Last reviewed: 2 June 2026
A joint British citizenship application allows two or more family members to submit at the same time, but the fees are charged per person and each applicant is assessed separately against the statutory requirements for their route.
A joint application does not pool eligibility: where one family member fails on residence, good character, or the English language requirement, that member’s application is refused even where the others succeed. Refusals carry the full per-person fee and that fee is not refunded. This post provides an overview of joint British citizenship applications for UK naturalisation and registration matters.
What is a joint British citizenship application?
A joint application is two or more individual British citizenship applications submitted together by members of the same family. Each applicant has a separate application file, a separate decision, and a separate fee, but the applications are filed at the same time and the family typically attends a single citizenship ceremony at the end.
Joint applications most often involve two adult partners, an adult and one or more children, or a complete family unit of two adults and their dependent children. Each adult applies for naturalisation under section 6(1) or section 6(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981; each child applies for registration as a British citizen, usually under section 3(1) of the Act, on the appropriate form. The framework is set out in the British Nationality Act 1981.
Benefits of applying together
The benefits of applying together are practical rather than financial. The fees are unchanged by joint submission, so the principal gain is timing and convenience.
Joint applications allow the family to assemble one set of supporting documentation that supports multiple applicants where the same evidence is relevant (the shared address, joint financial documents, the relationship certificate, the children’s birth certificates).
The applications usually progress on similar timelines, which means the family can attend a single citizenship ceremony together rather than ceremonies months apart. Where the adults’ applications are decided, the children’s registration outcomes typically follow within a similar window, allowing the family to plan around a single date for travel, passport applications and any other downstream steps.
What it costs to apply jointly
A joint application does not reduce the fees. Each adult pays the standard naturalisation fee, and each child pays the registration fee, in addition to the Life in the UK Test fee for each adult applicant and any other associated costs such as English language testing and certified translations.
The headline fees, as of 08 April 2026, are £1,709 per adult naturalisation application and £1,000 per child registration application, with the Life in the UK Test at £50 per adult. A family of two adults and two children paying the standard fees pays £1,709 + £1,709 + £1,000 + £1,000+ £50 + £50, which is £5,518 before any English language test or certified translation costs.
The application fees are non-refundable any application is refused. Current fees are published on the GOV.UK page for Home Office fees.
Adults applying under naturalisation
Each adult applicant is assessed under the British Nationality Act 1981, section 6, against the residence, good character, English language, and Life in the UK Test requirements that apply to that section.
Section 6(1) is the five-year route for applicants who are not married to a British citizen. It requires five years of qualifying residence, Indefinite Leave to Remain or settled status held for at least 12 months before applying, no more than 450 days outside the UK over five years, no more than 90 days outside the UK in the final 12 months, and physical presence in the UK on the date five years before the application is submitted.
Section 6(2) is the three-year route for applicants married to or in a civil partnership with a British citizen. It requires three years of residence, ILR or settled status on the date of application, no more than 270 days outside the UK over three years, no more than 90 days in the final 12 months, and physical presence in the UK on the date three years before submission. In a joint application by two adult partners, the British citizen spouse is the sponsor of the section 6(2) applicant; both adults each apply on their own application form.
To discuss your joint adult application with an experienced adviser, contact our immigration team on 0208 757 5751 or use our Contact Form.
Children applying for registration
Children under 18 apply for registration as a British citizen rather than for naturalisation. The route depends on the child’s circumstances.
Children born in the UK to parents who later become settled or British citizens typically apply under section 1(3) of the British Nationality Act 1981, on form MN1, where one or both parents are settled or have become British citizens since the child’s birth. Children born outside the UK apply under section 3(1) on form MN1, on a discretionary basis where the Home Office assesses whether registration is in the child’s best interests, taking into account the child’s residence in the UK, the parents’ immigration status, and the child’s future in the UK. Children aged 10 or over are also assessed for good character. The application is decided in the child’s interests and is not automatic; each child must be assessed on the facts of the case. Detail on the child route is in our guide to Form MN1.
