Naturalising as a British citizen requires the applicant to be of good character, assessed separately from the requirements relating to residence and knowledge of language and life in the UK. The good character requirement applies to every applicant aged 10 or over, and is set out in Schedule 1 to the British Nationality Act 1981. An undisclosed conviction, a period of illegal entry or an unresolved NHS debt can each lead to a refusal on this ground alone. This post provides an overview of the good character requirement for a UK citizenship application.
On this page
- What is the good character requirement?
- Who has to meet the good character requirement?
- How the Home Office assesses good character
- Criminal convictions and the good character requirement
- Non-custodial sentences and cautions
- Spent convictions and the good character requirement
- Immigration breaches, deception and illegal entry
- Financial soundness and the good character requirement
- Notoriety, national security and extreme conduct
- What happens if the good character requirement is not met?
- What works in practice for the good character requirement
- Frequently asked questions
- How Whytecroft Ford can help
Key overviews
- The good character requirement applies to naturalisation and to most registration routes. Anyone aged 10 or over at the date of application must satisfy it, under Schedule 1 to the British Nationality Act 1981 and section 41A for registration.
- Criminal convictions are assessed by sentence length, not by whether they are spent. A custodial sentence of 12 months or more will normally lead to automatic refusal, and nationality decisions are not exempt from disclosure in the way most other applications are.
- Illegal entry to the UK is assessed with no time limit. Unlike most immigration breaches, which fall away after 10 years, illegal entry can weigh against an application however long ago it happened.
- Financial conduct is part of the assessment. Bankruptcy, an NHS debt above £500, deliberate tax avoidance or unpaid council tax can each affect the outcome.
- Conduct that does not trigger an automatic refusal is weighed on the balance of probabilities. The Home Office considers the seriousness, timing and pattern of the conduct before deciding.
What is the good character requirement for British Citizenship?
The good character requirement is the standard a British citizenship applicant must meet before the Home Office will grant naturalisation or registration. It is set out at Schedule 1, paragraph 1(1)(b) of the British Nationality Act 1981, which does not itself define good character. The Home Office’s good character requirement guidance instead sets out the conduct it takes into account. This covers criminality, immigration compliance, financial soundness and notoriety, with involvement in war crimes or terrorism at the most serious end.
Most applicants meet the requirement without any additional evidence beyond the standard British citizenship application. An applicant with a conviction, an immigration breach or a history of debt is not automatically refused. The timing and seriousness of that conduct decide the outcome.
Whytecroft Ford’s immigration team can review an applicant’s history against the good character requirement before an application is submitted.
Who has to meet the good character requirement?
Anyone aged 10 or over at the date of application must meet the good character requirement. This applies equally to adults naturalising as a British citizen and to most people being registered as a British citizen.
For adults, the requirement sits within the wider naturalisation test in Schedule 1 to the British Nationality Act 1981. It applies alongside the residence, English language and Knowledge of Life in the UK requirements for naturalisation as a British citizen. The qualifying period before an application can be made is five years under section 6(1) of the Act. It is three years under section 6(2), where the applicant is married to or the civil partner of a British citizen.
Registration is more commonly used for children, and a child under 10 is not assessed against the good character requirement. Whytecroft Ford advises on registration applications where an older child or an adult must meet the good character requirement. The registration as a British citizen guide sets out the other conditions that apply to each route.
How the Home Office assesses good character
The Home Office assesses good character on the balance of probabilities, considering an applicant’s whole history rather than a single incident. A small number of grounds lead to an automatic refusal regardless of this test, covered in the next section.
Conduct that does not lead to an automatic refusal is weighed on the balance of probabilities instead. The Home Office takes into account:
- how many times the conduct or a similar incident occurred;
- the period over which it took place;
- how serious the conduct was, and whether it escalated over time;
- how long ago the conduct or offence occurred;
- the applicant’s age at the time it occurred; or
- any other exceptional or mitigating circumstances.
This balance-of-probabilities test applies to non-custodial sentences, cautions, immigration breaches within their assessment window, and financial conduct such as debt or bankruptcy.
Criminal convictions and the good character requirement
A criminal conviction can lead to an automatic refusal or to a balance-of-probabilities assessment, depending on the length of the sentence. Under the Home Office’s good character requirement guidance, an application will normally be refused where the applicant:
- has received a custodial sentence of at least 12 months in the UK or overseas;
- has received consecutive sentences totalling at least 12 months;
- is a persistent offender who shows a particular disregard for the law;
- has committed an offence that caused serious harm; or
- has committed a sexual offence, or is recorded on a sex offenders register.
Any one of these grounds is normally enough for a refusal on its own. A consecutive sentence structure is treated differently from a concurrent one. Two sentences served consecutively add together toward the 12-month threshold, while sentences served at the same time do not.
An overseas conviction is treated in the same way as one imposed in the UK. A suspended sentence is treated as non-custodial, unless it is later activated because the applicant reoffended or broke its conditions.
Motoring convictions, including those resulting in penalty points, are assessed under the same framework. Whytecroft Ford’s guide to driving offences and British citizenship applications covers how points and fines are treated.
Non-custodial sentences and cautions
A non-custodial sentence, an out-of-court disposal or a caution is assessed on the balance of probabilities rather than leading to an automatic refusal. The six factors in the previous section decide how much weight the conduct carries.
A fine counts as a criminal conviction and forms part of an applicant’s criminal record, with the exception of a Scottish fiscal fine. Absolute and conditional discharges are treated as non-custodial disposals. A confiscation order is not treated as a fine, but it still forms part of the wider assessment of an applicant’s character.
