If you wish to apply for British citizenship and have at least 12 months of permanent residence, then you must apply for a permanent residence certificate or card first. This change was introduced on 12thNovember 2015 by the British Nationality (General) (Amendment No. 3) Regulations 2015.
If an application for naturalisation is made without a permanent residence document where one is required, the application will be refused. This will also mean that the fee will be lost and won’t be refunded.
It seemed that the Home Office were returning applications that did not have a permanent residence document included, without refusing them, however this appears to no longer be the case as from August 2016.
If you require assistance in applying for Permanent Residence in the UK, please contact us on 01793 836010 for an assessment of your situation.