When applying separately is the better choice
Applying separately is the safer course where one family member’s application carries a meaningfully higher risk of refusal than the others. The risk does not transfer between applications, but the family’s plans for a single ceremony, joint passport applications, and shared travel are all disrupted where one application is refused or held up.
Common situations where separate timing is the safer course include where one adult’s absence figures are marginal but the others are clearly inside the limits; where one adult is still inside the 12-month ILR wait under section 6(1) and the others are not; or where one child’s registration involves discretionary considerations under section 3(1) that the other family members do not face. In each of these cases, submitting the straightforward applications first and the higher-risk application later avoids a refusal driving a delay across the whole family.
Supporting documents for a joint application
The supporting documents for a joint application are largely the documents each individual applicant would file in any case, with shared documents submitted once rather than duplicated.
Each adult applicant provides a valid passport or travel document, evidence of ILR or settled status (typically via a UKVI share code from the eVisa account), evidence of residence over the qualifying period, English language certificate or evidence of exemption, Life in the UK Test pass notification, two referee declarations (each with the applicant’s photograph attached), and the relevant relationship documents where applying under section 6(2). Each child applicant provides a birth certificate, a valid passport, parental consent, evidence of residence, and any specific documents required by the relevant registration section. Shared documents include the family’s address evidence, joint financial documents where relevant, the parents’ marriage or civil partnership certificate, and any common immigration history evidence. The exact combination depends on the family’s circumstances and the rules in force at the date of application.
The citizenship ceremony for a joint family
The citizenship ceremony is booked after all the applications in the family unit have been approved, and the local council typically schedules the family for a single ceremony slot.
The ceremony is held at the local council office and is attended in person by every applicant aged 18 or over; children under 18 receive their citizenship certificate without taking the oath or affirmation. Each applicant must attend a ceremony within 90 days of the approval letter, after which the certificate must be reissued at additional cost. Where one family member’s approval is delayed, the family can typically wait and book the ceremony together once all approvals are in, provided the 90-day window for the earlier-approved members is managed.
How Whytecroft Ford can help
A joint application is a coordination exercise as much as it is a legal exercise. Each family member is assessed separately against a different section of the British Nationality Act 1981, the fees are charged per person, and a single refusal does not refund the others. The timing of submission, the sequencing of applications where one family member’s case is higher risk, and the supporting evidence shared across multiple application files all need to be planned before the family commits to a single submission date.
The Whytecroft Ford immigration team is regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority and assists families applying jointly across naturalisation under section 6(1) and section 6(2) and registration under section 3(1) and section 1(3). The firm assesses each family member’s case against the relevant section, identifies whether joint or staggered submission is the safer course, prepares the supporting evidence as a coherent family bundle, and reviews each application before submission.
To discuss your family’s joint citizenship application with the team, contact us on 0208 757 5751 or use our Contact Form.
Frequently asked questions
No. Each adult and each child pays the full individual application fee, plus any associated test and translation costs. A joint application is a single coordinated submission, not a discounted package.
Each application is decided separately, so a refusal of one application does not refuse the others. The family’s plans for a single ceremony are affected, because the refused applicant cannot attend a ceremony, and the family may decide to wait for the refused applicant to reapply or attend the available ceremony without that applicant. The refusal fee is not refunded.
Children born in the UK on or after 1 January 1983 to a parent who is settled or a British citizen at the date of birth are British citizens automatically at birth and do not need to register. Children born in the UK before the parent became settled may register under section 1(3) once the parent meets the conditions. The position depends on the parent’s status at the date of the child’s birth.
Written and reviewed by Whytecroft Ford’s immigration team, authorised and regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority, registration number F201900075. All guidance is researched against primary sources, including the British Nationality Act 1981 and the Home Office’s published guidance at GOV.UK. Reviewed every six months, or sooner following a relevant rule change. Last reviewed: 2 June 2026.
