Naric/Ecctis not provided for ILR but now mandatory for Naturalisation?!

Hello folks,

I'm applying for naturalisation and need some help please on couple of items. A bit of my background -- I first landed in the UK on 30th March 2014 on a Tier 2 General Visa and got my ILR with a date of issue as 5th April 2019.

1. I am having trouble understanding the requirement "You must have been in the UK on the first day of your 3-year or 5-year qualifying period". Does this mean that I should check I was in the UK physically on 30th March 2019 and only then submit the application?
2. As per the attached screenshot, I have selected "YES" for "Did you meet the knowledge of English requirement as part of an ILR application". So I'm assuming all I need to do is send across scanned copies of my degree certificates as part of my document uploads?
3. For the point "How does the referee know the applicant?", is it sufficient to say that "I have been friends with so and so for the past few years"?

Looking forward to your feedback, thanks.

I am having trouble understanding the requirement "You must have been in the UK on the first day of your 3-year or 5-year qualifying period". Does this mean that I should check I was in the UK physically on 30th March 2019 and only then submit the application?

If you are married to a British citizen and applying based on 3 years residence, you need to have been physically present in the UK at the start of the 3 year qualifying period. So if you apply today, you must have been physically present in the UK on the 2nd/3rd August 2018. If you are not married to a British citizen, then the same applies but 5 years ago, ie. if you apply today, then you must have been physically present in the UK on 2nd/3rd August 2016. The requirement has nothing to do with the anniversary of the date you initially entered the UK.

As per the attached screenshot, I have selected "YES" for "Did you meet the knowledge of English requirement as part of an ILR application". So I'm assuming all I need to do is send across scanned copies of my degree certificates as part of my document uploads?

Yes.

For the point "How does the referee know the applicant?", is it sufficient to say that "I have been friends with so and so for the past few years"?

Fine.

Thank you for the clarification; will update this thread if I have more queries, cheers.

Hello, I've managed to locate my degree certificate and get a scan of it. When I move to the next stage of the application ("Documents" tab), the form tells me to tick all boxes.

My first question is: should I still tick the box with NARIC even though I won't be providing it?

And the second one is: would it be sufficient to provide the documents mentioned after each point or would I need something else?

1. The passport issued by India for Mr X -> Passport
2. NARIC letter that confirms the qualification meets or exceeds the recognised standard of a Bachelor's or Masters degree or PhD in the UK AND confirm the level of English to which the degree was taught or researched -> I won't provide
3. The degree certificate for Mr X to prove the level of English language required -> Will provide scanned degree certificate in English
4. Mr X's proof of freedom from immigration time restrictions -> Covered by passport/BRP?
5. Current Biometric Residence Permit for Mr X -> I will provide BRP
6. Proof of living in the UK for Mr X for 5 years if applying in your own right or 3 years if applying as the spouse of a British Citizen -> Enough to provide BRP?
7. Two referee declarations for Mr X

Also for the referee declarations, would it be enough to:

1. Send across the PDF document to the referee - https://visas-immigration.service.gov.u ... on_MN1.pdf
2. Ask them to fill in the declaration section and send it back by scanning it
3. Take the print out of the scanned/signed document and attach my photo
4. Take a scan of the final printout with photo and signatures and attach it

Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

Any help on this please?

Hi folks,

I'm just about done with my form filling and would like to understand how to proceed with referee declarations which have to be submitted. Would it be enough to scan and upload a soft copy or would I need to send across a signed hardcopy?

In short, would it be enough to:

1. Send across the PDF document to the referee - https://visas-immigration.service.gov.u ... on_MN1.pdf
2. Ask them to fill in the declaration section and send it back by scanning it
3. Take the print out of the scanned/signed document and attach my photo
4. Take a scan of the final printout with photo and signatures and attach it

Thank you for your help, cheers.

Anyone, please?

I am also wondering the same. Just to be sure I have mailed my referees the form (snail mail)…

db666 wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 16, 2021 1:16 pm

Hi folks,

I'm just about done with my form filling and would like to understand how to proceed with referee declarations which have to be submitted. Would it be enough to scan and upload a soft copy or would I need to send across a signed hardcopy?

In short, would it be enough to:

1. Send across the PDF document to the referee - https://visas-immigration.service.gov.u ... on_MN1.pdf
2. Ask them to fill in the declaration section and send it back by scanning it
3. Take the print out of the scanned/signed document and attach my photo
4. Take a scan of the final printout with photo and signatures and attach it

Thank you for your help, cheers.

If it helps, below was what I did.

I printed the the referee forms, added my passport photographs and posted it to my referees. In the envelope I sent to them was a return envelope back to me which already had a postage stamp and my address on (to save the referee any hassle of printing, scanning etc). So all they had to do was fill out, sign and post back.

Upon receipt, I scanned and uploaded the forms along with my other application docs, I also posted the originals to their naturalisation POB address.

Thank you for sharing your process -- very unfortunate that we still have to rely on snail mail for these things!

