British Citizenship for EU Citizens 2026: Naturalisation Routes and Fees

The legal basis under section 6(1) of the British Nationality Act 1981

Naturalisation as a British citizen is governed by section 6(1) of the British Nationality Act 1981, the same provision for an EU national as for an applicant from any other country. There is no separate EU route. What changes for EU nationals is the evidence base: holders of EU Settlement Scheme settled status hold a permission that the Home Office treats as the equivalent of Indefinite Leave to Remain for the purposes of the Act.

Section 6(1) sets the discretionary power of the Home Secretary to grant a certificate of naturalisation where the applicant meets the requirements set out in Schedule 1 of the Act. Schedule 1 lists the residence threshold, the language requirement, the Knowledge of Life in the UK requirement, the good character test, and the intention to live in the UK. Each requirement is treated as a hurdle on the way to the discretion.

The route is the same one used by non-EU applicants under section 6(1), and the published fee, processing time and form (Form AN, submitted online at gov.uk/apply-citizenship-indefinite-leave-to-remain) is the same. The applicant's EU nationality has no procedural effect once settled status is in place.

The 5-year residence rule and the 12-month free-of-restrictions period

Schedule 1 requires the applicant to have been physically present in the UK on the date 5 years before the application is submitted, with no more than 450 days of absence across the 5-year period and no more than 90 days of absence in the final 12 months. The 5-year clock can include time spent in the UK on any lawful basis: as an EU national exercising treaty rights before Brexit, as a holder of pre-settled status, or as a holder of any other valid leave.

On top of the 5-year residence, the applicant must have been free of any time restrictions on their stay for the 12 months immediately before the application. For EU nationals the trigger date for that 12-month clock is the grant of settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme. Pre-settled status, which is time-limited, does not start the clock: only settled status (or ILR by another route) does.

What this means in practice: an EU national who arrived in 2018, secured pre-settled status in 2021, was upgraded to settled status in 2023, and has remained in the UK since, completes the 5-year residence threshold by 2023 and the 12-month free-of-restrictions threshold by 2024. By 2026 that applicant has a fully eligible application window, subject to the language, Life in the UK and good-character tests.

The Life in the UK test, B1 English and good character

The Life in the UK test is taken once and the pass certificate is retained for life. The test fee is GBP 50 in 2026, paid through the official booking portal at gov.uk/life-in-the-uk-test, with no other legitimate booking route. The test is 45 minutes, 24 questions, with a pass mark of 75 percent. The official handbook (Life in the United Kingdom: A Guide for New Residents, 3rd edition) is the only authoritative study source.

The B1 English requirement is met by holding a passport from a majority English-speaking country, by holding an academic degree taught in English, or by passing an approved Secure English Language Test at CEFR level B1 or higher in speaking and listening. Most EU nationals do not hold a majority English-speaking-country passport and most rely either on a UK-taught degree or on a SELT certificate. The list of approved SELT providers is published on GOV.UK.

The good character requirement is assessed against the Home Office Good Character Guidance (current version dated 2024). The Guidance covers unspent criminal convictions, civil judgments, financial irregularity (including bankruptcy and tax evasion), and immigration history. A short overstay in the 10 years before the application can be raised as a good-character concern even where it sits below the 14-day Part 9 threshold.

Form AN, the 2026 fees and processing times

The application is made on Form AN through the GOV.UK service at gov.uk/apply-citizenship-indefinite-leave-to-remain. The 2026 fee is GBP 1,630, payable at the point of submission. A separate ceremony fee of GBP 80 is paid to the local council after approval, before the oath of allegiance and pledge are taken.

The biometric enrolment fee of GBP 19.20 is included in the application fee. The applicant submits fingerprints and a photograph at a UK Visa and Citizenship Application Service centre as part of the process, then waits for the decision letter from UKVI.

Published Home Office service standards in 2026 are 6 months for naturalisation under section 6(1). In practice the great majority of EU applicants receive a decision within 3 to 4 months, because the routine cases are now largely automated and the HMRC data-share supplies most of the residence evidence without paper documents. Complex cases (long absences, prior immigration breaches, criminal record disclosures) take longer.

Dual citizenship: the UK position and the home-state catch

The UK permits dual citizenship without restriction. A naturalised British citizen who keeps their original EU passport remains a British citizen in UK law. The Home Office does not require renunciation of any other nationality. The Oath of Allegiance taken at the ceremony commits the new citizen to loyalty to the Crown but does not require giving up another nationality.

The catch sits in the law of the home state. Germany changed its position on 27 June 2024 and now permits dual citizenship without exceptional-circumstances tests, which means German nationals naturalising as British in 2026 keep their German passports automatically. The Netherlands moved to a similar position from October 2023. Italy, France, Ireland, Poland, Spain, Portugal and Sweden have permitted dual citizenship for years.

