Naturalization is the process of acquiring British citizenship by an individual who holds foreign citizenship. There are three major grants of British citizenship and those are Naturalization based on Residence, Naturalization based on Marriage and Naturalization based on Registration of Minor Children.

There are several requirements that must be met before an applicant is approved for British citizenship. These are the 7 requirements to apply for British naturalization:

1. Applicant must be 18 years old and above.

2. Applicant must be of sound mind (stable mental condition).

3. Applicant must have the intention of living in the United Kingdom or in the Crown Service.

4. Applicant must be able to communicate in English, Welsh or Scottish Gaelic to an acceptable degree.

5. Applicant must have sufficient knowledge of life in the United Kingdom.

6. Applicant must have a good moral character.

7. Applicant must meet residential requirements.

Listed below are the residential requirements that need to be met to be approved of British naturalization.

1. Applicant must meet the residential qualifying period which is 5 years.

2. Applicant must have been present five years prior to the date of application.

3. Applicant must not have spent more than 450 days outside of United Kingdom during the mentioned 5-year period.

4. Applicant must not have spent more than 90 days in the last 12 months of the mentioned 5-year period.

5. Applicant must not have incurred any breaches of Immigration Rules of any stages during the mentioned 5-year period.

Over the years as immigration rules change resulting to the revision of requirements, so as the rate of immigration grants based on residence. For a period of 11 years from year 2002 to 2012, there had been a steady increase of grants of British naturalization based on residence. Residence-related grants increased from 57,595 in 2002 to 107,102 in 2012. Within that period the rate of increase was at 53.78%.

With the percentage increase indicated, there is a healthy chance of acquiring British citizenship through naturalization based on residence. As long as the requirements are dutifully met, the chances of getting approved is more than 50% which can be encouraging especially to those who are already holding residency in the United Kingdom. An applicant must still take extra measures to make sure that each requirement is met like passing the “Life in the UK Test”.

With the information being readily available online, it is much easier to get the information in terms of the requirements in applying for British citizenship. It is highly ideal to use the information wisely to get better chances of being approved for British citizenship.