§6(2) Spouse/Civil-Partner Naturalisation (Operative)

An applicant qualifies under s.6(2) if, on the date of application, they are (a) of full age and capacity; (b) married to, or the civil partner of, a British citizen (same-sex and opposite-sex marriage equally); (c) physically present in the UK at the start of the 3-year qualifying period ending with the application date; (d) within the absence limits (<=270 days over 3 years; <=90 days in the final 12 months); (e) free of immigration time restrictions (ILR / settled / EUSS settled) on the application date; (f) not in breach of immigration laws during the 3-year period; (g) of good character; and (h) meeting the language (B1) and Life-in-the-UK knowledge requirements. Unlike s.6(1), there is NO intention-to-reside requirement and NO 12-month-prior-settled rule. The British-citizen status of the spouse/partner and the subsistence of the relationship must both hold on the application date.

Schedule 1 para 3 sets the spousal thresholds: residence beginning with presence in the UK at the start of the 3-year period and total absences not exceeding 270 days (para 3(a)); absences in the final 12 months not exceeding 90 days (para 3(b)); not subject on the application date to any immigration-law restriction on the period of stay (para 3(c)); no breach of immigration laws during the 3-year period (para 3(d)); and the good-character, language, and life-in-UK requirements imported from para 1(1)(b),(c),(ca) (para 3(e)). The 270-day total (vs 450 for s.6(1)), the absence of the 12-month-prior-free-of-restrictions rule, and the absence of the intention-to-reside requirement are the structural distinctions of the spousal route. Schedule 1 para 4 supplies the discretionary modifications.

Applications are made on Form AN to the Home Office (UK Visas and Immigration), the delegate of the Secretary of State for the Home Department who exercises the s.6(2) power. Biometrics are enrolled (no separate biometric fee). Evidence of the qualifying relationship (marriage/civil-partnership certificate) and the spouse/partner's British-citizen status is submitted with Form AN. On a successful decision the applicant must attend a citizenship ceremony and make the oath/affirmation of allegiance and the pledge before the certificate of naturalisation issues; the ceremony fee is GBP 130. Because s.6 is discretionary ('may, if he thinks fit'), satisfying Schedule 1 is necessary but not sufficient. There is no statutory merits appeal against refusal; challenge is by judicial review on public-law grounds. The typical service standard is around 6 months.

As of 2026-06-01 the naturalisation application fee is GBP 1,709 (uprated 8 April 2026 from the GBP 1,605 figure that applied from 1 July 2025), plus the GBP 130 citizenship-ceremony fee, giving GBP 1,839 total to certificate. There is NO separate biometric enrolment fee. The Life in the UK test costs GBP 50 and SELT fees are payable separately to the test provider. VC-GB-FEES: the v2.1 base cited GBP 1,605 / GBP 1,735 to certificate and hypothesised a biometric component — both superseded by the 8 Apr 2026 uprating and the gov.uk landing total. Fee legal basis: Immigration Act 2014 (c.22) s.68 with the annual Immigration and Nationality (Fees) Regulations.

GB-MAR-01 is the marriage-bucket surfacing of British Nationality Act 1981 (c.61) s.6(2) (alias of GB-NAT-02), operationalised by Schedule 1 paragraphs 3-4. s.6(2) provides that where an applicant of full age and capacity is, on the date of application, 'married to a British citizen, or is the civil partner of a British citizen', and satisfies the Schedule 1 requirements 'under this subsection', the Secretary of State 'may, if he thinks fit, grant' a certificate of naturalisation. The BNA 1981 came into force on 1 January 1983 (SI 1982/933 art.2). The civil-partner limb was inserted by the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (c.33), in force 5 December 2005. As of 2026-06-01 the in-force text is unchanged by the 2 December 2025 reforms (the s.6(3) omission does not touch s.6(2)).