How long to keep paperwork after citizenship?

HI all,

I have all my paperwork from all my visa applications covering the last 8 years. It's quite a stack! I'm just waiting to hear about my citizenship application now. So after the ceremony and once I am in receipt of my British passport, logically, there would be no need to keep all this paperwork right?

I suppose in the back of my head I'm still nervous that I would have to prove something in the future for some reason so am a bit scared to throw it all away. Thoughts?

On these forums, I have occasionally helped out people with their queries based on documents of their forefathers from the first half of the 20th century.

I subscribe to the view that paperwork of this importance needs to be retained indefinitely, as the Home Office is not going to keep it, but can ask for it. It may not be you, but a descendant who may need the paperwork.

I have a designated suitcase that I have set aside with these files and put away in storage.

I’d say just scan them all and keep the digital documents

secret.simon wrote: ↑

Sat May 20, 2023 3:53 pm

On these forums, I have occasionally helped out people with their queries based on documents of their forefathers from the first half of the 20th century.

I subscribe to the view that paperwork of this importance needs to be retained indefinitely, as the Home Office is not going to keep it, but can ask for it. It may not be you, but a descendant who may need the paperwork.

I have a designated suitcase that I have set aside with these files and put away in storage.

Doesn't the Home Office keep a copy of all submitted documents with the case files? I thought they did.

isla87 wrote: ↑

Sat May 20, 2023 5:26 pm

secret.simon wrote: ↑

Sat May 20, 2023 3:53 pm

On these forums, I have occasionally helped out people with their queries based on documents of their forefathers from the first half of the 20th century.

I subscribe to the view that paperwork of this importance needs to be retained indefinitely, as the Home Office is not going to keep it, but can ask for it. It may not be you, but a descendant who may need the paperwork.

I have a designated suitcase that I have set aside with these files and put away in storage.

Doesn't the Home Office keep a copy of all submitted documents with the case files? I thought they did.

Home Office does carry out data cleanse, both on paper and digital, not aware how long they keep documents.
You will have heard about the "Windrush" scandal when paperwork which could have proved that children were British citizens was destroyed .... I would keep a copy of the main documents used in your applications and most importantly your naturalisation document which is the only document confering British citizenship (don't laminate it!).
One can request an official copy of the certificate (fee payable), or depending on when it was issued (pre-1983?) from the National Archive.

alterhase58 wrote: ↑

Sat May 20, 2023 6:49 pm

isla87 wrote: ↑

Sat May 20, 2023 5:26 pm

Doesn't the Home Office keep a copy of all submitted documents with the case files? I thought they did.

Home Office does carry out data cleanse, both on paper and digital, not aware how long they keep documents.

How long does HO keep records for?

Apart from not storing data indefinitely due to GDPR/data protection and privacy reasons, there is also other legislation that constrains how long the Home Office can hold onto data, not to mention space and technology constraints. Data protection/privacy and GDPR is at least partially the reason why the onus of maintaining the records is on the data subject i.e. the applicant.

On a separate note, I once had a long chat with a digital archivist (in my day job as IT support), who had told me that the best format for storing data for the long term is good old paper. Provided paper is stored correctly, it can last decades and occasionally centuries (the National Archives and Parliamentary Archives have some documentation back to the 13th and 14th centuries), whereas the rate of change in technology means that the medium that data is stored in would no longer be supported in a decade or so.

Imagine the data stored in punch cards in the 1960s. It would be next to impossible to find a reader for that data even if the punch cards continue to exist. Likewise tape and floppy disk readers are hard to find nowadays. What are the odds that the readers will be there if your grandchild needs your records, even assuming that the media survives? Even assuming that readers can be located, what assurance is there that the digital file formats (jpg, pdf, etc) will continue to exist and not replaced or lost?

Good old paper is best, even if bulky, at least in the eyes of the digital archivist, whose full-time job it is to make sure that essential digital data is preserved continuously.

alterhase58 wrote: ↑

Sat May 20, 2023 6:49 pm

I would keep a copy of the main documents used in your applications and most importantly your naturalisation document which is the only document confering British citizenship (don't laminate it!).
One can request an official copy of the certificate (fee payable), or depending on when it was issued (pre-1983?) from the National Archive.

Concur fully with this advice, particularly on the part about not laminating the naturalisation certificate. The Home Office has stated that they do not recognise laminated naturalisation or registration certificates.

And the National Archives have naturalisation certificates pre-dating 1986, from memory.

Thanks for the advice everyone. Yes, I would never just keep a digital copy as I know how quickly things can change and get lost!

I don't plan on having any children but will keep the paperwork anyway. As you say, you never know when it may be needed!

Now just to play the waiting game. Many thanks.