My brother's wife currently holds ILR and now wishes to apply for naturalisation as a British Citizen on the basis of marriage to my brother who is a British Citizen.
She has been resident in the UK since August 2005 and her immigration history is as follows:
August 2005 - August 2007: 2 year spouse visa
August 2007 - August 2009: Further Leave to Remain (due to not satisfying ESOL/KOL requirement at the time)
August 2009 - Present: Indefinite Leave to Remain
She has a a few question which I would be grateful if somebody could answer/clarify before she sends off her application:
1. She is a housewife and always has been since her entry into the UK. Her husband (my brother) is in full-time employment and has been so for several years. Is it OK to strike through questions 3.2, 3.3, 3.4 and 3.5 of application form AN as "N/A"?
2. Her current passport shows her maiden name which is obviously different to the one she uses since marriage. Is it OK to put her current name (after marriage) to answer questions 1.5 and 1.6 and state the name in her passport to answer question 1.7? And then obviously explain all of this on page 14 of the form?
3. As indicated by the dates I showed above, she has been resident in the UK for almost 5 years now. I understand that one of the requirements for naturalisation as a BC on the basis of marriage to a BC is that you must be able to show that you have been physically present in the UK for 3 years before the date of the application. Could someone please clarify this requirement. Does it mean that you must be physically present in the UK throughout the whole 3 years immediately before the day of the application? Or do you just need to show that you have been physically present in the UK for 3 years before the day of the application (ie: gaps of holidays abroad are OK?). I ask this as she temorarily went to her home country for a short holiday (I think it was about 4 weeks) in mid-2007.
Thanks
