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UK ILR visa via marriage

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cxyz
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Turkey

UK ILR visa via marriage

Post by cxyz » Wed May 26, 2021 3:02 pm

Hello everyone,


I hope everyone is well and safe!

I have a question... I have been with my partner for the last 3 years and now we are thinking of getting married since we love each other and getting my IRL would be much easier this way. However before we do so, I would like to understand whether this is really the case.

I'm a Turkish citizen and came to the UK on 11.09.2015 with a student visa to study for my Master's degree. Once my Master's was over in 2017, I got a Turkish Businessperson visa. I kept it for 1 year, but later on, I changed it to now called Global Talent visa and my visa expires around late 2024 now.

I and my partner have been discussing whether we should get married since we have been in a happy relationship for the last 3 years. What I am trying to understand is:

How long would it take me to get the IRL? Once I get the IRL, how long would it take me to become a citizen?

I know that there are certain restrictions when it comes to absences. Due to my work, I have to travel quite a lot - I probably have been out of the country for more than 450 days in the last 5 years. I'm not sure how this will affect my visa process. I couldn't find step by step guidance anywhere as well. If anyone has experience with this or know a good resource I can take a look at, that would be much appreciated!

Thank you!!!!!!!

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CR001
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Re: UK IRL visa via marriage

Post by CR001 » Wed May 26, 2021 3:43 pm

If you switch to a spouse visa, your 5 year ilr clock resets to zero and a new 2 X 2.5 year route to ilr based on 5 years residence. There is no absence limit on this visa

If you have 10 years legal stay and meet the requirements, including absence, you can apply for ilr in 2025 based on 10 years long residence.

For citizenship, if you are married to a British citizen and hold ilr, you can apply for citizenship as soon as you get ilr provided you meet the requirements to apply based in 5 years, including the absence limits (270 days max in 3 years etc).
Char (CR001 not Casa)
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Please DO NOT send me a PM for immigration advice. I reserve the right to ignore the PM and not respond.

secret.simon
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Re: UK ILR visa via marriage

Post by secret.simon » Wed May 26, 2021 3:55 pm

Is your partner/spouse-to-be a British citizen?
cxyz wrote:
Wed May 26, 2021 3:02 pm
I'm a Turkish citizen and came to the UK on 11.09.2015 with a student visa to study for my Master's degree. Once my Master's was over in 2017, I got a Turkish Businessperson visa. I kept it for 1 year, but later on, I changed it to now called Global Talent visa and my visa expires around late 2024 now.
As you have changed visas multiple times, you will qualify for ILR (not IRL) in September 2025 under Long Residence, unless you qualify earlier under the Global Talent visa route.
cxyz wrote:
Wed May 26, 2021 3:02 pm
Once I get the IRL, how long would it take me to become a citizen?
Depends on whether your spouse (not partner) is a British citizen or not. If they are a British citizen, you can apply for naturalisation immediatly after getting ILR. If not, you'd have to wait for a year after getting ILR.
cxyz wrote:
Wed May 26, 2021 3:02 pm
I know that there are certain restrictions when it comes to absences. Due to my work, I have to travel quite a lot - I probably have been out of the country for more than 450 days in the last 5 years.
You are cramping too many unrelated questions into one thread. The requirements for absences differ depending on whether you plan to apply for ILR based on ILR by Long Residence or ILR by Global Talent visa pathway. Both of them, in turn, differ from the absence requirements for naturalisation/British citizenship, which is much stricter and more specific, and which themselves differ on whether your spouse is a British citizen or not.

Think of them (ILR via Long Residence, ILR via Global Talent visa and naturalisation) as three different and distinct processes, each having different and distinct requirements. It may be one immigration journey, but one will have to change buses/trains/planes multiple times and often at different intervals and have to plan and book for each change individually.

First, narrow down how you will apply for ILR and then we can advise you further from there.

I am movng your query to the General Immigration forum as your questions are more about the whole immigration process rather than British citizenship.
I am not a lawyer or immigration advisor. My statements/comments do not constitute legal advice. E&OE. Please do not PM me for advice.

cxyz
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Turkey

Re: UK ILR visa via marriage

Post by cxyz » Tue Jun 01, 2021 7:29 pm

Thank you for your answers! What I'm getting is that if I were to get married now with my British partner, without changing my current visa to spouse visa, I cannot apply to ILR directly?

Even though I'm on the current Global Talent visa route until June 2024 - and that's when I can apply to ILR, I'm trying to understand how long the route to ILR will take if I were to marry my partner now. Whilst calculating naturalisation, I thought that they calculate it as how long you have been in the UK (regardless of the visa you hold) and as you can leave max of 90 days each year that's also means that you only have 450 days limit - I hope this clarified somehow.

secret.simon
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Re: UK ILR visa via marriage

Post by secret.simon » Tue Jun 01, 2021 8:03 pm

cxyz wrote:
Tue Jun 01, 2021 7:29 pm
What I'm getting is that if I were to get married now with my British partner, without changing my current visa to spouse visa, I cannot apply to ILR directly?
No. Marriage to a British citizen does not shorten or simplify the ILR requirements.

One can apply for ILR after completing five years of residence in the UK on specific visas (spousal, Tier 2 G, Global Talent, etc) OR 10 years of residence in the UK on a mixture of different types of visas.

So, if you were to marry a British partner and then switch to a spousal visa, your immigration clock woul reset to zero and you would be eligible for ILR five years after being granted that visa (assuming that you don't change visas again).

That is why you may be better off remaining on your Global Talent Visa and completing five years of residence on that visa in order to apply for ILR.
cxyz wrote:
Tue Jun 01, 2021 7:29 pm
Whilst calculating naturalisation, I thought that they calculate it as how long you have been in the UK (regardless of the visa you hold) and as you can leave max of 90 days each year that's also means that you only have 450 days limit - I hope this clarified somehow.
Naturalisation is a different process, with different laws and rules. Do not confuse the requirements for ILR and naturalisation. They do not dovetail.

If you are married to a British citizen, you can apply immediatly after you get ILR (irrespective of whether you get ILR on Global Talent Visa, spousal visa or LR). Your residence and absence requirements will be based on the three years immediately preceding the date of naturalisation application and you will need to prove that you were in the UK at the start of that three year period and that your absences from the UK amounted to fewer than 270 days in that three year period AND fewer than 90 days in the year immediatly preceding the date of the naturalisation application.
I am not a lawyer or immigration advisor. My statements/comments do not constitute legal advice. E&OE. Please do not PM me for advice.

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