I VE A LIFE WITHOUT TIER2 wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 30, 2021 4:54 pm

db666 wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 16, 2021 1:16 pm

Hi folks,

I'm just about done with my form filling and would like to understand how to proceed with referee declarations which have to be submitted. Would it be enough to scan and upload a soft copy or would I need to send across a signed hardcopy?

In short, would it be enough to:

1. Send across the PDF document to the referee - https://visas-immigration.service.gov.u ... on_MN1.pdf
2. Ask them to fill in the declaration section and send it back by scanning it
3. Take the print out of the scanned/signed document and attach my photo
4. Take a scan of the final printout with photo and signatures and attach it

Thank you for your help, cheers.

If it helps, below was what I did.

I printed the the referee forms, added my passport photographs and posted it to my referees. In the envelope I sent to them was a return envelope back to me which already had a postage stamp and my address on (to save the referee any hassle of printing, scanning etc). So all they had to do was fill out, sign and post back.

Upon receipt, I scanned and uploaded the forms along with my other application docs, I also posted the originals to their naturalisation POB address.

Thanks for sharing! What PON address did you send it to? Why not bring it to the biometrics? Have you sent them any other documents to the POB? Can’t find any reference to them saying you need to send physical copies of any documents..? Thanks

There is NO requirement to post ANY originals to UKVI at all and it has been the case for a long time. If they need an original, they will ask for it!!!

Unclear why people make the rules up as they go on what they think is relevant, instead of following the very clear guidelines and process !!

Thanks CR!

CR001 wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 31, 2021 7:23 pm

There is NO requirement to post ANY originals to UKVI at all and it has been the case for a long time. If they need an original, they will ask for it!!!

Unclear why people make the rules up as they go on what they think is relevant, instead of following the very clear guidelines and process !!

Sharing what I did in my own case is not the same as making rules though.

The reference form says referee should write the name of applicant at the back of the passport photograph and glue it, so it's clear to see why people get confused with the referee form if scanning alone would suffice.

@db666, I can't remember the address but should be somewhere on their website.

Yeah that thing about putting the DOB and initials on the back of the photo and then gluing it to the form is just dumb ahah

yellowbeard wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 31, 2021 9:45 pm

Yeah that thing about putting the DOB and initials on the back of the photo and then gluing it to the form is just dumb ahah

It isn't really. It is from when paper applications and documents were posted to UKVI and if the photos detached from the form they could match them up if necessary.

UKVI can and do still ask still applicants for various original documents, which is likely why this particular requirement has not as yet been removed from the guidance.

CR001 wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 31, 2021 7:23 pm

There is NO requirement to post ANY originals to UKVI at all and it has been the case for a long time. If they need an original, they will ask for it!!!

Unclear why people make the rules up as they go on what they think is relevant, instead of following the very clear guidelines and process !!

Interesting, that means just dealing with scans without actually visiting the person providing the reference should work fine; which in turn means my original plan should work fine! Thanks.

Hi folks, I'm almost done with my naturalization application but stuck with the part about English language proficiency. It's asking me to provide Ecctis letter which I don't have!:

Ecctis letter that confirms the qualification meets or exceeds the recognised standard of a Bachelor's or Masters degree or PhD in the UK AND confirm the level of English to which the degree was taught or researched

To provide a bit of context, I got my first visa in 2014 and my ILR in 2019. Both of these applications never required me to provide any NARIC/Ecctis letter given that I was coming in as a professional software engineer with an engineering degree from India. Right now the only thing I have is a scanned copy of my degree and nothing else.

Is it possible to skip the skip the NARIC/Ecctis requirement given that I never provided these documents as part of my ILR application? If not, how can I go about successfully proceeding with my application? Would it be OK to tick the option and not provide a NARIC / Ecctis letter?

Thank you for your help, cheers.

Hi any help on this please? I would really appreciate any sort of clarification!

Anyone please?

Any input appreciated; really hoping that I'm not the only one with this problem!

In case someone wants a TLDR -- have an ILR before Naric/Ecctis was mandatory, so would I need Naric for my naturalisation?

My thoughts on this topic are
(a) Naturalisation and ILR are separate, unrelated and different processes under different laws and with different requirements.
(b) You need to meet the requirements for the two processes at the time you make the application for each. If the requirements have changed between the two, you need to meet the requirements in force on the day you make the second application.
(c) It is possible to achieve ILR under certain pathways without an English test (EEA citizens and their dependents, refugees, etc), but all of them have to meet the English language requirements as specified on the date of application if they plan to apply for naturalisation.

So I think you will need to submit either an NARIC/ECCTIS assessment along with your degree certificate OR a B1 prescribed English language test. As they both cost £150, I think the B1 English language test will likely be faster.

THANK YOU Simon! Would something like this work for me?

https://www.pearsonpte.com/selt-tests/pte-home-b1

You need to check the Home Office list of approved test centres - it's B1 GESE 5, an in-person 10 minutes listening and speaking exercise.

alterhase58 wrote: ↑

Tue May 10, 2022 12:18 pm

You need to check the Home Office list of approved test centres - it's B1 GESE 5, an in-person 10 minutes listening and speaking exercise.

Prove your knowledge of English for citizenship and settling
Weblink: https://www.gov.uk/english-language