11. How can I become a British citizen?

If you have been allowed to settle (stay here permanently), you can apply for citizenship under a process called 'naturalisation'. There are two main ways of doing this:

• If you have lived in the UK for five years, you have been settled here for the previous 12 months, and you can speak enough English, Welsh, or Scots Gaelic to get by;
• If you are married to a British citizen, have lived here for three years, and you are settled here. There is no minimum period for which you must be settled.

In either case, you may not be accepted if you have been outside the UK for more than three months, on average, in any one year. The Home Office will want to know that you have a good character and will check to see if you have a criminal record.

If you want to become a British citizen, you can use an application form which you can get from immigration advice centres or the Home Office. You can also download the forms from the Home Office website (see 'Further help').

You can apply for children to be made citizens on their own. Or, if you are applying, you can include your children on your own application.

Most applications for naturalisation are accepted. But if yours is refused, you cannot appeal. The Home Office will explain the reasons for the refusal and will usually look at your case again if you think they have simply made a mistake. You can always apply again, but you will lose the fee you paid if your application is not successful.

New rules being introduced to test how well people who apply for naturalisation speak the language and to make sure they know something about life in the UK. These changes will probably occur some time in 2004.