General Discussion During Naturalisation Application Process

[Astrid24]

The timeline threads are helpful in regards to giving people a rough idea of how long to expect their naturalisation application to take. However, the negative side to them is that they can make people worried and anxious.

For example, when you see others who applied the same time as you or after you receiving their approvals, and you still haven't received your approval you start thinking that there might be a problem with your application. That's also why I don't agree with that timeline calculation method. Because if you follow the method and you calculate an expected approval time and your approval doesn't come at that time then it just causes more worrying.

It is very nerve-wracking just waiting and waiting and not knowing what's happening with your application. Especially when others receive approvals and you haven't. But try to not worry and be patient. Remember, UKBA say it could take up to 6 months - hopefully it won't take that long! But if you haven't received your approval after a month or two then by UKBA standards it hasn't really been that long.

I've just been seeing a lot of comments where people are worrying that others have received approvals and they haven't, so I thought I'd post this. Hope it helps.

[ibrahimfareed]

Hi legal alien
Thanks for the reply. I received letter from home office today refusing my application for citizenship. Reason is because I should have ilr for 12 months before I apply. Iam really so sad. Many of my friends have the same situation and got their citizenship.
My advice for all who got 5 year refugee status and got their ilr recently not to apply for citizenship before 12 moths period.

[ukforever]

Hi legal alien
Thanks for the reply. I received letter from home office today refusing my application for citizenship. Reason is because I should have ilr for 12 months before I apply. Iam really so sad. Many of my friends have the same situation and got their citizenship.
My advice for all who got 5 year refugee status and got their ilr recently not to apply for citizenship before 12 moths period.

i'm sorry to hear about your refusal,but can i ask u a question..??did u send the application by yourself which means by post or did u use NCS,i'm asking because if u did send it by post,that's ok then because u did not know the rules,but if you did send it by the Nationality Checking Service,i would be surprised if they did send the application knowing that u were not eligible to apply.

[Dougslar]

Hi,

I am a British citizen married to a Uruguayan national. My husband has been in the UK since 21st May, 2010 so we are looking to apply for British citizenship this summer. We have completed the forms and I was about to send these away tomorrow but I now have a concern about how long you need to have ILR before you can apply for citizenship. I can't see anything on the UKBA website advising of this.

We applied for ILR last June and received the confirmation through on 27/10/2012. This is the date on my husband's biometric card. Does he have to hold ILR for 12 months before we can apply for citizenship?

Also, the AN form seems a lot simpler than the ILR form we completed last year so I'm concerned I've missed something. Do we need to provide photocopies of our documents like last time? For example, our passports, marriage certificate and confirmation of passing the Life in the UK Test. I can't see anyting in the guide that indicates you need to provide photocopies.

My main concern is the the period ILR need to be held before applying for citizenship. If someone can provide information on this, it would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

[tarausman]

Hi
I applied naturalisation application little confused about my problem i was in insolvency ( debit relief order) and discharge within 1 year and getting benefits job seeker now so u think it will effect on my application hope i get answer or good news soon Thank u

[ukforever]

Hi
I applied naturalisation application little confused about my problem i was in insolvency ( debit relief order) and discharge within 1 year and getting benefits job seeker now so u think it will effect on my application hope i get answer or good news soon Thank u

HI,
ITS BETTER U POST THE SAME QUERY IN THIS THREAD,AS THERE IS MEMBERS WHO ANSWERS QUESTIONS REGARDING,DEBT/GOOD CHARACTER REQUIREMENT.

http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=136725

[englishlife]

Hi,

I am a British citizen married to a Uruguayan national. My husband has been in the UK since 21st May, 2010 so we are looking to apply for British citizenship this summer. We have completed the forms and I was about to send these away tomorrow but I now have a concern about how long you need to have ILR before you can apply for citizenship. I can't see anything on the UKBA website advising of this.

We applied for ILR last June and received the confirmation through on 27/10/2012. This is the date on my husband's biometric card. Does he have to hold ILR for 12 months before we can apply for citizenship?

Also, the AN form seems a lot simpler than the ILR form we completed last year so I'm concerned I've missed something. Do we need to provide photocopies of our documents like last time? For example, our passports, marriage certificate and confirmation of passing the Life in the UK Test. I can't see anyting in the guide that indicates you need to provide photocopies.

My main concern is the the period ILR need to be held before applying for citizenship. If someone can provide information on this, it would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Your husband needs to prove physical residency in Uk last three years from the date of Application. All he needs to send with application is your full birth certificate or valid passport and his marriage certificate and his current passport with a application fee 874 pounds (including 80 pounds for ceremony) by post. If he doesnt want to send original documents then phone your local council and get an appointment with NCS and they will charge about 40-80 pounds. They will take the photocopy of orginal document s and give you the original document back same time and they will attached all those photoocopied document and send to Home office on your behalf. If you dont like this two option then go to a solicitor and pay 200 to 500 quids just solicitor fee and plus 874 for application fee and send it by solicitor or immigration lawyer. My suggestion is best is NCS or post. As no point to go solicitor. Thank you.

