The good character requirement for British citizenship

Applies to

Everyone aged 10 or over applying for citizenship

Looks at

Criminality, immigration history, finances, honesty and conduct

Illegal entry

Normally refused regardless of when it happened (guidance since 10 February 2025)

Refusal

No appeal; a request for reconsideration costs £450

Every citizenship applicant aged ten or over must be of good character. The Act does not define the term; the Home Office's nationality guidance does, over about 40 pages, and caseworkers apply it strictly. Because a refusal on character grounds cannot be appealed, this is the part of the application to get right before you pay.

Criminal convictions

Since 2023 the guidance works on sentence length rather than fixed rehabilitation periods:

• Custodial sentence of 12 months or more: normally refused, whenever it was.
• Custodial sentence under 12 months: normally refused unless 10 years have passed since the end of the sentence.
• Non-custodial sentence or out-of-court disposal (fines, community orders, cautions, suspended sentences): normally refused if within the last three years. Older ones are considered on the facts.
• Fixed-penalty notices such as parking tickets and speeding fines are not normally relevant unless unpaid or there are several.

Convictions are considered whether or not they are spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act; the Act does not apply to nationality decisions. Overseas convictions are assessed as if the offence had been committed in the UK. You must declare everything on the form; a conviction found but not declared is treated as deception, which is worse than the offence.

Immigration history

Overstaying, working in breach of conditions, illegal entry and assisting others to breach the rules all count. The guidance says breaches in the ten years before the application will normally lead to refusal. From 10 February 2025 a person who entered the UK illegally, or who arrived without the required entry clearance after making a dangerous journey such as a small boat or hidden in a vehicle, will normally be refused regardless of how long ago the entry was. This affects many refugees granted settlement; the guidance says exceptional or mitigating circumstances may still allow a grant.

Finances

Unpaid council tax, bankruptcy and liquidation of a company you ran can lead to refusal if there was recklessness or culpability. NHS debts over £500 and unpaid litigation costs owed to the Home Office are specific grounds. Tax matters are the commonest problem for the self-employed: a history of late returns, or a discrepancy between the income you declared for a visa and the income you declared to HMRC, is routinely treated as deception and refused. Get your tax affairs straight, and keep the evidence, before applying.

Honesty

Deception in any dealing with the Home Office, in this application or an earlier one, including a visa application made abroad, normally leads to refusal for ten years from the date of the deception. The form asks about every previous application; answer accurately even where you believe the earlier decision was wrong.

Other conduct

War crimes, terrorism, extremism, and conduct that is lawful but "notorious" and offends public standards are grounds. Being the subject of a deportation order, or having one in your past, is a ground. Driving offences, including drink driving and driving without insurance, are treated as criminality according to the sentence.

If you are not sure

Where your history includes anything above, the fee makes it worth paying an adviser to assess your case against the guidance before you apply. Where the issue is a non-custodial sentence under three years old, the answer is usually simply to wait. Where the issue is tax, resolve it with HMRC and apply with the evidence. There is no appeal against a character refusal, only a paid reconsideration or a judicial review.