UK citizenship bids hit new record high
Applications for UK citizenship have climbed to a new record high, driven by a growing number of non-EU nationals meeting the criteria to become British citizens.
Some 315,224 applications were made in the year to June 2026, up 17% from 270,254 in the previous 12 months, Home Office figures show.
It is the highest number of applications in any 12-month period since data began in 2004.
There were 233,880 applications from non-EU nationals, making up nearly three-quarters of the total (74%).
This is up from 212,041 a year earlier, and is part of a long-term increase that has seen this number more than double since the start of the decade, from 108,153 in the 12 months to June 2020.
Applications from EU nationals have also increased year on year, though at a lower level, from 58,213 to 81,344.
Citizenship is the final step for foreign nationals who wish to become a naturalised citizen of the UK.
No foreign national can apply for British citizenship without first having indefinite leave to remain (ILR) in the UK, which is also known as settled status.
Most people with ILR can apply for citizenship after holding this status for 12 months.
The jump in applications coincides with a period that saw the Government announce a shake-up of the law regarding legal migration.
Under proposals unveiled in November 2025 and which are currently under consultation, there would be stricter minimum requirements for gaining indefinite leave to remain, while those who meet the requirements would face different qualifying periods depending on their circumstances.
The law currently allows migrants to apply for indefinite leave to remain in the UK, also known as settled status, after five years.
Under the proposals, the baseline qualifying period for many migrants would be 10 years, but this would be adjusted up or down depending on the person’s situation.
The record number of applications for citizenship in the year to June 2026 may reflect growing awareness of the impending change in the law, according to one expert.
“Research suggests that uncertainty can encourage migrants to secure their status by applying for citizenship,” according to Nuni Jorgensen, of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford.
“The higher number of people applying for citizenship partly reflects rising non-EU migration even before Brexit, as well as a gradual increase in the share of non-EU migrants choosing to become citizens since 2021,” he continued.
“Among EU citizens the increase is particularly sharp and suggests a more sudden change in people’s desire to become British.
“It is possible that Government and opposition party debates about restricting rights or removing people without citizenship may have played a role.”
There were 199,628 grants of indefinite leave to remain in the year to June 2026, up 24% from 161,585 in the previous 12 months and the highest annual total since the year to June 2011, the Home Office figures show.
The rise is likely to have been driven by people previously on work visas or who arrived in the country under the Hong Kong resettlement scheme.
Most of the migrants who came to the UK under the post-Brexit immigration system, such as care workers arriving in 2022 and 2023, have not yet been granted indefinite leave to remain, as they have not been in the country long enough to qualify.
The figures also show the number of grants of citizenship fell slightly, down 4% year on year from 257,070 to 245,520, but well above levels seen from 2005 to 2023.
The Home Office said the long-term increase in grants “reflects higher numbers of individuals granted indefinite leave, who subsequently went on to apply for British citizenship”.