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My wife has come to the UK in may 2008 ... however she was on a work permit till Dec 2010..
She converted to a spouse visa in Dec 2010 and got her ILR in Dec 2012.

I am currently a british citizen after acquiring citizenship in Sept 2012.



based on my current citizenship does it mean that my wife can apply for naturalisation as she has been in the UK for more than three years( albeit different visa category rather than spouse) and now has an ILR and or does she have to wait until Dec 2013 to qualify for Naturalisation

ironrose wrote:My wife has come to the UK since may 2008 ... however she was on a work permit till Dec 2010..
She converted to a spouse visa in Dec 2010 and got her ILR in Dec 2012.

I am currently a british citizen after acquiring citizenship in Sept 2012.

based on my current citizenship does it mean that my wife can apply for naturalisation as she has been in the UK for more than three years( albeit different visa category rather than spouse) and now has an ILR and or does she have to wait until Dec 2013 to qualify for ILR

Your wife's been eligible since Dec'2012, assuming she meets all the standard requirements.

Thanks for your response. I did make arrangements for applying for Naturalisation, however I had a bit of of doubt in my mind that may be she needs to be here as a spouse of british citizen for three years before applying.

So am i right in saying that one can become naturalised as British Citizen if they are in the UK as a resident for three years in any visa category e.g WorkPermit, tier 1 and are married to british citizen and currently hold an ILR???

ironrose wrote:Thanks for your response. I did make arrangements for applying for Naturalisation, however I had a bit of of doubt in my mind that may be she needs to be here as a spouse of british citizen for three years before applying.

So am i right in saying that one can become naturalised as British Citizen if they are in the UK as a resident for three years in any visa category e.g WorkPermit, tier 1 and are married to british citizen and currently hold an ILR???

You are right. She is eligible to apply for BC now if she meets all other requirements

ironrose wrote:Thanks for your response. I did make arrangements for applying for Naturalisation, however I had a bit of of doubt in my mind that may be she needs to be here as a spouse of british citizen for three years before applying.

So am i right in saying that one can become naturalised as British Citizen if they are in the UK as a resident for three years in any visa category e.g WorkPermit, tier 1 and are married to british citizen and currently hold an ILR???

From what you are saying, your wife can apply now. As I said earlier, make sure she meets all the other standard requirements.

Fantastic!!

Thanks for your support and responses.

The application has been placed today .. fingers crossed.

Good luck, ironrose; let us know how it turns out!

cricinfo, could you please point me to where in the immigration rules/UKBA guidance it says a spouse of a BC applying for naturalisation can be on any visa during the qualifying 3 year period? I see this is the same information given in the FAQ but I can't seem to locate where in the guidance/rules it specifies this.

Many thanks!

This UKBA webpage ...... click here ..... gives details of the eligibility when thinking of making an application for Naturalisation as a spouse (or Civil Partner) of a British Citizen.

I feel there is a danger that some posting in this topic are in danger of making a simple matter much more complicated, when it is not. In particular read the section headed "Residential Requirements", and do not invent requirements that are not in place.

As regards "have not been in breach of the immigration rules at any stage during the three-year period.", yes there are other matters to consider, but as regards that particular requirement, any visa type makes the person "legal" in the UK, even an in-date visitor visa!