Naturalisation online form - need some clarity please!

Hi all!

I’ve been collating all my questions to post in a single topic for the online application for naturalisation i'm in the middle of filling in, and I’m hoping someone can help me get a bit more clarity on them. Apologies if these are repeated elsewhere, I tried to look before I posted this. Some general information - I moved here in Sept 2009 as a student, from EU. Got my settlement scheme approved in 2018 so going to be applying with that. So my qualifying dates are from 2015 onwards.



1. I’ve been trying to understand what the overall order of the proccess is and I wanted to check if I’ve got it right - first I complete the online form, check all my details, then pay, and only then I upload documents afterwards somewhere external (as in not during the application)?

• Is there a time limit of how quickly one can do that?

• Does it supply a checklist of what documents you’re required to upload, or is that your judgment to make as to what is enough?

• Are clear photos of the documents (taken with a camera) ok, or do they need to definitely be scanned? JPG or PDF?

2. On the topic of order of things - I filled my referee’s details within the application form, but when do I print/ sign / send them somewhere? Is it after I’ve paid and then do it as part of the documents submission?


3. Re my references - They’re two British friends - one of them owns a marketing company so I’m hoping he fits as a referee with the correct job criteria of ‘professional standing’ as he’s a CEO of a VAT registered company ? The other one is a software designer and I know him as a personal friend.

• Are those sufficient?

• For the CEO of a company one, is it ok to say my relationship to them is a close friend?

4. How important are exact dates for past employment history? I ordered my tax record history from HMRC and on there is a record that I was ‘employed’ under a catering company back in 2010/2011 - what that actually was is that I helped out a friend doing some bar work for a day! for some event back then and I can’t for the life of me remember what it was or what date. I can’t seem to leave the date field blank on the online application - do I put an estimate date or?? I don’t want to omit it as it’s on the official tax records but I’ve no idea what to put…


5. For documentation - it asks for 10 years employment in the form which I have added, but for the documents do I have to provide 10 years worth of evidence or only for the last 5 years as part of the application? I’ve been steadily employed since 2013 so I have reliable p60s since, but anything before that is pretty shady unreliable documentations so I’m hoping that’s not needed! I have seen contradicting messages on this so not sure. 


6. Speaking of past history, I have entered all my past employment history and travel outside of uk history from most recent to oldest - is this correct? I haven’t seen any guidance as to what order it should be in and if that makes a difference? Someone here kindly replied to me before that the order shouldn’t be an issue so I think I’ll leave it as it is.

Thanks so much in advance for any help on any of these and I hope all of these are ok to ask!

1. I’ve been trying to understand what the overall order of the proccess is and I wanted to check if I’ve got it right - first I complete the online form, check all my details, then pay, and only then I upload documents afterwards somewhere external (as in not during the application)?
Is there a time limit of how quickly one can do that?
Does it supply a checklist of what documents you’re required to upload, or is that your judgment to make as to what is enough?
Are clear photos of the documents (taken with a camera) ok, or do they need to definitely be scanned? JPG or PDF?

1. Correct sequence of events yes. You upload documents to UKCVAS Sopra Steria portal.
2. You must upload before your biometric appointment.
3. Yes, at the end of the online form.
4. Should be fine, depends what it is you are uploading as a 'photo'.

2. On the topic of order of things - I filled my referee’s details within the application form, but when do I print/ sign / send them somewhere? Is it after I’ve paid and then do it as part of the documents submission?


At the end of the online process. Your referees then each have to sign the forms, which must have your photo(s) pasted on and return the physically signed forms to you to upload.

3. Re my references - They’re two British friends - one of them owns a marketing company so I’m hoping he fits as a referee with the correct job criteria of ‘professional standing’ as he’s a CEO of a VAT registered company ? The other one is a software designer and I know him as a personal friend.
Are those sufficient?
For the CEO of a company one, is it ok to say my relationship to them is a close friend?

Fine.

4. How important are exact dates for past employment history? I ordered my tax record history from HMRC and on there is a record that I was ‘employed’ under a catering company back in 2010/2011 - what that actually was is that I helped out a friend doing some bar work for a day! for some event back then and I can’t for the life of me remember what it was or what date. I can’t seem to leave the date field blank on the online application - do I put an estimate date or?? I don’t want to omit it as it’s on the official tax records but I’ve no idea what to put…


Put an estimate but try to be as accurate as possible as HO do check.

