What are the residency requirements for citizenship applications?

You must have lived in the UK for at least 5 years before the date of your application (or 3 years if applying based on your marriage to a British citizen).

During this time you should not have:

Spent more than 450 days outside the UK during the 5 years before making your application (or 270 days during the 3 years before making your application based on marriage to a British citizen);
Spent more than 90 days outside the UK in the 12 months before the date of your application; or
Have broken any UK immigration laws (for example living illegally in the UK)

Read more about this and other questions in our

Settlement and British Citizenship section.

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Disclaimer

Given the fast pace of change, we would stress that this information is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.

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