British citizen eligibility

When can I be eligible to apply for British citizenship. My time-line is as follows:

Entry to UK: Aug 2004 on visitor visa
22 Dec 2004 Permit free training visa stamped (valid till 21 Dec 2005)
3 Feb 2005 work permit visa stamped (valid till 31 Aug 2005)
12 Sep 2005 work permit extension visa stamped (valid till 8 Feb 2006)
6 Feb 2006 Permit free training visa stamped (valid till 31 Aug 2006)
20 Apr 2006 HSMP application sent
May 2006 HSMP approval
11 Jul 2006 HSMP visa stamped (postal application)(valid till 11 Jul 2008)
4 Aug 2008 Teir 1 visa stamped (postal application)(valid till 11 Jul 20011)
Jun 2011 ILR application sent (postal application)
16 Aug 2011 ILR application returned because of wrong credit card number.
18th Aug 2011 ILR application resent
10 Nov 2011 ILR application stamped

Will I need to wait till Nov 2011 before I can apply for BC? It took almost 4 months for the Home office to process my postal ILR application. Do they compensate that time period for submission for BC application? It will be 6 years since my HSMP was approved in May next year. (just looking at the timeline, I am wondering how much money the home office would have earned just from one person...Gosh...and more to go until me and my family become British citizens:( Just wondering was it worth the hassle!!)

desibuoy wrote:When can I be eligible to apply for British citizenship. My time-line is as follows:

Entry to UK: Aug 2004 on visitor visa
22 Dec 2004 Permit free training visa stamped (valid till 21 Dec 2005)
3 Feb 2005 work permit visa stamped (valid till 31 Aug 2005)
12 Sep 2005 work permit extension visa stamped (valid till 8 Feb 2006)
6 Feb 2006 Permit free training visa stamped (valid till 31 Aug 2006)
20 Apr 2006 HSMP application sent
May 2006 HSMP approval
11 Jul 2006 HSMP visa stamped (postal application)(valid till 11 Jul 2008)
4 Aug 2008 Teir 1 visa stamped (postal application)(valid till 11 Jul 20011)
Jun 2011 ILR application sent (postal application)
16 Aug 2011 ILR application returned because of wrong credit card number.
18th Aug 2011 ILR application resent
10 Nov 2011 ILR application stamped

Will I need to wait till Nov 2011 before I can apply for BC? It took almost 4 months for the Home office to process my postal ILR application. Do they compensate that time period for submission for BC application? It will be 6 years since my HSMP was approved in May next year. (just looking at the timeline, I am wondering how much money the home office would have earned just from one person...Gosh...and more to go until me and my family become British citizens:( Just wondering was it worth the hassle!!)

Doesn't matter how long your have had your HSMP approved. You have to wait 1 year from the date ILR has been granted and ILR consideration time can not be included in this one. e.g. If ILR has been granted on 14th of November 2011, you will be eligible to submit your naturalisation application on 14th of November 2012 subject to if you are fulfilling other requirements too. For example number of days spent outside country and criminal convictions. Hope this will help!

desibuoy wrote:
Doesn't matter how long your have had your HSMP approved. You have to wait 1 year from the date ILR has been granted and ILR consideration time can not be included in this one. e.g. If ILR has been granted on 14th of November 2011, you will be eligible to submit your naturalisation application on 14th of November 2012 subject to if you are fulfilling other requirements too. For example number of days spent outside country and criminal convictions. Hope this will help!

To back this up with some data from the UKBA:

For others who might stumble upon this thread, it is different for people married to a UK Citizen vs Non-Married.

"You must be free from immigration time restrictions when you apply for naturalisation. Unless you are married to or the civil partner of a British citizen, you should have been free from immigration time restrictions during the last 12 months of the residential qualifying period."

Just to clarify, the above is only the case if your NOT married to a British Citizen.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/briti ... uirements/

According to the website, providing you meet all other requirements then it does not matter how long you have your ILR, as long as you have it.

If I am wrong, please someone correct me.

Thx

tronix wrote:

desibuoy wrote:
Doesn't matter how long your have had your HSMP approved. You have to wait 1 year from the date ILR has been granted and ILR consideration time can not be included in this one. e.g. If ILR has been granted on 14th of November 2011, you will be eligible to submit your naturalisation application on 14th of November 2012 subject to if you are fulfilling other requirements too. For example number of days spent outside country and criminal convictions. Hope this will help!

To back this up with some data from the UKBA:

For others who might stumble upon this thread, it is different for people married to a UK Citizen vs Non-Married.



"You must be free from immigration time restrictions when you apply for naturalisation. Unless you are married to or the civil partner of a British citizen, you should have been free from immigration time restrictions during the last 12 months of the residential qualifying period."

Just to clarify, the above is only the case if your NOT married to a British Citizen.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/briti ... uirements/

According to the website, providing you meet all other requirements then it does not matter how long you have your ILR, as long as you have it.

If I am wrong, please someone correct me.

Thx

Thank you so much for your advice..Can some of the gurus, sages or mods clarify on this issue please. The wordings on the website are confusing. "free from immigration time restrictions during the last 12 months of the residential qualifying period". Does it mean that you should have completed 12 months of ILR or you should have had ILR stamped during the last 12 months. It doesn't mention from the day of qualification for ILR, so I presume the time the home office spent during the application process (about 4 months) will not be counted.

Help would be appreciated. [/i]

It is very simple. One year from the date ILR was granted i.e. if the date on the sticker is 01/03/2011, then you can apply on 01/03/2012.

You can't count the time the application was examined (and it doesn't look to be the HO fault here).

Jambo wrote:It is very simple. One year from the date ILR was granted i.e. if the date on the sticker is 01/03/2011, then you can apply on 01/03/2012.

You can't count the time the application was examined (and it doesn't look to be the HO fault here).

Thanks Jambo, that is now clear.

desibuoy wrote:

Jambo wrote:It is very simple. One year from the date ILR was granted i.e. if the date on the sticker is 01/03/2011, then you can apply on 01/03/2012.

You can't count the time the application was examined (and it doesn't look to be the HO fault here).

Thanks Jambo, that is now clear.

Is it not 28 days before 01/03/2012 as it is for all other types of applications?

No.
The 28 days rule applies to some visa/ILR applications. It doesn't apply when applying for naturalisation.