Applying for naturalisation - who can be a referee?

Hi guys, my husband is applying for British naturalisation as he has had indefinite leave to remain here in the UK since our marriage 7 years ago.

The form seems ok to fill in accept the following parts;

(1) Referees - the first referee needs to be a professional who has known my husband personally for three years. The example the guide booklet gives are solicitors, doctors, ministers of religion, accountants. My husband knows nobody of these professions except our doctor and our priest but neither of these have known him personally for 3 years except for occasional visits by my husband to the doctor and occasional visits by my husband to our church for our wedding and others, christenings etc..
Would occasional contact such as this qualify our doctor or priest to be a referee? Does occasional contact like this count as them knowing my husband personally?

As an alternative the form does state civil servants can be a referee - do teachers count as civil servants? If so, can we use a friend of ours who is a teacher but has only ever known my husband in a close social capacity rather than on a professional basis?

(2) The first question on the naturalisation form asks for an Immigration & Home Office reference number if my husband has one - would he fill in here the reference number given to him 7 years ago when he got his indefinite leave to remain?

Many thanks in advance for help with these questions on the form!
I hate form filling as I never know how literally they may interpret the questions!

The referee may be contacted and interviewed so you do need to choose someone who really does know your husband.

Knowing the referee just sociably is fine. The list of acceptable referees is on this link, and teachers are on the list

http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/siteco ... iew=Binary

When my wife filled her form in she didn't bother putting any old HO references numbers on there (didn't have any of the old letters to hand). Can't see why they would need them as we sent her passport with the ILR visa in it.

Thanks for the reply djb123 and thanks for the link to that list of referees - it was most helpful as I see nurses are on the list too and we know a couple of nurses very well. Thanks for your help.

Mrs Kiwi wrote:Thanks for the reply djb123 and thanks for the link to that list of referees - it was most helpful as I see nurses are on the list too and we know a couple of nurses very well. Thanks for your help.

Have you applied for naturalisation now? Could you please share your experince regarding submitting the application and documents.

Thanks

Hi Sams,
we have submitted my husband's application for naturalisation now.
The form was ok to fill in - the guidance notes are really helpful, just follow them step by step.
My husband had to do a Life in the Uk test which was ok, he purchased the recommended book and he did study quite hard prior to the test and passed first time, thankfully.
We sent off his application 3 weeks ago by recorded delivery, and they have received it but not logged it on their system yet. According to the guy I spoke to they are really overwhelmed with applications so processing may take some time.
If you have any specidic questions regarding the process or the forms, feel free to ask.

Thanks Mrs Kiwi