Applications for British Citizenship are required to be endorsed by two referees who can confirm the applicant’s identity. In order to be able to act as a referee for British citizenship, an individual must:
Have known the (adult) applicant for at least three years.
Know the applicant personally.
For an adult application, one referee must be an acceptable professional person of any nationality and does not have to be a British citizen. A list of those considered to be acceptable professional persons is provided in the UKVI Guidance.
The second referee must be a British citizen and either a professional person or aged over 25 years old.
Where the applicant is a child, one referee must be a professional who has engaged with the child in a professional capacity, such as a teacher, health visitor, social worker or minister of religion.
When applying for British Citizenship, the following individuals cannot act as a referee:
A relative;
A solicitor or an agent who is representing you on your British Citizenship application;
An individual who is employed by the Home Office;
An individual who has been convicted of an imprisonable offence during the last 10 years.
In addition to the groups of individuals listed above, the two referees cannot be related to one another.
A referee for British Citizenship will have to provide to some information about themselves and sign a declaration which confirms that they are qualified to be a referee and that the information provided by the applicant is correct.
A referee for British Citizenship will be required to provide the following personal information on the online application form:
Title (Mr, Ms, Mrs, Miss, Dr etc.);
Full name;
Sex;
Date of birth;
Addresses for the last three years;
Phone number;
Email address;
Profession;
British passport number (if they have a British passport);
Information about how they know the applicant.
As mentioned, this information is required to be provided as part of the online British Citizenship application.
The citizenship referee is also required to sign a declaration which confirms that:
They are qualified to be a referee;
The photograph attached to the application is of true likeness of the applicant;
They understand all the points in the 'Requirements of a referee section’ of the form;
The details provided by the applicant in their application is correct (to their knowledge);
The details which they have provided as a referee are correct.
If the referee knowingly provides false information then they can receive a £5,000 fine or go to prison for three months.