Nationality and citizenship

Group Citizenship Ceremonies are held at Reading Museum and Town Hall on Wednesdays

Once you have received notification from the Home Office to book your ceremony with us, then please use our online booking system below.

For any queries regarding your application, please contact the Home Office on 0300 123 2241.

Naturalisation application checking and sending services are no longer provided by local authorities. Please check application routes and services available on gov.uk.

Citizenship Ceremonies

If your application to become British is successful, the Home Office will notify you by post or by email. The final part of becoming a British Citizen is attending a Citizenship ceremony, which you must attend within three months of the date of your invitation letter. 

When you have received this, please use the online booking link below to select and book your ceremony.

You can join us for our group ceremonies which are held every Wednesday at Reading Town Hall and Museum. Children under the age of 18 are not required to attend but are very welcome to join us and you can bring up to 1 guest per new citizen. 

On arrival, new Citizens will be asked to produce a copy of their Home Office letter or email. If you received an email version, it can either be printed or shown to the Registrar on your smart device at your ceremony. You must also show photo ID which could be your passport or driving licence.   We are usually joined by either the Mayor or Lord Lieutenant, or one of their Deputies and each ceremony last around one hour. During the ceremony you will be asked to swear or affirm your Oath to the King, depending on your personal or religious beliefs and also make a pledge of loyalty to the United Kingdom

You will be presented with your naturalisation certificate at the end of the ceremony which will then close with the playing of the National Anthem. There is no fee to attend this ceremony.

As an alternative we also offer Private Citizenship Ceremonies for an additional fee which is payable at the time of booking. These ceremonies also take place at Reading Museum & Town Hall and you are permitted to bring with you a maximum of 46 guests. Please note we are no longer able to offer Virtual Citizenship Ceremonies.

Any queries, please contact the Home Office on 0300 123 2241. 

When you are ready to book your ceremony, either as part of the group or individually, you will need your Home Office reference number as part of the booking process. 

EU citizens living in the UK after 30 June 2021

The UK government has reached an agreement with the EU that will protect the rights of EU citizens and their family members living in the UK. It has also reached an agreement with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, and a separate agreement with Switzerland.

These agreements mean that most citizens from the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland will need to apply to stay in the UK. They can then continue living their lives here as they do now

Applications can be made online.

EU citizens and marriage 

From 1st July 2021 if you are an EU citizen marrying in England and Wales you must provide an EUSS share code from the gov.uk website to the registrar at your notice appointment to check your status. To qualify as a relevant national we need to check this a proof that you have settled status, pre settled status or an application pending from before 30th June 2021.

If you attend your appointment and do not present this share code, we cannot check your status. A letter of confirmation of settled, pre settled or application pending from the home office is not adequate proof; without exception you must provide the share code and it must be in date (no more than 21 days old).

If you do not provide a share code, you will either:  

• have to postpone your notice of marriage appointment until you have a share code, which could result in a significant delay and will incur a rebooking fee; or
• have to go through the home office referral scheme, which could mean you are investigated and have to wait up to 70 days before you can get married.

So to avoid disappointment, please ensure you present your EUSS share code on the day of the appointment.

Please be aware that it is your responsibility to obtain this share code and not that of the register office.

You can find more information at www.gov.uk