Ppron Naturalisation Method

[Marco 72]

I am a dual British/Italian citizen, and my wife is an American who came over almost two years ago on an EEA Family Permit (I was not a British citizen at the time). In order to apply for citizenship in the UK she would need to obtain ILR first, and this won't be possible until she has spent five years in this country. Having read about the ppron method, which JAJ mentioned in another discussion, I wonder if my wife would qualify for it.

1. Would it be possible for her to use it even though she entered the country as the wife of an EEA citizen?

2. What kind of arguments should one use to persuade a British Embassy that they have to accept such an application? I imagine their first answer is probably going to be a flat no.

3. Before my wife joined me on an EEA Family Permit she spent almost six months here as a tourist (we went to the US to get married, then came back). Would it be possible to include those six months in her residence requirement?

Thanks,

Marco

[stedman]

The link doesn't work - maybe it's my computer! Can someone kindly cut and paste it?

[mon]

here you go then.... interesting... as for the original question, i'm afraid I have no idea

This method was pointed out to us by Paul (ppron747) on this forum (hence the title) and used by my wife (Mrs ftgpmb) to successfully naturalise as a UK citizen in February 2007. ppron originally pointed out the method here: http://www.ukresident.com/forums/index. ... st&p=54004

The main strength of the ppron method is for a spouse of a UK national to naturalise as a UK citizen having lived in the UK for 3 years, but without the need for Indefinite Leave to Remain.

What we did:
1. completed a Life in the UK test
2. emailed the embassy in a nearby country to inform them of our intention to submit the application to them.
3. persisted while they debated with the Home Office policy section in Liverpool as to whether they were able to accept the application there from a non-resident – you don't have to be resident, only present in the country.
4. Filled in an AN(NEW)
5. Wrote a cover letter stating our case:

I hereby make application for naturalisation as a British citizen under Section 6(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981. I believe that I fulfil the requirements as follows:
1. I am of full age as evidenced by my birth certificate;
2. I am of full capacity as evidenced by my presence in person;
3. I intend to continue to live in the UK;
4. I am married to a British citizen as evidenced by my marriage certificate and the British Passport of my husband provided;
5. I meet the residence requirements as evidenced by application form and the entry and exit stamps in my passports:

• I was in the UK on <3 years ago> and have been legally present there for the past 3 years
• I have been absent for less than 270 days in the period since that day
• I have been absent for less than 90 days in the past 12 months
• I am not subject to immigration restrictions as evidenced by my presence outside of the UK, in the Republic of Ireland, on the date of application;


6. I am of good character as is evidenced by the declaration in my application form and as can be testified to by my referees; and,
7. I have sufficient knowledge of English and life in the United Kingdom as evidenced by the Pass Notification Letter of the Life in the UK Test provided.

I have completed application form AN (NEW) and submit this together with the following supporting documentation to the British Embassy in XXXX:

• Current passport
• Previous passport
• Birth certificate
• Marriage certificate
• Husband's British passport
• Like in the UK Test Pass Notification Letter


My husband and I both require our current passports for impending travel and I request that you make copies of these documents and return them to me.

I trust that you will be able to process this application with the details provided; however, if you have questions or require further details, please contact me at the address provided in my application form, or by telephone on +44 …


6. Mrs ftgpmb flew out on the morning of her appointment on 12th October 2006. Taking copies of the relevant acts and guidelines just in case.
7. The embassy took a consular fee and the application fee of 260 pounds all in local currency cash.
8. They also photocopied all the supporting documentation and returned it.
9. She returned to the UK the same day.
10. The embassy had some difficulty in getting the application pack to the Home Office in Liverpool, with one set going missing. There were also some difficulties convincing the HO that the fee had indeed been paid.
11. Once these issues were resolved, the letter notifying us of a successful application came within two weeks, dated 21st February 2007.

