Nationality checking service

For more information about Asylum and immigration please click here.

The citizenship ceremony is intended to celebrate the significance of becoming a British citizen and welcome the new citizen into a community.

The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 includes a provision requiring all successful applicants aged 18 or over for naturalisation or registration as a British citizen to take an oath and pledge at a citizenship ceremony, unless exempted by the Home Secretary.

For any queries about your British citizenship ceremony, please contact the citizenship co-ordination team on 01670 622378.

New citizens may wish to celebrate their citizenship with their family and friends. Restrictions may be imposed due to the capacity of the available venue. 

Although there is no legal requirement for anyone under 18 to attend the ceremony and take the oath and pledge, it is the government's intention to treat the ceremony as both a family and community occasion, and young people are encouraged to participate with their parents.

The ceremony must take place within three months of being informed of a successful application.

A fee for the ceremony is payable when applying for naturalisation or registration as a British citizen, for current fees please click here.

The Home Office will inform Northumberland County Council of the names of all prospective citizens. We will then contact them and advise on all aspects of the ceremony.

Usually, ceremonies will take place at the County hall in Morpeth, Northumberland. Although, at an extra cost, ceremonies can take place at other venues.

There are occasions where candidates for British citizenship need to attend a ceremony before the next scheduled date. The citizenship team will try to arrange a ceremony at the register office to accommodate. This will be at an additional cost and can be arranged by contacting the citizenship co-ordination team on 01670 622542.

For more advice about British citizenship, please visit www.gov.uk/visas-immigration.