Guidance

Registering under special circumstances: caseworker guidance

Immigration staff guidance on when to grant an application to register as a British citizen under special circumstances.

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Details

UK Visas and Immigration guidance for staff around registration as a British citizen in special circumstances under section 4L of the British Nationality Act 1981. Includes scenarios and case studies to help with decision making.

Updates to this page

Published 28 June 2022
Last updated 13 May 2025 show all updates
  1. Updated the guidance to clarify the position where a person has another route to citizenship.

  2. Guidance updated to include a further case study example of registration under Section 4L of the British Nationality Act 1981.

  3. Updated to include more case study examples of registration under Section 4L of the British Nationality Act 1981.

  4. Added version 2.0 of this guidance.

  5. First published.

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