Naturalisation Application but lost passport

Hello All.

I was certain I would be able to find the answer I needed by trawling through the stickys and previous posts but after a good few hours I haven't been able to find my answer.

Basically the situation is this. I am a British citizen, my Wife is a Chinese passport holder with ILR which was granted before the changes last year so she is eligible to apply for naturalisation after residing in the UK for 3 years.

The issue is that on a return trip to China earlier this year her passport was lost. She applied for a new one, which has a record of her previous passport number in it but obviously none of the immigration stamps her old passport had accumulated. We also do not have a full copy of this previous passport.

I have spoken to various people at my local NCS and they tell me that she should provide documents to cover the full three years. Surely though, as she was granted ILR and one of the requirements of this was that she could prove she had been resident in the UK, should she have to prove yet again that this was true? Also, should the UkBA be able to check her movements in and out of the country using advanced passenger data?

Of course, we are going to try our best to put together as many documents as possible to show her residence in the UK for the three year period but as she hasn't been in employment for this period we don't have much in the way of the usual acceptable documents.

Has anybody else themselves been in this position or know of anybody who has and can give advice? I have looked everywhere I can and can't find anything useful.

Thank You in advance for any assistance.

The Home Office should have a full copy of the passport (?) which could be requested with a SAR (though takes 40+ days).

You'll need to provide the proof of residency, relying on the Home Office having any data is not a great move. Bank statements, medical letters etc should show residency.

Thanks for your reply Amber.

SAR was something that my Wife had found but some people had been kept waiting a seriously long time.

We have bank statements covering the whole 3 years but I didn't think that would be sufficient as it doesn't necessarily prove that you have been in the country. I guess what you're saying is that it's better than nothing though. I am also trying to get a record of all my Wife's doctors appointments but so far they aren't being very helpful. Would print offs of her plane e-tickets be of any use?

If we provide this along with her application containing a detailed record of her movements in and out of the country as well as the reason for not providing a passport covering the last 3 years, what do you think are the chances her application would be refused?

Once again, thanks for your advice.

If the bank statements of x showed spending in the UK on a weekly basis, for example, then one could argue, on the balance of probabilities that x was in the U.k as opposed to a 'dormant account'.