5. For documentation - it asks for 10 years employment in the form which I have added, but for the documents do I have to provide 10 years worth of evidence or only for the last 5 years as part of the application? I’ve been steadily employed since 2013 so I have reliable p60s since, but anything before that is pretty shady unreliable documentations so I’m hoping that’s not needed! I have seen contradicting messages on this so not sure. 


What you need to submit depends on your route to settled status, ie. are you a non EU citizen who followed the UK visa route to ILR or are you an EU citizen who exercised treaty rights in the UK? Citizenship evidence is only for the 5 years before application date.

6. Speaking of past history, I have entered all my past employment history and travel outside of uk history from most recent to oldest - is this correct? I haven’t seen any guidance as to what order it should be in and if that makes a difference? Someone here kindly replied to me before that the order shouldn’t be an issue so I think I’ll leave it as it is.

Correct yes.

Thank you for all the info and replying so fast! This is hugely helpful and makes me feel more at east about it all

CR001 wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 28, 2020 1:57 pm

Put an estimate but try to be as accurate as possible as HO do check.

Ahh ok - this will be the biggest problem, I don't even know how to begin to find it. It could be any day in a 3 month time frame - I even tried to look at my bank statements online but they don't go that far back in time

CR001 wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 28, 2020 1:57 pm

What you need to submit depends on your route to settled status, ie. are you a non EU citizen who followed the UK visa route to ILR or are you an EU citizen who exercised treaty rights in the UK? Citizenship evidence is only for the 5 years before application date. 


I'm an EU citizen, got my settled status approved back in 2018 on the basis that I lived/worked here for over 5 years prior.

You will need 5 years worth of P60s to prove your residency.

CR001 wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 28, 2020 2:31 pm

You will need 5 years worth of P60s to prove your residency.

What do you need to upload in case of the ILR route then?

ShrutiBlue wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 31, 2020 2:41 pm

CR001 wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 28, 2020 2:31 pm

You will need 5 years worth of P60s to prove your residency.

What do you need to upload in case of the ILR route then?

1. You should ask your questions in your own topic rather than tagging onto a topic joy relevant to your question or circumstances, as it can create confusion. ILR route is not relevant to this thread or the ops circumstances.

2. Ilr route is passports only.

Hi - been a while since I posted this. I have since then completed the form and paid and am now in the process of waiting for my UKVCAS appointment in November and have to scan and upload my documents online before then.

I now have a big confusion over two of the items on my checklist -

• Evidence that you have been in the UK lawfully for your 3 or 5 year qualifying residence period. This should be evidence that you were here as a worker, student, self-employed, self-sufficient, retired or incapacitated person - I am planning to use P60s for the last 5 years

• Proof of living in the UK for 5 years if applying in your own right or 3 years if applying as the spouse of a British Citizen - so for this I was going to use my EU Settlment scheme approval, but this is where the confusion comes in, please see below

I have a question in regards the 2nd one - so I am using the EU Settlment scheme as part of my application, which I was already granted back in 2018. BUT on the UKVCAS faq it says this :

Customers applying through the EU Settlement Scheme should upload all supporting documents on the EU Settlement Scheme website when completing their online application and not on the UKVCAS
website.

So I'm very confused... I was already granted this, but there's no physical documents - just the confirmation number and my details online. Does that mean I can't just use the confirmation number/something similar as proof for living in the UK? Do I have to re-upload the P60s I used to get granted the Settlment scheme in the first place somewhere else?


Very lost - please help !

I am guessing here a bit, but the quote you are showing leads me to believe this is directed at people applying for Settled Status, which is not run by UKVCAS. Because it mentions the Settled Status website. I think you have submitted everything for naturalisation via UKVCAS, including your settled status number and email. You should be ok unless I am missing something.

alterhase58 wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 19, 2020 12:22 pm

I am guessing here a bit, but the quote you are showing leads me to believe this is directed at people applying for Settled Status, which is not run by UKVCAS. Because it mentions the Settled Status website. I think you have submitted everything for naturalisation via UKVCAS, including your settled status number and email. You should be ok unless I am missing something.

