A citizenship ceremony at Wokingham Town Hall has taken place with registrars welcoming 26 new citizens to the Borough this month (December 2022).
All applicants aged 18 years and over who are accepted by the Home Office for citizenship by naturalisation or registration must take an oath of allegiance and pledge of loyalty, before they can become a British Citizen. At the end of the ceremony, the national anthem is played.
The latest ceremony took place on Wednesday 14 December. New citizens were presented with certificates from the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, Brigadier Stephen Matthews and a gift of a passport cover from Wokingham Borough Mayor Cllr Caroline Smith.
This is the seventh citizenship ceremony Cllr Caroline Smith has attended since becoming Borough Mayor. In total, she has welcomed 176 new British Citizens to Wokingham Borough.
Cllr Caroline Smith said: “Wokingham Borough is made up of thriving diverse communities and many people, including our new British Citizens, choose to live here as it’s such a great place to live, work and bring up a family due to our fantastic local schools, a healthy population and great employment opportunities.
“Obtaining a British Citizenship is a significant and memorable occasion, and I am delighted to meet people from all walks of life and welcome them officially as British Citizens to our Borough.”
The new citizens welcomed to Wokingham Borough since September to December 2022 are from the below countries:
- Sri Lanka
- Italy
- India
- Slovakia
- Netherlands
- South Africa
- Sierra Leone
- Nigeria
- Pakistan
- Zimbabwe
- Thailand
- Denmark
- Saudi Arabia
- Russia
- Kenya
- Serbia
- Egypt
- Taiwan
- Gambia
- Hungary
- Spain
- China
- Turkey
- Venezuela
- Iran
- Latvia
- Bolivia
- Romania
- France
- Poland
- Ukraine
- Nepal
- Bulgaria
- Australia
About our citizenship ceremonies
Group citizenship ceremonies are held each month at Wokingham Town Hall and each citizen can bring a guest to the ceremony. Private citizenship ceremonies are held at the Register Office and can be arranged quickly, if needed (extra charge applicable). Find out more by visiting our website.