Check if you're a British citizen
Born in the UK between 30 April 2006 and 30 June 2021
Whether you’re a British citizen depends on where your parents were from and their circumstances. There are different rules if when you were born:
- at least one of your parents was a British or Irish citizen
- at least one of your parents was a citizen of an EU or EEA country
- neither of your parents was a British, Irish, EU or EEA citizen
You’re automatically a British citizen if you were adopted by a British citizen in a UK court.
If at least one of your parents was a British or Irish citizen when you were born
You’ll be a British citizen if when you were born at least one of your parents was either:
- a British citizen
- an Irish citizen living in the UK
If the parent that meets these conditions is your father and you were born before 1 July 2006, he must have been married to your mother when you were born.
If at least one of your parents was a citizen of an EU or EEA country when you were born
You’re automatically a British citizen if when you were born all the following applied to at least one of your parents:
- they had citizenship of a country that was in the EU or the EEA at the time
- they lived in the UK
- they had ‘indefinite leave to remain’ (ILR), ‘settled status’, ‘permanent residence status’, ‘right of abode’ or ‘right of re-admission’
If the parent that meets these conditions is your father and you were born before 1 July 2006, he must have been married to your mother when you were born.
Children of EU, EEA or Swiss citizens born on or after 1 January 2021
From 1 January, an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen with settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme cannot also have permanent residence status. This means that if they have a child on or after 1 January 2021, the child’s citizenship will be based on their settled status.
Countries that were in the EU or the EEA, or had equal status, between 30 April 2006 and 30 June 2021 (other than the UK and Ireland)
Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden were in the EEA by 30 April 2006.
Switzerland is not an EU or EEA member but it is part of the single market. This means Swiss nationals have the same rights to live and work in the UK as other EEA nationals.
Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU on 1 January 2007.
Croatia joined the EU on 1 July 2013.
If your parents were not British, Irish, EU or EEA citizens when you were born
You’re automatically a British citizen if when you were born at least one of your parents was living in the UK and had any of the following:
- indefinite leave to remain (ILR)
- right to re-admission
- right of abode
If the parent that meets these conditions is your father and you were born before 1 July 2006, he must have been married to your mother when you were born.
You’re also automatically a British citizen if at least one of your parents was in the UK armed forces and you were born after 12 January 2010.
You can check if your parents had ILR, right of abode or right to re-admission.