Written question asked by Lord Avebury (Liberal Democrat), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Baroness Scotland of Asthal (Labour) on Monday, 9 October 2006.

British Citizenship

Question: Whether an application for British nationality may be made only on the prescribed application form; and, if not, what are the minimum requirements to constitute a valid application for British nationality.

Answer: Forms for applying for British nationality are not prescribed in law. We may treat as a valid application any request for British nationality which contains at least the basic information necessary to enable the Home Secretary either to naturalise or to register the applicant or to tell whether the applicant may already be a British national. In practical terms, this means we should treat as an application any form or request sent to us which, together with accompanying documents, appears to contain the applicant's full name, address, date and place of birth (unless on inquiry this cannot be supplied), and a declaration stating that the contents are true. Using application forms has the benefit of ensuring that current guidance is available to applicants through the accompanying guides, and that the applicant has supplied relevant information and made correct declarations.

Secondary information