United Kingdom
Citizenship guide · GB
Citizenship by descent is available; naturalisation requires 5 years; dual citizenship is permitted.
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Eligibility is often wider than people expect a free check takes under a minute.
Who can visit United Kingdom?
86 of 199 passports can enter United Kingdom visa-free, visa on arrival, by ETA, or with an e-visa.
Visa-free 1
ETA 85
- Andorra
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Argentina
- Australia
- Austria
- Bahamas
- Bahrain
- Barbados
- Belgium
- Belize
- Brazil
- Brunei
- Bulgaria
- Canada
- Chile
- Costa Rica
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Grenada
- Guatemala
- Guyana
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Kiribati
- Kuwait
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Macau
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Malta
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Micronesia
- Monaco
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
- Norway
- Oman
- Palau
- Panama
- Papua New Guinea
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Poland
- Portugal
- Qatar
- Romania
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Samoa
- San Marino
- Saudi Arabia
- Seychelles
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Solomon Islands
- South Korea
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Taiwan
- Tonga
- Tuvalu
- United Arab Emirates
- United States
- Uruguay
- Vatican City
112 passports require a visa to visit United Kingdom.
Am I eligible for United Kingdom citizenship?
Tap the option closest to your situation for an instant steer.
Why United Kingdom?
The United Kingdom passport offers visa-free, visa-on-arrival, ETA, or e-visa access to 180 destinations, ranking it #41 globally.
Descent limited to one generation abroad (exceptions); fee ≈ £1,500.
Citizenship by descent
United Kingdom applies jus sanguinis citizenship can be acquired by descent from a citizen parent.
Naturalisation
Naturalisation typically requires 5 years of residence.
United Kingdom typically requires B1 language proficiency for naturalisation.
Dual citizenship
United Kingdom generally permits dual citizenship.
Fees & timeline
The application fee is around €1760 (approximate).
Tax considerations
- Top personal income tax rate: 45%
- Corporate income tax rate: 25%
- Standard VAT/GST rate: 20%
- Taxation basis: worldwide (residents are generally taxed on worldwide income)
- A non-domiciled (remittance-basis) tax regime is available to certain residents
Compiled from the Citizenship Hub law dataset (approximate). Verify with official government sources before relying on this information.
Documents checklist
The documents you'll typically need for each citizenship route in United Kingdom. Tick items off as you gather them your progress is saved on this device.
Citizenship by descent
Proving your lineage to a citizen parent or ancestor.
Naturalisation
The standard route via continuous lawful residence.
Country data
Overview, citizenship routes, economy, freedom, and tax at a glance.
Overview
- Capital
- London
- Region
- Europe
- Area
- 242,900 km²
- Population
- 66,834,405
- Demonym
- British
- Languages
- English
- Currency
- British pound (£)
Citizenship routes
- Citizenship by descent
- Yes
- Descent depth
- Parents only
- Naturalisation period
- 5 years
- Language level
- B1
- Dual citizenship
- Allowed
- Official application fee
- €1,760
Economics & development
- GDP per capita
- $57,602 2025
- Total GDP
- $2.8T 2019
- Inflation
- 3.9% 2025
- Life expectancy
- 81.4 years 2024
- GDP growth
- 1.4% 2025
- Human Development Index
- 0.940 #15
- Income group
- High income: OECD
- Development status
- Developed region: G7
Freedom & quality of life
- Corruption Perceptions Index
- 71 / 100 2024 · #18
- Freedom in the World
- 91 / 100 Free · 2024
- Human Rights Index
- 0.84 / 1 2025 · #54
- Liberal Democracy Index
- 0.69 / 1 2025 · #30
- Life satisfaction
- 6.69 / 10 2025 · #28
Tax considerations
- Personal income tax
- 45% top rate
- Corporate tax
- 25%
- VAT / GST
- 20%
- Tax basis
- Worldwide
- Non-dom regime
- Available
Relocation & living
- Internet penetration
- 95.5% 2024
- Driving side
- Left-hand
- Healthcare system
- Universal public (NHS)
- Climate
- Temperate oceanic
- Time zone
- Europe/London
Where the United Kingdom passport can travel
Each dot is a destination colours show what you need to enter.