[ya75khan]

Hi Guys I need some reassurance.

We are in the situation that I have applied for naturalization for my wife and since then I have relocated to UAE. Wife was supposed to join me once she gets the approval letter ( usually takes two months). But it seems that the application is taking a lot longer.


Case was really straight forward as follows.

Wife arrived on the spouse visa on 23rd April 2010. She left after staying a week and returned back after 5 weeks i.e. 6th of June 2010.

Since then she has hardly been out of UK.

We applied for her ILR in 2012 and we received it October 2012.

This year, we book appointment with NCS on 23rd of April so our application reached home office on 24th. (thus fulfilling the condition of being in the country exactly three years ago).

We received acknowledgement letter dated 27th April 2013 and fees was debited on 29th April.

Questions.

1. Can anyone spot any potential issue in the above circumstance that may leave to delay or refusal of the application?

2. We are happy to allow the naturalization process to take it time. (six months or longer). In the meanwhile wife can join me in UAE in the meanwhile and will go back to UK to ceremony and passport. ( if this cant be done in UAE).

3. However if she moves out and her application got rejected after six months of deliberation, (which would be in October 2013). Then we wont be able to re-apply as in October 2013 she would have spent more than 90 days outside the UK.

Can someone confirm that my thought process is right and I am not missing anything?

I know that it is difficult to predict the outcome of the application. However in addition to the above explained circumstances, there are no adverse elements ( e.g. no licence points, offences or benefits claims etc).

In these circumstances how safe would it be to assume that the application will eventually be successful ( even thought it is taking longer) and hence she can take a calculated risk of coming out to UAE. ?

Please oblige by your detailed insight............

[masti11]

Spouse Application for Naturalization
Date of application - 22/05/2103 (NCS)

I have put my contact number in the naturalization application form for my spouse and I have received a call from the case worker during my spouse naturalization application process and the case worker asked for my spouse contact details which i have duly provided.

Case worked called back again after sometime saying that my spouse is not lifting the phone and asked for alternate contact number. I have provided the number but the case worker didnt call again.

Its been 3 days since this has happened and we didnt receive any further communication in any form call or letter in post or email either. Dont know the reason behind the call as they didnt leave any message. Should i worry about this or is there a chance that it will delay the application process?? Is there anyway we couldnt get in touch with UKBA to find out the reason for calling us??

Any prior experiences like this are much appreciated?

[ya75khan]

I have been following these forums for a while and I have not come across any case where a case worker has tried to reach out that way.

Be mindful of the fact that there are bad people out there who may pose as UKBA official to get more information from you especially if they got hold of your discarded half-filled forms or other useful information you may have thrown out.

[masti11]

I have been following these forums for a while and I have not come across any case where a case worker has tried to reach out that way.

Be mindful of the fact that there are bad people out there who may pose as UKBA official to get more information from you especially if they got hold of your discarded half-filled forms or other useful information you may have thrown out.

I can understand the concerns but to be fair i have discarded all the wastage securely by shredding them. Difficult to ascertain the reasons for the call as i dont see any issues with the application or payment as i received the acknowledgement and payment is cleared in the bank statement. So not sure if this is of concern or not. Will update the forum if i get any further info.

In the meanwhile would be good to understand any one with prior experience as ours.

[Ayyubi72]

Hi Guys I need some reassurance.

We are in the situation that I have applied for naturalization for my wife and since then I have relocated to UAE. Wife was supposed to join me once she gets the approval letter ( usually takes two months). But it seems that the application is taking a lot longer.

thinking you are worried for no reason. You might be better off using your thought process for something constructive, rather than just speculate a disaster.

From whatever info you have posted, I would say that only way your wives application might get arefused is that caseworker is on drugs.

Right now naturalisation applications seems to be taking between 25 days and 6 months. There seems to be no explanation or logic why such varying timeframes. Two people sent application on same day, exactly same situation, one got it in 5 weeks and other person 4 months.

So, just chill out and wait. I think it won't be too long before you get good news.

[Ayyubi72]

Spouse Application for Naturalization
Date of application - 22/05/2103 (NCS)

I have put my contact number in the naturalization application form for my spouse and I have received a call from the case worker during my spouse naturalization application process and the case worker asked for my spouse contact details which i have duly provided.

Case worked called back again after sometime saying that my spouse is not lifting the phone and asked for alternate contact number. I have provided the number but the case worker didnt call again.

