencies, the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Virgin Islands. (The sovereign bases of Akrotiri and Dhekelia do not count as qualifying territories for nationality purposes.)

    South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands were the dependencies of the Falkland Islands, but were not British overseas territories between 3 October 1985 and 3 December 2001.

    Hong Kong stopped being a British overseas territory on 30 June 1997 when sovereignty returned to China. St Christopher and Nevis was a British overseas territory until 18 September 1983, when it became an independent Commonwealth country.

  • Crown service

    Working in the direct employment by the United Kingdom Government, the Northern Ireland Government, the Scottish Administration, the Welsh Assembly Government (from 6 November 2009) or, on or after 21 May 2002, the governments of the qualifying territories. (See Qualifying territory.) This does not include someone who is subcontracted on government projects or in the service of Crown servants, such as Royal Navy laundrymen or teachers working in schools on British bases.

  • Designated service

    Types of employment with specific employers which the Home Secretary has agreed may be treated the same as Crown service for the purpose of British nationality law. See Chapter 4 of the Nationality Instructions, under Law and policy.

  • Habitual residence

    Proven close link with a country that shows that country is where you normally live. Proof of habitual residence would be the length of time you have spent in the country, the continuity and general nature of the residence.

  • Indefinite leave to remain

    Indefinite leave to remain (often known as ILR) is permission to stay permanently (settle) in the United Kingdom, free from immigration control.

  • Intercountry

    A process that occurs between two countries. The term is usually used in connection with the adoption of a child from another country by parents in the United Kingdom.

  • Naturalised in the United Kingdom

    A term that describes someone who was not born a British citizen but became one through the legal process of naturalisation.

  • Ordinary residence

    Proven close link with a country that shows that country is where you are settled and normally live. Proof of ordinary residence would be the length of time you have spent in the country, the continuity and general nature of the residence, which must be voluntary and legal.

  • Parent

    A parent is the biological mother of a child, the biological father if he was married to the mother when the child was born or if he can prove paternity, or the adoptive mother or father of a child who has been legally adopted.

  • Registered in the United Kingdom

    To be registered as a British citizen.

  • Settled status

    You are normally resident in the United Kingdom with no immigration restriction on the length of your stay. To be free of immigration restriction you must have the right of abode or indefinite leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom.

  • United Kingdom

    The United Kingdom includes England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are considered as part of the United Kingdom for nationality purposes, but have their own immigration laws and policies. The Channel Islands are not treated as part of the United Kingdom for value added tax (VAT) purposes.

All glossary terms