- Visa-free
- Visa on arrival
- ETA
- e-Visa
- Visa required
Europe
43 visa-free · 1 requiredAmericas
29 visa-free · 4 ETA · 1 e-visa · 1 requiredAsia
21 visa-free · 15 on arrival · 1 ETA · 8 e-visa · 6 requiredAfrica
17 visa-free · 11 on arrival · 2 ETA · 15 e-visa · 9 requiredOceania
5 visa-free · 6 on arrival · 2 ETA · 1 required- Visa-free
- Visa on arrival
- ETA
- e-Visa
- Visa required
- No admission
Alternative paths to United Kingdom citizenship
Beyond standard naturalisation, these routes may apply to you.
Residency → naturalisation
Most applicants naturalise through 5 years of lawful residence. An advisor can confirm your fastest route.
More citizenship guides
Latvia
Citizenship by descent is available; naturalisation requires 5 years; dual citizenship is permitted; a golden visa (residency by investment) is available.
- Capital
- Riga
- By descent
- Yes
- Naturalisation
- 5 yrs
- Dual citizenship
- Allowed
Iceland
Citizenship by descent is available; naturalisation requires 7 years; dual citizenship is permitted.
- Capital
- Reykjavik
- By descent
- Yes
- Naturalisation
- 7 yrs
- Dual citizenship
- Allowed
Lithuania
Citizenship by descent is available; naturalisation requires 10 years; dual citizenship is generally not permitted.
- Capital
- Vilnius
- By descent
- Yes
- Naturalisation
- 10 yrs
- Dual citizenship
- Restricted
Denmark
Citizenship by descent is available; naturalisation requires 9 years; dual citizenship is permitted.
- Capital
- Copenhagen
- By descent
- Yes
- Naturalisation
- 9 yrs
- Dual citizenship
- Allowed
Latest United Kingdom immigration news
Recent headlines on United Kingdom immigration and citizenship, auto-fetched from Google News.
No recent headlines yet. Check back soon, or follow the official sources below.
United Kingdom immigration & citizenship sources
Official government portals and reference pages for United Kingdom citizenship and immigration rules.
Law
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Overview of citizenship-by-descent, naturalisation and dual-citizenship rules.
Government
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Official government source for immigration and citizenship.
Jobs
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International job board with local listings.
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International job board with local listings.
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Leading local job board.
Housing
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Property listings and rentals.
Healthcare
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Public health system portal.
Banking
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Central bank / banking information.
Education
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Study and education information.
General data sources & licenses
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Visa-requirement matrix and passport mobility scores.
Visa data derived from passportindex.org, via imorte/passport-index-data (MIT License).
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Country metadata: names, capitals, regions, flags, currencies, languages, calling codes, borders, tld, lat/lng, UN/independence status.
Country metadata from mledoze/countries (MIT License).
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Country polygon geometry plus population, GDP (total), income group, economy, and continent classifications.
Made with Natural Earth (public domain) naturalearthdata.com.
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Raster basemap tiles for the interactive visa-access maps.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0).
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GDP per capita (current US$) and inflation (CPI annual %).
GDP per capita and inflation from the World Bank (CC BY 4.0) data.worldbank.org.
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Human Development Index (HDI) values and ranks.
Human Development Index from the UNDP Human Development Report (CC BY 3.0 IGO).
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Intermediate distribution of the Corruption Perceptions Index, V-Dem Human Rights Index, and V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index.
Indices sourced via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0).
Our World in Data states that third-party datasets remain subject to the original publisher’s license see the individual sources below.
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Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) scores.
Corruption Perceptions Index 2024, Transparency International (CC BY-ND 4.0).
Restrictions: No derivatives
CPI scores are reproduced as factual data points, unmodified.
-
Human Rights Index and Liberal Democracy Index.
Human Rights Index and Liberal Democracy Index from V-Dem (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
Restrictions: Non-commercial · Share-alike
⚠ Non-commercial license: confirm commercial use is permitted before monetising the site.
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Freedom in the World scores and status.
Freedom in the World 2024, © Freedom House (used with attribution for informational purposes).
Review Freedom House republication terms before commercial use.
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Reference for personal income and corporate tax rates.
Tax rates cross-checked against the Tax Foundation.
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Reference for personal income tax, corporate tax, and VAT/GST rates.
Tax rates cross-checked against the OECD Tax Database.
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Reference for personal income tax, corporate tax, and indirect tax rates.
Tax rates cross-checked against KPMG Tax Rates Online.
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Reference for citizenship-law rules (descent, naturalisation, dual citizenship, fees).
Citizenship-law facts compiled from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Law facts are human-curated approximations; always verify with official government sources.
Citizenship Hub is an independent resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any of the organisations above. Informational only not legal, immigration, tax, investment, or travel advice. Requirements, scores, fees, and tax rates change frequently; always verify with the relevant official government source before acting.