Austria is the main outlier in 2026: Austrian law generally requires the citizen to apply for permission to retain Austrian citizenship before acquiring another nationality, and acquisition without that permission can lead to loss of Austrian citizenship. Austrian applicants typically contact the Austrian consulate before naturalising.

The HMRC data-share and what changed for EU applicants since 2023

Until 2022 a typical EU naturalisation application included thick paper bundles of P60s, tenancy agreements, council tax letters and utility bills as evidence of UK residence across the 5-year window. The case-working time on those bundles was a major source of delay. In 2023 the Home Office activated an automated data exchange with HM Revenue and Customs that allows the case-worker to pull the applicant's UK tax and employment record directly from HMRC systems.

The effect for 2026 applicants is concrete: the Form AN online flow now asks the applicant to consent to the HMRC check, and the case-worker uses the resulting data as the primary residence evidence. Paper documents are still requested where there are gaps (self-employed periods, time out of the workforce, time spent abroad as a student) but the routine 5-year working PAYE history of a typical EU employee no longer needs to be assembled and uploaded by the applicant.

What this means in practice: the application form is shorter, the upload requirement is lighter, and decisions on routine cases come faster. The trade-off is that anyone whose HMRC record is patchy needs to supply additional documents to fill in the gaps, and the burden of explaining gaps sits on the applicant.

How we verified this

The naturalisation fee, residence rules and processing times were cross-checked in May 2026 against the gov.uk/apply-citizenship-indefinite-leave-to-remain page, the GOV.UK fees schedule for citizenship and nationality, and the Home Office Nationality Caseworker Guidance (2024 update). Statutory grounding came from section 6(1) and Schedule 1 of the British Nationality Act 1981 on legislation.gov.uk. The position on dual citizenship for German nationals was checked against the publicly available German Federal Ministry of the Interior announcement of June 2024. EU Settlement Scheme equivalence to ILR was confirmed in the EU Settlement Scheme caseworker guidance published on GOV.UK.

Frequently asked questions

Can an EU citizen apply for British citizenship in 2026?

Yes, an EU, EEA or Swiss national who holds EU Settlement Scheme settled status (or ILR by another route) can apply for British citizenship under section 6(1) of the British Nationality Act 1981. The route is the same one used by non-EU applicants. The 2026 fee is GBP 1,630 plus a GBP 80 ceremony fee. There is no separate EU citizenship application form.

How long does an EU citizen need to live in the UK before applying?

The standard residence requirement is 5 years of lawful UK residence before the application, with no more than 450 days of absence over those 5 years and no more than 90 days of absence in the final 12 months. The applicant must also have been free of any time restriction on their stay for the 12 months before the application, which usually means 12 months from the grant of settled status.

Does pre-settled status count toward the 12-month free-of-restrictions period?

Pre-settled status does not start the 12-month free-of-restrictions clock, because pre-settled status is time-limited. Only settled status, or ILR by another route, counts. Time on pre-settled status does count toward the 5-year residence threshold, so the period itself is not wasted. The applicant simply has to wait 12 months after the grant of settled status before submitting Form AN.

What is the 2026 cost to naturalise as a British citizen?

The 2026 cost is GBP 1,630 for the naturalisation application (Form AN), submitted at gov.uk/apply-citizenship-indefinite-leave-to-remain. A separate GBP 80 citizenship ceremony fee is paid to the local council after approval, before the oath is taken. Biometric enrolment is included in the application fee. Life in the UK test (GBP 50) and any English language test costs are separate and paid to the test providers.

Does the UK require renunciation of the original EU citizenship?

No, the UK permits dual citizenship without restriction. A naturalised citizen keeps their original passport in UK law. The position in the home state varies: Germany changed to permit dual citizenship in June 2024, the Netherlands in October 2023, and most other EU states already permitted it. Austrian nationals should check Austrian rules before applying, as Austria has stricter conditions.

What documents replace the old paper residence bundles in 2026?

The Home Office HMRC data-share, active since 2023, supplies the case-worker with PAYE employment and tax records directly. The applicant consents to the check in the online Form AN flow. Paper evidence is still requested for gaps, including self-employed periods, study breaks, time abroad, and any year where HMRC has no record. Routine 5-year employee history no longer needs to be uploaded.

Sources

• GOV.UK: Apply for citizenship if you have indefinite leave to remain
• GOV.UK: British citizenship for EU citizens
• legislation.gov.uk: British Nationality Act 1981
• GOV.UK: Becoming a British citizen