The circumstances of how we got into this situation:
The saga is posted here in full length (link)
We arrived in the UK in 2002 on a UK ancestry visa by virtue of my maternal grandparents; however, in the interim, I became a UK citizen (see here). This left Mrs ftgpmb in an odd situation as she was married to a UK citizen but living in the UK on a visa as a dependent of a UK ancestry visa holder. The dependent ancestry visa may even have been invalid – others in this situation had been forced to start again with spousal visa followed by ILR and finally naturalization (see here) ... a costly and lengthy process. Thanks to lots of help from those on this forum, we elected to use the ppron method which meant that instead of making 3 separate applications for spousal visa, ILR followed by naturalisation, we were able to do it in one, considerably faster and cheaper! thanks ppron!


Useful documentation:
British Nationality (General) Regulations 2003
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2003/20030548.htm
Part II, Paragraph 4 indicates the Authority to whom applications should be made if the applicant is "in" a foreign country (importance being the words "in" not "resident")

British Nationality Act 1981 Chapter 61
http://www.uniset.ca/naty/BNA1981revd.htm
Section 6(2) - the act under which you are applying
Schedule 1 Paragraph 3(c ) – the important part stating that the applicant needs to be free from restriction under immigration laws on the date of application

IND guidelines
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/nichapter18/
Chapter 18, Paragraph 18.2.2 – more guidance under Section 6(2) of the act
Annex B to Chapter 18 – Paragraph 7.1 – clarification that people who are not in the UK are free from immigration time restrictions.

Moderators please sticky if you think this might be useful
Feel free to post any questions that aren't answered in the other discussion posts.

[stedman]

Cheers Mon!

[JAJ]

1. Would it be possible for her to use it even though she entered the country as the wife of an EEA citizen?

2. What kind of arguments should one use to persuade a British Embassy that they have to accept such an application? I imagine their first answer is probably going to be a flat no.

3. Before my wife joined me on an EEA Family Permit she spent almost six months here as a tourist (we went to the US to get married, then came back). Would it be possible to include those six months in her residence requirement?

1. Yes.

2. Your reference is in the British Nationality (General) Regulations 2003, referenced below. However you can't rely on front-desk clerks to know about this, and the rule is different for immigration, so you need to make an appointment with the Embassy in advance before travelling. They may wish to check with the Home Office before agreeing to accept the application.

The previous poster referenced made the application at the British Embassy in Dublin, so that's probably as good a place as any. Embassies do receive nationality applications from time to time - but not naturalisations, and not normally from non-citizens/residents of the country.

Also, you'd need to follow up that the application was properly forwarded to the Home Office and that the fee was correctly credited. In addition, there would be a risk your naturalisation certificate would be sent to the Embassy and rather than re-direct it, be prepared to make a return trip for the ceremony if necessary.

A few more pointers on this link:
http://www.ukresident.com/forums/index. ... opic=37084


3. Any legal residence will do, other than if it was a technical exception like diplomat or visiting forces. Make sure you can properly document it.

[JAJ]

I hereby make application for naturalisation as a British citizen under Section 6(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981. I believe that I fulfil the requirements as follows:

....

3. I intend to continue to live in the UK;

Note that this is not a requirement for section 6(2) applications.

[Marco 72]

Thanks JAJ, I had missed your reply earlier. I have managed to convince my wife to apply for British citizenship, so we'll probably give it a shot next year. One potential problem is that we don't have any evidence of her being present in the country apart from her passport, since she didn't work the whole time she was here. However, her passport does get stamped when she enters the UK, so that should be enough.

I'm not sure if we'll include the time she spent here as a tourist. In order to avoid potential difficulties we'll probably wait until she has been here for 3 years on her EEA Family Permit and then apply in Dublin.

[JAJ]

Thanks JAJ, I had missed your reply earlier. I have managed to convince my wife to apply for British citizenship, so we'll probably give it a shot next year. One potential problem is that we don't have any evidence of her being present in the country apart from her passport, since she didn't work the whole time she was here. However, her passport does get stamped when she enters the UK, so that should be enough.

