Citizenship ceremonies
A Citizenship Ceremony celebrates the significance and responsibility of becoming a British Citizen and welcomes our newest citizens into our community.
Following a successful application to become a British Citizen the Home Office issues an invitation letter by email to the individual concerned advising them of who they should contact to arrange their ceremony. Contact should be made with the Register Office specified in your invitation letter within 14 days of its receipt.
Booking your public citizenship ceremony
Your public citizenship ceremony will be held in the Old Court Room at Wakefield Town Hall. The ceremony is led by the Superintendent Registrar or by one of her deputies. The guest of honour is either the Mayor of Wakefield or the Deputy Mayor. New citizens will be invited to attend along with a maximum of two guests. Children over the age of 5 are included in guest numbers.
- The number of guests you can bring to your ceremony in the Old Court Room will be restricted to 2 per person but does not include children under the age of 5. Guests must be seated in the upper level of the room unless there are accessibility issues. If a guest has accessibility issues please advise us of this prior to arrival
- You must arrive 15 minutes before your ceremony start time, if early we will be unable to accommodate you. In cases of lateness, we will not allow access to the ceremony and you will have to contact the Registration Service by telephone to reschedule to a later date
- Parking information – If driving to the ceremony, please note that parking is limited around the Town Hall please ensure you leave enough time to locate parking and walk to the building to arrive 15 minutes prior to the start time. The ceremony is expected to be completed within 30 minutes of its start
There will be an opportunity to take photos with the dignitary in attendance after the ceremony.
Private Citizenship Ceremony
Documents to bring
You are required to produce:
- The Home Office email or email confirming the appointment sent by Wakefield Registrars (paper or electronic version acceptable)
- Photographic identification (such as passport, travel document or driving licence)
Failure to bring your identification to the ceremony will result in you being asked to leave and contact us to reschedule another ceremony.
Procedure for citizens wanting to change the venue of the ceremony to another district
If a citizen wishes to change the venue of the ceremony to another district, you must contact us to arrange for the necessary paperwork to be returned to the Home Office. They will then re-send the paperwork to the new register office conducting the ceremony. This will delay when the citizen can have the ceremony and receive their certificate.
Enquiries regarding citizenship
A prospective citizen who has not yet received an invitation letter or a member of the public with an enquiry about British citizenship and citizenship ceremonies should write to:
Home Office
Managed Migration
Nationality Group
PO Box 306
Liverpool
L2 0QN
Or telephone 0845 010 5200.
Further information may also be obtained from the Home Office website.