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Hello

I am hoping that someone would be able to help me, this is a very weird and complicated situation so I'll try and keep it as easy as possible.

I have ILR as result of being the spouse of a British citizen, I have had ILR since 2008 after living in the UK for 2 years on a spousal visa.

I am about to start the naturalisation process and 1 drastic bit has changed from when I obtained my ILR, my spouse and I have split up in June 2012 after being together for 8 years.

We are not divorced, but both of us have moved on.

I am not applying as the spouse of a British citizen, but I obviously still have to include her as my wife in my application as legally we are still married.

Does anyone know if this will potentially affect my ability to go through the process successfully, as £900 is a pretty big lump of money with a divorce imminent in June 2014.

I hope someone is potentially able to shed some light on this as I have been having sleepless nights.

Thanks you for your time in advance

I am not suggesting anything, but your application might trigger red flags given media attention on sham marriages:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... orted.html

You've waited a while to get to this stage, why not wait for a few months and apply after the formal divorce?

anotherbrickinthewall wrote:I am not suggesting anything, but your application might trigger red flags given media attention on sham marriages:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... orted.html

You've waited a while to get to this stage, why not wait for a few months and apply after the formal divorce?

Wow I was not aware of the media attention, thanks for bringing that to my attention.

Truth is if they were to investigate I have absolutely nothing to hide, we were only a couple for 18 months before we got married so they did look into our relationship extensively before they gave me a spousal visa.

The main reason I am trying to get this done now is that my South African passport expires soon and I have no idea how long the divorce proceedings will carry on for.

Since you are not applying as a spouse of BC I do not see any problem as it is not related to your main application. Maybe senior members should confirm if you need to state on AN form your current status.
By the way, you have been married for 8 years which is more than enough.

Since you are not applying as a spouse of BC I do not see any problem as it is not related to your main application. Maybe senior members should confirm if you need to state on AN form your current status.
By the way, you have been married for 8 years which is more than enough.

milan69 wrote:Since you are not applying as a spouse of BC I do not see any problem as it is not related to your main application. Maybe senior members should confirm if you need to state on AN form your current status.
By the way, you have been married for 8 years which is more than enough.

That's what I thought too, the form AN just doesn't appear to allow additional information in regards to this I am trying to decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Thanks for that @milan69, makes me feel a bit more confident.

You qualify to apply on the basis of spouse of BC (3 years residence) and also in your own right as you have more than 5 years residence.

It is irrelevant if you are separated, as the requirement if applying on the basis of spouse of BC, you have to be married at the time of application. But not relevant to you as you qualify in your own right.

I was separated when I applied and I was successful and even completed the form AN with our two separate addresses.

CR001 wrote:You qualify to apply on the basis of spouse of BC (3 years residence) and also in your own right as you have more than 5 years residence.

It is irrelevant if you are separated, as the requirement if applying on the basis of spouse of BC, you have to be married at the time of application. But not relevant to you as you qualify in your own right.

I was separated when I applied and I was successful and even completed the form AN with our two separate addresses.

You have absolutely no idea how happy you have just made me, that really sets my mind at ease.

Thank you

A divorce can take about 2-3 months. A South African passport can be renewed in about 4-6 weeks, depending how busy they are.

Don't forget that you need the Life in the UK test certificate and you need a certificate for English Language level B1 to apply for naturalisation.

Have you applied to the SA Consular for permission to obtain another nationality?? If you haven't and don't, you will lose your SA citizenship, although will always have the right of permanent residence and can resume citizenship if you return to live in SA.

I chose not to keep my SA citizenship because of the extra cost and delay in 2 additional applications (UKBA for confirmation of non acquisition and SA Home Affairs for permission for British Citizenship to retain SA citizenship)

CR001 wrote:A divorce can take about 2-3 months. A South African passport can be renewed in about 4-6 weeks, depending how busy they are.

Don't forget that you need the Life in the UK test certificate and you need a certificate for English Language level B1 to apply for naturalisation.

Have you applied to the SA Consular for permission to obtain another nationality?? If you haven't and don't, you will lose your SA citizenship, although will always have the right of permanent residence and can resume citizenship if you return to live in SA.

I chose not to keep my SA citizenship because of the extra cost and delay in 2 additional applications (UKBA for confirmation of non acquisition and SA Home Affairs for permission for British Citizenship to retain SA citizenship)

I did the life in the UK test back in Aug 2008 when I got ILR and just got my English Language level B1 certificate through the post last week so all those are all good.

Just been rustling through all my paperwork for my p60s for the past 5 years, and getting my references sorted out before I get the form AN sent off.

Would you recommend using the NCS at all?

I have not applied for permission to obtain another nationality, and thanks to that bit of information I don't think I will.

I don't even know If I will ever go back, I guess never say never always good to keep your options open.

Thanks again for all your help, this has really helped put my mind at ease.

youdont need the p60s but take them with in case they ask for it.

i would highly recommend ncs. i used them twice and they were great. the big advantage is that they copy your docs and give you the originals back, so no risk of loss of docs in the post.

also, you can then renew your SA passport before it expires and before you are British.

i wont go back, it has become very expensive to live (food, rent, petrol), lots of strikes etc

happy to help if you need anything else.

char