Ah ok... I thought it might be the case but I got confused because I haven't provided any details about my settled status yet - in the initial form it's just a tickbox to select whether you're going to be using that as part of your application. All I have is the initial gov email they sent me with the attachment file that says I've been granted the settled status, but the letter itself says "this is not proof of status". You can request proof of status, but then it just sends me a link where someone can go view it online :/ so bottom line - I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be uploading on UKVCAS, considering I haven't got any physical documents to upload ?

Your passport and settled status reference is enough to prove that. There is a question in the online form where you have to declare all previous UK immigration applications. Did you not provide a reference number there? You can always add a cover letter and mention that again and upload before your biometrics.

CULLINAN wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 21, 2020 11:01 pm

Your passport and settled status reference is enough to prove that. There is a question in the online form where you have to declare all previous UK immigration applications. Did you not provide a reference number there? You can always add a cover letter and mention that again and upload before your biometrics.

Ah I think I ticked 'No' for that because I thought it was relating to previous citizenship/other immigration applications and didn't put 2 and 2 together that that will also cover the settled status I hope that't not going to be a big issue! But where it asked 'What will you use to apply for British citizenship?' i selected 'Indefinite leave to remain (ILR), including ILR granted under the EU Settlement Scheme' and added the date I was granted it, so there is a record of it. So I'll do what you suggested and add additional cover letter with the information before my biometrics appointment. Between that, the passport and all the P60s I'm hoping it covers it all. Thanks for the advice!

Me again! Very quick question on UKVCAS categories. Where am I supposed to upload the two reference documents? My mandatory categories on the UKVCAS website were for the passport photo & the 5 year lawful residency proof. The rest appear as below as 'Optional' categories, but there isn't a clear one for references (like there is for Education for example, where I uploaded my degree certificate). Can someone please advise where to upload them? Is it under 'proof of identity' ?

See photo here - these are my 'optional' categories

“Other”

CULLINAN wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 09, 2020 11:38 am

“Other”

I see - 'other' is under my mandatory categories and the description is about lawfully being in the UK etc so it threw me off a bit. I will upload there - as always thanks for the quick response!

Sorry - me again with another (potentially obvious) question, but I wanted to double check.

I've currently scanned in greyscale my passport main page and the cover. Do I need to scan the whole passport with every page from start to end , or is the main bit enough? Also, seen some mixed messages around whether to do it in colour (under 6mb) or in greyscale as it says on the website?

violetvik wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 09, 2020 3:19 pm

Sorry - me again with another (potentially obvious) question, but I wanted to double check.

I've currently scanned in greyscale my passport main page and the cover. Do I need to scan the whole passport with every page from start to end , or is the main bit enough? Also, seen some mixed messages around whether to do it in colour (under 6mb) or in greyscale as it says on the website?

Bio page is enough. Greyscale or colour does not matter as long file size is less than 6MB.

CULLINAN wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 09, 2020 3:21 pm

Bio page is enough. Greyscale or colour does not matter as long file size is less than 6MB.

Thank you, very helpful - thanks to all the quick responses here I have now scanned and uploaded all documents that were on my checklist without any issues!

Last (I hope so ) question. My appointment is coming up, I paid for it but it's a self-service one, so no checking/scanning services. It says I can upload docs up to 48h beforehand (which I now have done) and it's giving me the option to submit them. Do I:

- submit it all, now that I've uploaded the checklist items
- or just make sure they're submitted before the 48 hours are up/before the actual appointment on the day
- or do I leave it as is and don't submit until I'm at the appointment in person, in case I need to add/change anything?

Submit now.

CULLINAN wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 09, 2020 6:27 pm

Submit now.

thanks for all your help

Hello - a quick question that I wasn't sure where to ask so I'm just using my old thread. I sent my application already a few months back and i'm waiting for the decision. It occurred to me that some people get their decision by post, and some by email - can I ask why that is? Should I be expecting one or the other specifically or keep an eye on both? Thanks!

This started a few months back during the then lockdown.
Currently we still see approvals sent by email but also again by post so suggest you keep an eye on both.
For email make sure you check your "junk folder" in case the email system classifies it as such, and for letter post it's normally a brown A5 envelope second class.