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Record 315,000 people applied for British citizenship in a year as Labour's tougher rules drive a rush to secure status

Boris Johnson, whose tenure drove the migrant surge now prompting record citizenship applications, with grants holding at 245,520 while hundreds of thousands await a decision.
Boris Johnson, whose tenure drove the migrant surge now prompting record citizenship applications, with grants holding at 245,520 while hundreds of thousands await a decision.

A record 315,224 people applied for British citizenship in the year to June 2026, up 17 per cent on the previous year, according to Home Office figures analysed by Oxford University's Migration Observatory. Labour's plans to double the settlement qualifying period from five to ten years are driving migrants to apply before the new rules take effect. Non-EU nationals made up nearly three-quarters of all applications, with EU citizens also surging sharply.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's reforms will additionally prevent migrants from accessing benefits until they have obtained British citizenship.

Oxford's Nuni Jorgensen said government debates about 'restricting rights or removing people without citizenship' may have sharpened the urgency to apply.

Despite the application surge, grants of citizenship held steady at 245,520 — meaning a growing backlog is building inside the Home Office.

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