🇬🇧 Citizenship

The latest announcement extends the special intervention period again, setting a new operating window from 6 to 30 October 2026. The exercise is to continue at designated UK centres, including London, Manchester and Aberdeen. The venue for Cardiff is to be announced through official channels. Applicants are required to secure an appointment and attend at the assigned time. They should bring the relevant application and payment documents, the appointment printout and a self-addressed return envelope. Those renewing passports must also bring their current passport. The NIS has stated that payments are cashless and that cash will not be accepted at the venues. The NIS has also reminded eligible Nigerians that its Contactless Passport Application System remains operational. The intervention exercise is therefore an additional, temporary service arrangement, not a replacement for the contactless process.

The new guidance sets out how adult care leavers should navigate the existing British passport application process, including specific arrangements where they may have difficulty providing standard documents or identifying someone who can confirm their identity. Applicants can apply online, by paper application or through the Digital Check & Send service. Online and Digital Check & Send applicants may be required to provide an identity referee's email address so that HM Passport Office can contact the referee directly. For online and Digital Check & Send applications, the referee must generally be at least 18 years old, live in the UK, hold a current UK or Irish passport and have known the applicant for at least two years. The referee must know the applicant as a friend, neighbour or colleague rather than solely through a professional relationship and must work in, or be retired from, a recognised profession. The guidance also specifies who cannot act as a referee. This includes relatives, partners, HM Passport Office employees and certain UK Visas and Immigration employees. Doctors generally cannot act as referees unless they know the applicant personally, for example as a good friend. For paper applications, an eligible person must countersign the completed and signed application. They must confirm that they have known the applicant for at least two years and sign and date one of the applicant's passport photographs. Where an applicant has difficulty finding someone who meets the requirements, the guidance directs them to contact the Passport Adviceline for assistance. The guidance also provides specific instructions for adult care leavers who previously held a British passport. If an applicant had a British passport as a child or young adult while in care and can no longer find it, they must report the passport as lost or stolen before applying for a replacement. Where a passport has been damaged, the applicant must make a replacement application. The normal British passport application fee continues to apply. The guidance does not introduce a special fee exemption for adult care leavers and instead directs applicants to the current passport fee information. Applicants can also authorise another person to contact HM Passport Office on their behalf by giving permission. This may be someone they know, a charity or support organisation, or their local authority. The guidance further directs adult care leavers towards sources of additional support, including the government's Support for Care Leavers service and Barnardo's leaving-care support. These services are intended to help applicants who may need additional assistance navigating the passport application process or obtaining the information and documents required. The guidance also explains how applicants should establish British nationality. Only British nationals can be issued with a British passport, and applicants may need to provide information about their biological or adoptive parents and documents such as birth or adoption certificates and their parents' birth certificates. Being born in the UK after 31 December 1982 does not, by itself, automatically establish British citizenship. Where an applicant cannot obtain the usual documents, HM Passport Office can consider other evidence when assessing whether British nationality has been established. Each application is assessed individually, and a passport can only be issued once nationality has been confirmed. Where family members cannot or will not provide information or documents, the guidance explains that exceptional cases may involve HM Passport Office working with the relevant local authority and making a decision using the information that is available. This provides an alternative evidence route within the existing nationality and passport framework, but it does not create an automatic entitlement to a British passport for care leavers.

HM Passport Office staff are now guided on how to handle various name change scenarios for passport applications, including those following marriage or civil partnership, naturalisation or registration, change of gender, lost or stolen passports, for British overseas citizens, and for joint citizenship applications. Specific updates include clarification on taking part of a partner's surname, removing the requirement to state reasons for reverting to a birth name, and new sections on name changes before or during naturalisation or registration and for those issued with a status letter. Minor formatting changes have been applied throughout, and references to 'counter fraud and CFT' are updated to 'Public Protection'. The guidance also clarifies the process for customers applying online, by post, or via counter applications, and for third-party applications including consent requirements for minors and those with disabilities.

From the 4 September 2026 update, Form RR makes it clearer that an applicant may be required to pay a fee when requesting a correction The current GOV.UK guidance provides the more specific financial position: The applicant must complete Form RR The original certificate must be sent to UKVI UKVI determines whether a fee is payable If the mistake was the applicant's fault, the fee is £456 UKVI sends the applicant a letter confirming whether payment is required The update therefore does not establish a new requirement to pay £456 in every correction case Instead, it clarifies that a fee may apply, with the current guidance specifying that the £456 fee applies where the applicant was responsible for the mistake

HM Passport Office staff guidance clarifies when examiners can search for a parent’s EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) record using UK Visa and Immigration’s Atlas system for passport applications. It also includes an update to check for outdated links within the guidance.

The 'Citizenship-related queries' section in the Form MN1 guidance has been updated. The guidance now reflects that the priority service is live. A new section titled 'when will the child become British?' has been added. The section on returning your Biometric Residence Permit has been updated and renamed 'destroy your Biometric Residence Permit (BRP)'.

The guidance for registration as a British Overseas Territories citizen (BOTC(F)) for people born before July 2006 to unmarried fathers connected to a British overseas territory has been updated regarding the process for destroying a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP).

Certain individuals born before 1983 who did not acquire British nationality at birth because their mother could not pass on status can now apply to correct that. This application uses form BOTC(M). The guidance describes how to register as a British Overseas Territories Citizen (BOTC) and/or a British citizen for people born before 1983 to mothers connected to a British overseas territory.

The guidance for Form B(OTA) replaces the nationality enquiries email address on Guide B1 with a link to the contact UKVI webform.

The guidance now replaces the nationality enquiries email address with a link to the contact UKVI webform. It includes updated application processing times and information on returning Biometric Residence Permits. The section 'Travelling to and from the UK after becoming a British citizen' has been updated. The section on Good character has been updated. Various sections including 'IAA and immigration advice', 'biometric enrolment', 'evidence of identity', 'travel after submitting an application', and 'citizenship ceremonies' have been updated. A new section, 'will I get digital status showing I am a British citizen?', has been added. The 'citizenship ban' section has been removed.

The guidance for Form S now directs users to a link to the contact UKVI webform instead of an email address for nationality enquiries.