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British Citizenship – Good Character Small Period of Overstay as child

A section for posts relating to applications for Naturalisation or Registration as a British Citizen. Naturalisation

Moderators: Casa, push, JAJ, ca.funke, Amber, zimba, vinny, Obie, EUsmileWEallsmile, batleykhan, meself2, geriatrix, John, ChetanOjha, archigabe

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afrogal7
Newly Registered
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2017 7:27 pm

Previous overstay as a minor, when should I apply for BC?

Post by afrogal7 » Sat Jun 09, 2018 5:52 pm

Hi there,

Brief context: I entered the UK legally in 2001 at the age of 4 with my mother. As I'm now aware, we had a period of legal stay up until around 2006/7 - and later on became overstayers. My mother sought asylum due to the dangerous political atmosphere back in my home country, however, this was refused and we were eventually granted with 3 years DLR in Sept 2011. Leave was then extended for an additional 3 years back in March 2015 after an in-time application was made in August 2014. I received my settlement (ILR) exactly 4 months ago today, and I will eventually like to apply for citizenship in the future as I have no connection to my home country.

My main question is: When will I be eligible to apply for citizenship? February 2019 or September 2021?

My main worry is in regards to the good character requirement due to changes in criteria. Clearly, I was in breach of immigration law back in 2006 as an overstayer, however, I was a minor (9-14) during that period and was not aware of my status back then. Overstaying was not something I consciously decided to do and the offence was out of my control seeing as I was a dependent.

With all of this in mind, would a caseworker automatically refuse my application on the basis that I overstayed between ages 9-14, or is there some type of small chance (application fee is not much of a concern) that they would be able to apply discretion? Or would it be best if I just apply in 2021?

afrogal7
Newly Registered
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2017 7:27 pm

British Citizenship – Good Character Small Period of Overstay as child

Post by afrogal7 » Wed Nov 21, 2018 3:54 pm

Can someone please help? I'm 21 and I've had my ILR for 9 months now. I came here with my mum at a young age and there was a period of overstay before we received our LTR. However, this period of overstay happened when I was 14 and still a dependent so there was no way possible I personally could've prevented that. Is there any small chance they could apply discretion in relation to good character? It's not like I willingly overstayed as I didn't even have full legal responsibility of myself.

eoo10
Member
Posts: 118
Joined: Wed Apr 12, 2017 11:38 am

Re: British Citizenship – Good Character Small Period of Overstay as child

Post by eoo10 » Thu Nov 22, 2018 6:31 pm

afrogal7 wrote:
Wed Nov 21, 2018 3:54 pm
Can someone please help? I'm 21 and I've had my ILR for 9 months now. I came here with my mum at a young age and there was a period of overstay before we received our LTR. However, this period of overstay happened when I was 14 and still a dependent so there was no way possible I personally could've prevented that. Is there any small chance they could apply discretion in relation to good character? It's not like I willingly overstayed as I didn't even have full legal responsibility of myself.

I think you can only apply 10 years after your stay was regularised (Sept 2021)owing to the good character criteria. Also be mindful of the date.

vinny
Moderator
Posts: 32758
Joined: Tue Sep 25, 2007 7:58 pm

Re: British Citizenship – Good Character Small Period of Overstay as child

Post by vinny » Thu Nov 22, 2018 9:34 pm

Ask them to use Discretion to waive immigration breaches:
Examples of when you might exercise discretion include where:

• the breach occurred at a time when the applicant was a minor whose parents failed to obtain or renew their leave
This is not intended to be legal or professional advice in any jurisdiction. Please click on any given links for further information. Refer to the source of any quotes.
We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.

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