Its been 3 days since this has happened and we didnt receive any further communication in any form call or letter in post or email either. Dont know the reason behind the call as they didnt leave any message. Should i worry about this or is there a chance that it will delay the application process?? Is there anyway we couldnt get in touch with UKBA to find out the reason for calling us??

Any prior experiences like this are much appreciated?

Its caseworker job to make whatever enquiries he wants to make. If he wants any information from your husband, then let him get this information. If he can't contact your husband by phone, then let him write to your husband. Why do you worry and take headache of a caseworker?

If your application is correct, then you do not need to worry about internal UKBA matters. Its their headache, let them deal with it.

[Alish60]

Hi Guys I need some reassurance.

We are in the situation that I have applied for naturalization for my wife and since then I have relocated to UAE. Wife was supposed to join me once she gets the approval letter ( usually takes two months). But it seems that the application is taking a lot longer.


Case was really straight forward as follows.

Wife arrived on the spouse visa on 23rd April 2010. She left after staying a week and returned back after 5 weeks i.e. 6th of June 2010.

Since then she has hardly been out of UK.

We applied for her ILR in 2012 and we received it October 2012.

This year, we book appointment with NCS on 23rd of April so our application reached home office on 24th. (thus fulfilling the condition of being in the country exactly three years ago).

We received acknowledgement letter dated 27th April 2013 and fees was debited on 29th April.

Questions.

1. Can anyone spot any potential issue in the above circumstance that may leave to delay or refusal of the application?

2. We are happy to allow the naturalization process to take it time. (six months or longer). In the meanwhile wife can join me in UAE in the meanwhile and will go back to UK to ceremony and passport. ( if this cant be done in UAE).

3. However if she moves out and her application got rejected after six months of deliberation, (which would be in October 2013). Then we wont be able to re-apply as in October 2013 she would have spent more than 90 days outside the UK.

Can someone confirm that my thought process is right and I am not missing anything?

I know that it is difficult to predict the outcome of the application. However in addition to the above explained circumstances, there are no adverse elements ( e.g. no licence points, offences or benefits claims etc).

In these circumstances how safe would it be to assume that the application will eventually be successful ( even thought it is taking longer) and hence she can take a calculated risk of coming out to UAE. ?

Please oblige by your detailed insight............

From the date of acknowledgement letter you have been waiting for 50 days so it isnot a long wait.my application was very straight forward and took 4 months before I had the approval letter. You should not get worried.soon you will have the approval letter.

[ukforever]

any march applicants still waiting..??

[znayka]

Hi Guys,
Need help
І applied for naturalization on 22 April 2013 via solicitor. І received IRL on 9 July 2010 type permit: settlement. І received my ILR on ground out of immigration rules. I’m not apply after one year on ILR, because І went in NCS Hounslow in September 2012 show them my passport and ILR and they said І have to meet criteria 5 years residential period be legal in UK.
І talk to solicitor who was help me with ILR application and he said, they don’t know this situation and if І like he can fill my Naturalization from and send it to Home Office of course not for free. Solicitor said he get some instruction from HO how to fill form for my particular case and he already was apply for his clients with same criteria and they application was successful.
І agreed with him, provide all documents which is he asked and we fill form and send the form on 23-24 April 2013, I’m not sure. І checked my credit card statement money was taken from account 15 May 2013 but till now І haven’t got any acknowledgment letter or other correspondence from HO, UKBA or solicitor.
Has anybody already had this situation and what can I do, I am very worried?
Please give me advice.

[masti11]

Spouse Application for Naturalization
Date of application - 22/05/2103 (NCS)

I have put my contact number in the naturalization application form for my spouse and I have received a call from the case worker during my spouse naturalization application process and the case worker asked for my spouse contact details which i have duly provided.

Case worked called back again after sometime saying that my spouse is not lifting the phone and asked for alternate contact number. I have provided the number but the case worker didnt call again.

Its been 3 days since this has happened and we didnt receive any further communication in any form call or letter in post or email either. Dont know the reason behind the call as they didnt leave any message. Should i worry about this or is there a chance that it will delay the application process?? Is there anyway we couldnt get in touch with UKBA to find out the reason for calling us??

Any prior experiences like this are much appreciated?

Its caseworker job to make whatever enquiries he wants to make. If he wants any information from your husband, then let him get this information. If he can't contact your husband by phone, then let him write to your husband. Why do you worry and take headache of a caseworker?

If your application is correct, then you do not need to worry about internal UKBA matters. Its their headache, let them deal with it.

Friends, thanks for all your support. I have received my naturalization approval letter through this morning. Seems the call from case worker didnt deter my application time lines. I have included specific time lines with my application in the naturalization processing timelines only page.

[ukforever]

anymore applicants from march who did not get their approval yet??

