Questions Regarding Naturalisation

I'm married to a british citizen and came to UK on:
06/10/2010

According to http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/briti ... ofcitizen/

- have been resident in the United Kingdom for at least three years (this is known as the residential qualifying period); and
- have been present in the United Kingdom three years before the date of your application;

I want to know what resident means, and I also want to know what present means.

I want to know what resident means, and I also want to know what present means.

Resident means you have been living in the UK for at least three years and also meets the residential requirement
Present means you were present in the UK at the time UKBA will receive your naturalisation application. For e.g. if UKBA receive your application on 30/05/2013 then you must have been physically present in the UK on 30/05/2010 and have not been out of UK on that date.

lynxukauq wrote:

I want to know what resident means, and I also want to know what present means.

Resident means you have been living in the UK for at least three years and also meets the residential requirement
Present means you were present in the UK at the time UKBA will receive your naturalisation application. For e.g. if UKBA receive your application on 30/05/2013 then you must have been physically present in the UK on 30/05/2010 and have not been out of UK on that date.

I do not agree with your definition of 'present'.

In the residential requirements, it asks you:

have been resident in the United Kingdom for at least three years (this is known as the residential qualifying period); and


and then it asks you:

have been present in the United Kingdom three years before the date of your application;

So you have to be resident as well as present for 3 years prior to date of application.

Now for tax purposes, I do recall that 'ordinarily present' means you have to be in a country 6 months or so.

Perhaps resident means you have to be on a residency sort of visa and not something like student visa during the past 3 years.

I do not agree with your definition of 'present'.

You don't have to agree with me.

Perhaps resident means you have to be on a residency sort of visa and not something like student visa during the past 3 years.

This is incorrect

sh1981 wrote:I'm married to a british citizen and came to UK on:
06/10/2010

According to http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/briti ... ofcitizen/

- have been resident in the United Kingdom for at least three years (this is known as the residential qualifying period); and
- have been present in the United Kingdom three years before the date of your application;

I want to know what resident means, and I also want to know what present means.

Resident means the period you have been living in the UK - the residency test for naturalisation is 3 years in the UK for those who are the spouse or civil partner of a British Citizen.

Present - this means physically present in the UK 3 (or 5) years prior to the HO receiving your application. You no longer need to be physically present in the UK at the time the HO receive your application but there are requirements for the amount of permitted absences.

D4109125 wrote:

sh1981 wrote:I'm married to a british citizen and came to UK on:
06/10/2010

According to http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/briti ... ofcitizen/

- have been resident in the United Kingdom for at least three years (this is known as the residential qualifying period); and
- have been present in the United Kingdom three years before the date of your application;

I want to know what resident means, and I also want to know what present means.

Resident means the period you have been living in the UK - the residency test for naturalisation is 3 years in the UK for those who are the spouse or civil partner of a British Citizen.

Present - this means physically present in the UK 3 (or 5) years prior to the HO receiving your application. You no longer need to be physically present in the UK at the time the HO receive your application but there are requirements for the amount of permitted absences.

This is a very good answer.

However just to be clear, if you could help me know what exactly do you mean by
Resident means the period you have been living in the UK

and

Present - this means physically present in the UK 3 (or 5) years

basically what i'm asking is, whats the difference? in order to live in the uk (being resident) you have to be physically present, thus if you are resident, you are automatically present as well.

My understanding so far is that resident seems to mean you should have a proper visa during the past 3 years, i.e you should not be on a diplomatic visa or such that doesnt count as being resident.

My understanding so far about present is that based on the start and end time of the 'proper' visa (i.e for our instance spouse visa), you would be considered 'resident', and hence in this time of 'residency', you should have at least spent 3 years physically present in the uk.

Would you also be able to advise me as to when should I be eligible for citizenship?

My circumstances are:

Initial Visa Type: Spouse Visa
06/10/2010 Arrival in England
4 months, 17 days Spent outside of England
09/12/2012 Spouse Visa Expiry
ILR Approval Letter Received 05/03/2013
Biometric Card Received 06/03/2013
Current Visa Type: Settlement / ILR

You can be a resident (hold a visa) but not present (for example by going on holiday abroad).

You need to be resident for 3/5 years. You need to be present on the date the HO receives the application 3/5 years back (the so called - start of the qualifying period).

sh1981 wrote:

D4109125 wrote:

sh1981 wrote:I'm married to a british citizen and came to UK on:
06/10/2010

According to http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/briti ... ofcitizen/

- have been resident in the United Kingdom for at least three years (this is known as the residential qualifying period); and
- have been present in the United Kingdom three years before the date of your application;

I want to know what resident means, and I also want to know what present means.

Resident means the period you have been living in the UK - the residency test for naturalisation is 3 years in the UK for those who are the spouse or civil partner of a British Citizen.

Present - this means physically present in the UK 3 (or 5) years prior to the HO receiving your application. You no longer need to be physically present in the UK at the time the HO receive your application but there are requirements for the amount of permitted absences.

This is a very good answer.

However just to be clear, if you could help me know what exactly do you mean by
Resident means the period you have been living in the UK

and

Present - this means physically present in the UK 3 (or 5) years

basically what i'm asking is, whats the difference? in order to live in the uk (being resident) you have to be physically present, thus if you are resident, you are automatically present as well.

My understanding so far is that resident seems to mean you should have a proper visa during the past 3 years, i.e you should not be on a diplomatic visa or such that doesnt count as being resident.

My understanding so far about present is that based on the start and end time of the 'proper' visa (i.e for our instance spouse visa), you would be considered 'resident', and hence in this time of 'residency', you should have at least spent 3 years physically present in the uk.

Would you also be able to advise me as to when should I be eligible for citizenship?

My circumstances are:

Initial Visa Type: Spouse Visa
06/10/2010 Arrival in England
4 months, 17 days Spent outside of England
09/12/2012 Spouse Visa Expiry
ILR Approval Letter Received 05/03/2013
Biometric Card Received 06/03/2013
Current Visa Type: Settlement / ILR

Based on this information if the HO received your application on 06/10/2013 you should be eligible for naturalisation as you were present 3 years before (06/10/2010) and you have been resident in the UK for 3 years (assuming you have not exceeded the permitted absences) providing you meet the other requirements

If the HO received the application and you were not physically present in the UK 3 years back from the date the HO received your application you would be rejected.

Present is opposite of absent which itself is opposite of present.



So, if I say that you should have been present in UK 3 years before application, then if you were not absent on that date, then you were present. The simple reason being, that if you were absent, then you won't be present.

Simply put, if someone is not absent, then they must be present.