Detention and training orders for a young person are assessed only on the custodial element of the order. A hospital order that has not been fully discharged will normally result in a refusal, irrespective of when it was imposed.
Spent convictions and the good character requirement
Spent convictions must still be disclosed on a British citizenship application, because nationality decisions are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. An applicant must disclose all convictions, whether or not they are spent, since section 4 of that Act does not apply to nationality decisions.
Cautions, warnings and reprimands are treated differently from convictions. An applicant is required to disclose only the unspent ones, because nationality decisions are not exempt from the Act for that category of disposal.
A spent conviction is still weighed on the balance of probabilities once disclosed. The same factors of frequency, seriousness and time elapsed apply, as with any other conduct.
Immigration breaches, deception and illegal entry
An immigration breach, an act of deception or illegal entry to the UK can each affect the good character requirement. Illegal entry is treated the most strictly of the three.
Failing to comply with immigration conditions, unlawfully accessing public funds or working in the UK without permission are treated as immigration breaches. Most of these breaches are assessed within the 10 years before the date of decision.
Illegal entry, assisting illegal migration and hiring illegal workers are treated more strictly. The Home Office’s guidance applies no specified time limit to these three breaches, so each is weighed regardless of when it occurred.
Deception is treated on a similar 10-year basis. Deception in the citizenship application, in a previous immigration application, or in a language or Life in the UK test will normally lead to refusal. The same applies to deception by a referee. Providing false personal details, such as a false date of birth or nationality, is treated as deception regardless of when it happened.
Financial soundness and the good character requirement
Financial soundness forms part of the good character requirement, covering bankruptcy, tax conduct, council tax and outstanding debts to the NHS. An application can normally be granted where a bankruptcy order has been annulled. The same applies where the applicant was discharged from bankruptcy at least 10 years before the application.
The Home Office takes into account the scale of the debt, the applicant’s culpability and whether the conduct was reckless, where neither of those applies. A person subject to a disqualification order will normally be refused.
An NHS debt of more than £500 will normally count against an application. It must be cleared before the good character requirement can be met. Once the debt is paid, it is not counted.
Deliberately building up debt with no intention of repaying it will normally lead to a refusal. The same applies to unreasonably failing to pay council tax, or knowingly claiming public funds an applicant is not entitled to.
Notoriety, national security and extreme conduct
Notoriety, extremism, national security concerns and involvement in war crimes or terrorism sit at the most serious end of the good character requirement. Notoriety describes being well known for a bad quality or immoral conduct, such as publicly expressing unsavoury views or persistently and deliberately flouting the law.
An application will not normally be refused because of the actions of an applicant’s child. An exception applies where the parent’s own behaviour, through encouragement or complicity, is itself the concern.
At the most serious end, an applicant involved in war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide will not normally be considered of good character. The same applies to an applicant subject to a UK or United Nations sanction. A person involved in or associated with terrorism, or whose activities are not conducive to the public good, is assessed on the same basis.
What happens if the good character requirement is not met?
A refusal on good character grounds does not necessarily prevent a future application, though the timing and category depend on the ground relied on. Naturalisation decisions are made at the Home Office’s discretion and do not carry a statutory right of appeal. A well-prepared fresh application is the usual way forward.
The application must be refused where an applicant fails to disclose information that would have led to a good character refusal. Any further citizenship application will normally be refused for the next 10 years. Where deception or another serious ground is the reason for refusal, a new application may also be refused. This applies where it is made within 10 years of that decision.
For most other refusals, a fresh application can be made once the underlying issue has been resolved. This might mean a custodial sentence falling outside the assessed period, or an NHS debt being paid in full.
Frequently asked questions
Does the good character requirement apply to registration as well as naturalisation?
Yes. Section 41A of the British Nationality Act 1981 extends the requirement to most registration routes. This includes registration as an adult and registration of a child aged 10 or over. A child under 10 is not assessed against the requirement.
Do minor motoring offences affect the good character requirement?
A single minor motoring conviction, such as a speeding fine, is unlikely to affect an application on its own, subject to the severity of the offence. Repeated motoring offences, or a conviction carrying a custodial sentence, are assessed under the same criminal conviction rules as any other offence.
Is there a time limit on how far back a good character check goes?
No blanket time limit applies. A custodial sentence of 12 months or more, illegal entry and involvement in war crimes or terrorism are assessed regardless of when they occurred. Most other conduct, including immigration breaches and deception, is assessed within a 10-year window. Non-custodial conduct is weighed by how long ago it happened, as one factor among several.
Can a good character issue be resolved before applying for citizenship?
Some issues can be addressed before an application is made. Paying an outstanding NHS debt or waiting until a conviction falls outside the assessed period are common examples. Others, such as a serious criminal conviction, cannot be resolved and instead need to be disclosed and explained as part of the application.
What is the current version of the good character requirement guidance?
The Home Office’s good character requirement guidance is reissued periodically as policy develops. The version now in force made technical clarifications to how illegal entry and balance-of-probabilities assessments are handled. It also clarified the approach to extant deportation and exclusion decisions.
How Whytecroft Ford can help
Whytecroft Ford’s IAA-regulated immigration team reviews an applicant’s history against the good character requirement before a citizenship application is submitted. The team draws on routine experience of naturalisation and registration cases. To discuss a citizenship application with our team, call 0208 757 5751 or use the contact form.
The material in this article is provided for guidance and general information only and is not intended to constitute legal or other professional advice upon which you should rely. In particular, the information should not be used as a substitute for a full and proper consultation with a suitably qualified professional. UK Immigration Rules are subject to change. Please do contact the Whytecroft Ford team if you require further advice.