[bnaresh81]

Yes .. I am still waiting
I applied on 5th March...

Date of Application-05/03/2013
Date of debit of fees: 11/03/2013
Date of receipt of acknowledgement: 12/03/2013

Still waiting...waiting for Approval

[Astrid24]

It's amazing how fast the June applications are being processed!

[eagle11]

Hi, I need some idea. I have seen somewhere very detailed and helpful FAQs on naturalisation.
It says there that HO check for inland revenue, but on the other hand it's not required to be employed at the time of application.

Also, it says that HO checks the council tax, but anyone can be on rented or even shared accommodation where he is not liable of council tax. Typical scenario would be in the areas like east London or southal where rents are inclusive for small flats which are converted and I have seen many properties where LL has not paid the tax uptodate though its in his name. In that case would applicant have problem in his application?

Lastly, I have a question that I am self employed and director of my company. I simply send the cheque for whatever amount I get from my accountant but I received call from him saying that hmrc has not received any payment this year. Which I am. Going to send him my bank statement that I have paied. But I am worried as I have submitted my application on 24 may 2013 for naturalisation and if HO had contacted hmrc then they would have negative response from them. What should I do in this case.
Thanks in advance.
Finally my salute to all helpful members

[Ayyubi72]

Not really an immigration matter. Sort it out with hmrc. It does not sound right that you pay by cheque to hmrc and payment clears to hmrc and then hmrc says they havent got it.

I am sure you are not telling the truth. If tax has not been paid, hmrc sends you a proper letter, they don't just ring you and ask for money. If you don't pay after getting their letter, they regularly keep sending reminders. It seems you have defaulted on your tax payments and now just trying to find a way to get through your naturalisation.

[eagle11]

Not really an immigration matter. Sort it out with hmrc. It does not sound right that you pay by cheque to hmrc and payment clears to hmrc and then hmrc says they havent got it.

I am sure you are not telling the truth. If tax has not been paid, hmrc sends you a proper letter, they don't just ring you and ask for money. If you don't pay after getting their letter, they regularly keep sending reminders. It seems you have defaulted on your tax payments and now just trying to find a way to get through your naturalisation.

Hi Ayyubi72, thanks for your reply.
If I had to hide, then why would I ask here.....
As I mentioned, it's my accountant who deals with all tax matters. I haven't received any letter from hmrc at all. My accountant called me and asked this. He also mentioned that they have got these letters for many other clients. It was probably NI contribution. He sends me a bank giro with hmrc details and account number printed on it and asks me in the letter specifically to send a company cheque.
Any chance for comments on other part of question please.

[Ayyubi72]

Yes, you do not need to be employed, but on the other hand if you are actually employed then you are supposed to pay tax and NI and not work just cash in hand. Just an example to give you the idea what its about.

Since you run a limited company, you are expected to pay tax and ni due on the company. It seems you are not very familiar with tax and accounting matters and just blindly follow the accountant. Good idea will be to familiarize yourself with the basics of how it all works.

Same goes with council tax. You must pay council tax if you are liable to pay council tax. If you live with your uncle who pays his council tax, then you are not liable to pay for council tax.

If your uncle has a car, then its your uncle who is liable to insure the car, not you.

Same goes with absolutely everything in life.

You are not required to pay for something that you are not liable for.

[eagle11]

Yes, you do not need to be employed, but on the other hand if you are actually employed then you are supposed to pay tax and NI and not work just cash in hand. Just an example to give you the idea what its about.

Since you run a limited company, you are expected to pay tax and ni due on the company. It seems you are not very familiar with tax and accounting matters and just blindly follow the accountant. Good idea will be to familiarize yourself with the basics of how it all works.

Same goes with council tax. You must pay council tax if you are liable to pay council tax. If you live with your uncle who pays his council tax, then you are not liable to pay for council tax.

If your uncle has a car, then its your uncle who is liable to insure the car, not you.

Same goes with absolutely everything in life.

You are not required to pay for something that you are not liable for.

Hi Ayyubi,
Thanks for your kind reply.
With due respect, I didn't like the way you replied previous message, which was a bit harsh.

Well, you are right, I am not good in tax matters. I am a chartered surveyor and extremely busy in my work, I pay reasonable amount to my accountant who deals with all matters and I am in the process of registering for vat, and my accountant is dealing with this. I could have done all these myself, but I think it's more value for money if I concentrate on my own work, therefore, I simply forward my bank statements to my accountant and just forward the cheque every month on his instructions.

Thanks again for your explanation.

Now, my question is, in this situation, if HO contact the hmrc, would it be negative impact, though I have paid but for some reason if hmrc has not received then they can say to HO that they haven't received. Or is it must that HO check hmrc or should I just wait?