Renouncing and resuming British citizenship: forms RN and RS1 explained

You give up British citizenship by making a declaration of renunciation on form RN (or online), paying the £513 fee (8 April 2026 fee table), and your citizenship is lost on the day the Home Secretary registers your declaration. If you later want it back, form RS1 gives you a once-only right to resume British citizenship, but only if you renounced because it was necessary to keep or gain another nationality.

Why people renounce British citizenship

The most common reason is that your other country does not permit dual nationality. GOV.UK is clear that dual citizenship is allowed on the British side, but warns that "many countries do not accept dual citizenship" and tells you to check with that country's consulate or embassy. India, for example, does not allow its citizens to hold another nationality, and China does not recognise dual nationality either. So someone who naturalises as British may need to give up their original citizenship, and conversely, a British citizen who wants to acquire or retain a nationality like these may be required to renounce their British status first.

Wherever you are on the route, the Life in the UK test is coming — see how you'd score on a free mock test, no sign-up needed.

If you are naturalising here and worried about the reverse situation, read whether British citizenship makes you lose your old one before you apply.

The form RN process and what it costs

To renounce you must be 18 or over (or younger if you are married or in a civil partnership) and have full capacity, meaning some understanding of the meaning and consequences of renunciation. Crucially, you must already hold another citizenship or nationality, or reasonably expect to acquire one within 6 months. British law will not let you make yourself stateless by choice.

You apply online through the visas and immigration service, or by post on form RN. If you live in the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or a British overseas territory, you apply in person or by post instead. The fee on the 8 April 2026 fee table is £513.

Once accepted, you receive a declaration of renunciation, which is your proof that you are no longer British. Your British passport is cancelled, and unless you are a Commonwealth citizen with right of abode, you lose the right to live in the UK. You cannot fall back on any immigration permission you held before you became British; if you want to stay in the UK you must qualify afresh under the Immigration Rules. Your renunciation affects only you, not your family members, though it can affect the status of children born afterwards.

There is a built-in safety net for people renouncing in anticipation of a new nationality: if you do not actually acquire that other nationality within 6 months of registration, the renunciation does not take effect and you are treated as having remained British throughout.

Resuming citizenship with form RS1: the once-only right

Section 13(1) of the British Nationality Act 1981 gives you a right, exercisable once only, to be registered as a British citizen again if you previously renounced British citizenship in order to keep or acquire another citizenship. This is the classic scenario: you renounced to take Indian, Chinese or another single-nationality citizenship, circumstances changed, and you now want your British status back. Because it is an entitlement, the Home Office must register you if you meet the requirements.

Those requirements still have teeth. You must be of good character, of sound mind (waivable), provide two referees who have known you for at least 3 years (one holding a British passport), enrol your biometrics, and if you are 18 or over, attend a citizenship ceremony within 90 days of your invitation, where the oath and pledge make you British again. The fee is the adult registration fee, £1,540 on the 8 April 2026 table, and standard processing takes up to 6 months.

Second resumptions are discretionary

If you have already used your one-time entitlement, or you renounced for reasons that were not necessary to keep or gain another nationality, any further resumption falls under section 13(3) and is entirely at the Home Secretary's discretion. Registration "will be granted if they see fit", so you should set out your connections to the UK and your reasons fully. There is no right of appeal against a discretionary refusal, only reconsideration, so treat your first renunciation as something you get to undo once.

Once you are registered and have completed the ceremony, you are a British citizen again and can apply for a passport. Our new citizen checklist covers what to do in the weeks after the ceremony.

Renunciation is a serious, largely one-way door with a single, conditional way back. Take advice, get the other citizenship confirmed first, and keep your declaration of renunciation safe, because you will need it for any RS1 application.