British Citizenship Referee 2026: Who Can Be a Referee and What They Do

Who can be a referee for British citizenship?

GOV.UK's Form AN guidance says you need two referees who have each known you for at least 3 years. One can be of any nationality but must be a professional person. The other must be a British citizen passport holder who is either a professional person or aged over 25. Neither can be related to you or to each other.

What counts as a professional person?

The Form AN guidance gives examples such as a minister of religion, a civil servant, or a member of a professional body such as an accountant or solicitor, as long as the solicitor is not the one representing you in the application. In practice, people in established professions with a recognised standing in the community are accepted.

• Accepted examples from the guidance: minister of religion, civil servant, member of a professional body (for example an accountant or solicitor).
• Commonly used: doctors, teachers, nurses, engineers, pharmacists and police officers, where they have known you personally.
• Not allowed: the solicitor or adviser acting for you on this application.

Who cannot be a British citizenship referee?

A referee must not be related to you, related to your other referee, your solicitor or agent on this application, or employed by the Home Office. The Home Office will not usually accept a referee who has been convicted of an imprisonable offence in the last 10 years. Both referees must also have known you for at least 3 years.

• Your relatives, including in-laws.
• Someone related to your other referee.
• The solicitor or agent representing you in this application.
• Anyone employed by the Home Office.
• Anyone convicted of an imprisonable offence in the last 10 years (not usually accepted).
• Anyone who has known you for less than 3 years.

What does a British citizenship referee have to do?

Referees confirm your identity as part of your application. They provide their details and a declaration that they meet the conditions and know you. On paper forms the referee section is signed and the referee confirms your photograph; for online applications referees can complete their part digitally, and agree to automatic identity checks on the details they give.

The Home Office may check that referees do not have unspent convictions, that they qualify to act for you and that their signatures are genuine, and it may contact them. Make sure your referees are happy to be contacted and give accurate details.

How to add referees to your citizenship application

1. 1

   Choose two eligible people

   Check each one against the rules above before you ask them.

2. 2

   Ask them early

   Referees need time to complete their part, and delays here hold up the whole application.

3. 3

   Collect their details

   Full name, address, contact details, profession and, for the second referee, British passport details.

4. 4

   Complete the referee part

   Online, referees complete their declaration digitally; on paper, they complete and sign the referee section.

5. 5

   Submit with your application

   Follow the steps in our British citizenship process guide.

Can you change your referee?

If a referee becomes unavailable or turns out not to meet the conditions before you apply, simply choose someone else who does. After you have applied, contact the Home Office through the official nationality contact routes and explain the change, rather than sending a new application.

See our guide to Home Office contact routes for citizenship.

Common referee mistakes

• Choosing a relative or in-law.
• Two referees who are related to each other.
• A second referee without a British passport.
• Someone who has known you for less than 3 years.
• Using your solicitor or adviser as a referee.

Who would and would not qualify: examples

Checklist before you ask someone to be your referee

1. Have they known you personally for at least 3 years?
2. Are they unrelated to you and to your other referee?
3. Is one of them a professional person, and does the other hold a British passport and is either a professional person or over 25?
4. Are they free of any imprisonable conviction in the last 10 years?
5. Are they not your representative and not employed by the Home Office?
6. Are they happy to be contacted by the Home Office?

Referees for children's citizenship applications

Registration applications for children, such as Form MN1, also use referee declarations to confirm identity. The same principles apply: referees must know the family, be unrelated and meet the conditions in the form's guidance. Check the guidance for the specific form you are using.

What if a referee does not meet the rules?

If a referee does not meet the conditions, the Home Office may ask you for a different referee or contact you for more information, which can slow your application down. It can also raise questions about the accuracy of your application, so check both referees against every condition before you submit.

Problems most often come from relatives or in-laws, a second referee without a British passport, or someone who has known you for less than 3 years. Spending ten minutes on the checklist above avoids most of them.