Even if she wasn't working, have you got evidence like bank or credit card statements showing activity in the UK.

I'm not sure if we'll include the time she spent here as a tourist. In order to avoid potential difficulties we'll probably wait until she has been here for 3 years on her EEA Family Permit and then apply in Dublin.

I see no reason why time as a tourist cannot be included, provided it was lawful.

[SYH]

So the way you avoided the ILR is simply you went to another country and applied. So why cant everyone else do that after 3 if married or 5 if here on work permit??????

[Marco 72]

Even if she wasn't working, have you got evidence like bank or credit card statements showing activity in the UK.

I opened a joint bank account with my wife as soon as she arrived from the US after our wedding, so that should be ok.

I see no reason why time as a tourist cannot be included, provided it was lawful.

The problem is that we have no way of proving that she was here, apart from the stamp in her passport from February 2005 stating "Leave to enter for six months: employment and recourse to public funds prohibited". I realise now that we should have kept her boarding pass when she went back to the US in June 2005, but we didn't think about it then. The next stamp in the passport is the one on her UK Entry Clearance, dated July 2005. When she was here as a tourist I tried to add her to my bank account but the bank refused.

[Marco 72]

So the way you avoided the ILR is simply you went to another country and applied. So why cant everyone else do that after 3 if married or 5 if here on work permit??????

The way the method works is that the law doesn't actually state that you need to have ILR in order to apply, all says is that you must be "free from immigration restrictions". If you apply outside the UK you are of course free from [UK] immigration restrictions, since you are not in the UK. However, it wouldn't work for those who are not married to a British citizen, because they are required to have been free from immigration restrictions for a year before they apply.

[SYH]

Ok I think I give up in trying to figure a way around the ILR requirment as HSMP, I don't think they will provide a remedy for those who were expecting to apply for ILR at the 4 year mark and have to wait another year.
Cherio

[Christophe]

I realise now that we should have kept her boarding pass when she went back to the US in June 2005, but we didn't think about it then.

Lots of airlines don't put the year on the boarding pass though, on the day and the month. So it might not have helped all that much, except to provide a bit more possible evidence.

[whirly]

Marco 72 wrote:

I am a dual British/Italian citizen, and my wife is an American who came over almost two years ago on an EEA Family Permit (I was not a British citizen at the time). In order to apply for citizenship in the UK she would need to obtain ILR first, and this won't be possible until she has spent five years in this country. Having read about the ppron method, which JAJ mentioned in another discussion, I wonder if my wife would qualify for it.

Wow! I just found this thread and was fascinated by the prospects of the Ppron method (esp since I could, in theory, do it myself next April instead of applying for ILR). However, I see one possible drawback: I have heard that American citizens must always enter the US on their US passport, even if they hold other nationalities. So if:

a) a US citizen naturalises using the Ppron method from abroad and is granted UK citizenship, and
b) is granted a UK passport, and
c) still has a valid US passport, but
c) wants to visit relatives in the US and come back to the UK...

how do you do it? You won't have ILR in your US passport to show your status. You can't leave on a US passport and enter on a UK one, can you?

I would love to find a way around paying fees for both ILR and naturalisation, but I can see a certain value in having both, if only for situations like this. Am I over-analyzing this, or have I missed something?

Marco: I hope I haven't hurt your wife's chances at the Ppron method!

[yankeegirl]

Whirly,

You just use both passports. Lots of dual nationals do it. You show the US passport when entering/leaving the US, and then show the British passport when entering/leaving the UK. My daughter is American as well as British/Irish and we were advised that if we wanted to take her to the US for vacation it wouldn't be a problem to have her travel with more than one passport. As long as you have the US passport to enterand leave the US, and a British one when coming back to the UK, you'll be fine.

[vinny]

Unfortunately, see also The end of the ppron method?