Prepared for Monika

The route to British citizenship

Two certificates, a handful of reference numbers and two referees. Here is each piece, what it costs, where to get it — and somewhere to write the details down as they come in.

5-year route · section 6(1) 7 steps Checked against GOV.UK · 20 Aug 2026

The route

This page follows the five-year route — section 6(1) of the British Nationality Act 1981, for someone who is not applying as the spouse or civil partner of a British citizen. It needs five years of residence and settled status held for at least twelve months before applying.

Settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme did not require the language or Life in the UK tests at the time. That is exactly why both have to be done now, before the application goes in.

The order below is set by lead times. The travel history request is free and takes up to a month, so it goes first and then looks after itself. The Life in the UK pass never expires, so bank it whenever. The English certificate must have been awarded within the two years before the application date — that one is better sat closer to applying.

1

Step one Longest wait Free

Request your travel history

Subject access request · up to a month to come back

This goes first for one reason: it is the only thing on this page you have to wait on. Request it today and it will be back long before the tests are done.

The application asks for every trip out of the UK in the last five years, with dates. You are not obliged to request anything — the Home Office checks its own entry and exit records — but having their record in front of you makes five years of travel far easier to reconstruct honestly, and lets you check your own list before you commit to it on the form.

Choose the "Basic" request. GOV.UK says most people find it gives them everything they need: all digital information held about you since 2000, landing cards included.

Request your records

Two deadlines, one of them tight. The response arrives within one month of them having everything — but your photo ID must be sent within 7 days of making the request, or it is rejected automatically. It costs nothing.

Entries save in this browser only

Everything typed on this page — here, and in steps four and five — is kept in this browser alone. Download backup saves it all as one small file; Restore from file reads that file back in on another device, or on this one after clearing your browser data. Restoring fills in what the file holds and leaves anything else untouched.

Limit 450 days
Limit 90 days
Only whole days count. The days you leave and return are not counted as absences.
2

Step two No expiry — bank it early

Life in the UK Test

Booked at lituktestbooking.co.uk · taken in person

A 45-minute, 24-question multiple-choice test on British history, government, law and everyday customs. Every question comes from a single book — the official handbook, Life in the United Kingdom: A Guide for New Residents. Learn the book, pass the test.

Fee
£50 each attempt
Format
24 questions / 45 min
Pass mark
75% — 18 of 24
Result
Same day
Book by
3 days ahead min.
Validity
No expiry

On the day

  • There are over 30 test centres across the UK — you pick yours when booking.
  • Bring the same original ID you booked with: a valid passport, an eVisa share code, an EU/EEA or Swiss national ID card, or a biometric residence permit. Not a copy, not a photo of it.
  • The name on the booking must match the ID exactly, middle names included, or you will be turned away and lose the fee.
  • A photo is taken at the centre before the test starts.

When you pass

You get a unique reference number. That number goes on the citizenship application, so save it somewhere safe. If it doesn't go your way, you can rebook as many times as you like — you just pay £50 again each time.

Book the test Free practice tests

Book only through that link. It is the sole official booking service. Lookalike sites resell the same £50 test with a fee on top.

3

Step three B1 CEFR

English test — speaking & listening

LanguageCert International ESOL SELT B1 · taken in person

For citizenship, only speaking and listening are tested — no reading, no writing. It is a short one-to-one exam with a real examiner at an approved centre: answer questions about yourself, describe a picture, give a short talk on a set topic, hold a conversation, then answer questions on a recorded talk.

Fee
≈ £160 confirmed at booking
Level
B1 CEFR
Skills
Speaking & listening
Length
11–13 min
Pass mark
60 / 100
Result
3 working days provisional in minutes
Validity
2 years

Getting the right exam

  • It must be a Home Office-approved Secure English Language Test (SELT) sat at an approved centre. An ordinary English certificate, however good, will not be accepted.
  • The booking link below is already filtered to the correct exam and country, so the results you see are the right ones to book.
  • Bring valid photo ID; the name must match the booking.
  • The certificate is awarded as valid for two years — sit it close enough to the application that it is still in date.
Find a date & book Free practice material

You may not need this test at all. It can be skipped if you are 65 or over, if a long-term physical or mental condition prevents it (a doctor's confirmation is needed), or if you already proved B1 English when you applied for indefinite leave to remain — that qualification can be reused for citizenship even if it has since expired. Worth checking before paying for a test.

4

Step four Collect as you go

Gather your numbers

The application is mostly reference numbers, not paperwork

Almost nothing gets posted. The Home Office verifies both test results and your immigration status online, so what the form really wants is a short list of numbers. Write them here as each one arrives.

Saves in this browser, same as step one

Settled status

Proves no time restrictions

On the five-year route you must show you are free from immigration time restrictions and have been for at least twelve months. Settled status does that. The form takes either your 16-digit unique application number — it is on your EU Settlement Scheme decision letter — or a share code generated from your eVisa.

View & prove your status
A share code lasts 90 days — generate it close to applying.
Must be at least 12 months before the application date.

