British citizenship ceremonies

In January 2004 the government introduced a requirement that all persons over 18 years of age applying for naturalisation or registration as a British citizen will have to take a citizenship oath and pledge at a citizenship ceremony.

Other countries such as the United States, Australia and Canada have similar ceremonies.

Oath of allegiance

Every applicant will be required to swear an oath of allegiance to the crown and make a pledge to uphold the values and laws of the UK.

The government have introduced citizenship ceremonies to ensure that the acquisition of citizenship is not purely a bureaucratic process. They are keen that applicants should have the opportunity to celebrate the event rather than just receive their documents through the post.

Of the 110,000 people who become British citizens each year, Southwark registration service deal with around 3,000 of this figure. A local dignitary will be at each group event ceremony in order to help welcome new citizens to the borough.

Our cultural diversity is one of the many great things about Southwark and the citizenship ceremonies are an opportunity for the council to encourage the new citizens to play an active part in the community.