Test reference numbers

From steps 1 and 2

Neither certificate gets sent in. Both numbers are checked online — and if the English one is missing, the application may be refused outright.

In the email with your results.
Labelled "Candidate URN" on the result.
Must be within 2 years of the application date.
5

Step five Ask early

Your two referees

Both must have known you for 3 years or more

The application has to be endorsed by two people, and their details go straight onto the form. Checks are made on both — that their signatures are genuine, that they are qualified to act, and that they have no unspent convictions.

Neither referee can be

  • Related to you, or related to each other.
  • Your solicitor or adviser on this application.
  • Employed by the Home Office.
  • Someone convicted of an imprisonable offence in the last 10 years.

Referee one

Professional person

Any nationality, but must be a professional person — a minister of religion, a civil servant, or a member of a professional body such as an accountant or a solicitor.

Referee two

British passport holder

Must hold a British citizen passport, and be either a professional person or over the age of 25. This is the one that can be a long-standing friend rather than a professional contact — as long as the three years and the British passport both hold.

It is a criminal offence to give false information here — up to 3 months in prison or a £5,000 fine under section 46(1) of the British Nationality Act 1981. Worth saying plainly to whoever you ask.

6

Step six Form AN

Everything the application asks for

Applied for online · £1,839 all in

Application
£1,709
Ceremony fee
£130
Total
£1,839
Biometrics
No fee
Decision
~6 months 30 working days priority

Numbers and documents

  • Both test reference numbers — the certificates themselves are not sent.
  • Proof you are free from time restrictions — the 16-digit application number, share code, or the Home Office letter granting settled status.
  • Your passports covering the whole five years, to evidence the absences. If a passport is missing, employer letters, payslips, P60s or letters from other government departments can stand in.
  • Your biometric residence permit if you ever had one — it must be provided even if expired.
  • One other identity document: passport, national identity card, birth certificate, photo driving licence, or a bank statement from the last 6 months. If you used a particular document to sit the Life in the UK test, use that same one here.
  • Evidence of any name change — deed poll, marriage or civil partnership certificate.
  • A DVLA record printout if you have any endorsements on your driving licence.
  • Two referees, from step four.

What you have to declare

Good character is assessed on full disclosure. Every conviction in the UK and abroad, cautions, warnings, community sentences, civil orders and civil penalties. Fixed penalty notices — including speeding and parking — and drink driving. Anything currently awaiting a court hearing, and any arrest where charges were never confirmed as dropped. If anything changes after applying, such as an arrest, it must be reported.

Nothing already uploaded needs uploading again. Documents supplied with previous immigration applications are already on file and will be considered.

Apply only when everything is genuinely in place. If the application goes in without both tests met, it can be refused and the fee kept. Note too that the qualifying period is anchored to the date the application is received — including the requirement to have been physically in the UK on that same date five years earlier.

7

Step seven 45-day deadline

Enrol your biometrics

After submitting · fingerprints and a photograph

Instructions on where and how to do this arrive after the application is submitted — there is nothing to arrange in advance. Fingerprints and a facial photograph are taken to verify identity, and there is no fee. Biometrics given for earlier immigration applications can sometimes be reused.

This must be done within 45 days of submitting. Missing that deadline invalidates the whole application — it is the single tightest deadline in the process, so watch for the email.

Limits and deadlines

Five-year route · section 6(1)
Time outside the UK, over the 5 years450 days — up to 480 is normally disregarded
Time outside the UK, final 12 months90 days — up to 100 is normally disregarded
Days that count as absencesWhole days only. Days of departure and return do not count
Settled status held before applying12 months minimum
Presence in the UKRequired on the exact day 5 years before the application is received
English certificateAwarded within the 2 years before the application date
Life in the UK passNo expiry
RefereesKnown you 3 years or more
eVisa share codeValid 90 days from generation
Biometrics, after submittingWithin 45 days — or the application is invalid
DecisionUsually within 6 months; about 30 working days on the priority service
Citizenship ceremonyWithin 90 days of the invitation

Absences beyond the headline limits are not automatically fatal — there is discretion, and up to 900 days over five years can be disregarded where you have kept your home, family and finances in the UK. But it has to be argued, so the limits above are the ones to plan around.

Worth doing anyway Not part of the application

Swapping an EU driving licence for a GB one

Nothing about citizenship depends on this, and there is no deadline to beat: an EU licence is valid to drive on in Great Britain until you turn 70 — or for three years, if you were 67 or over when you became resident. It is genuinely optional.

Two small things make it worth doing alongside everything else. A GB photocard licence is on the Home Office's list of acceptable identity documents for the citizenship application. And if there are any endorsements to declare, the application wants a printed summary of your DVLA record — and that online service runs off a GB licence number.

Fee
£43
Form
D1 from a Post Office
Licence arrives
~3 weeks
Retest
Not needed
Check the DVLA rules

That link is the GOV.UK checker with the answers already filled in for a car or motorcycle licence issued in the EU or EEA.