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Hi

Can anyone advise please? My husband is from Morocco and has lived in the UK since 2007. He got his indefinite leave to remain in 2009. He is now wanting to apply for his British passport. Problem is he has a few debts and we have one big joint debt with council tax. Is this going to be a problem for him?

We are making arrangements to pay, but as the debt for council tax is big we are arranging to pay in installments, this debt has already gone to bailiffs.

Kind regards

Jane

He can't apply for a British passport before being granted British citizenship.

Read Chapter 18: naturalisation at discretion -> Annex D: the good character requirement.

As advised by geriatrix, he needs to have been granted BC first. Not wise to apply until your debts are cleared, especially when the unpaid Council tax bill is being handled by Court Bailiffs. Under the recent tightening of the 'good character' rules for BC, this is now a reason for refusal. Also, if you have a problem paying your debts, how would you find over £1,000 to pay for the application fee?

mickeyjane70 wrote:Hi

Can anyone advise please? My husband is from Morocco and has lived in the UK since 2007. He got his indefinite leave to remain in 2009. He is now wanting to apply for his British passport. Problem is he has a few debts and we have one big joint debt with council tax. Is this going to be a problem for him?

We are making arrangements to pay, but as the debt for council tax is big we are arranging to pay in installments, this debt has already gone to bailiffs.

Kind regards

Jane

You could dig into this vital matter via forum FAQs:
british-citizenship/british-citizenship ... 05532.html

I apologise he does have British Citizenship - Indefinite leave to stay I explained wrongly in my post - he got that in 2009. Regarding the money - My husband's brother has offered to loan him the money for the passport - but his brother does not know about his debt so he is unable to ask him for money for this. We are making arrangements to pay the council tax but it may take some time. My husband has been advised by a friend that if he pays £70 there is someone who can make the relevant checks for him prior to putting his application in to see if he is likely to be refused. Thank you for your replies

mickeyjane70 wrote:I apologise he does have British Citizenship - Indefinite leave to stay I explained wrongly in my post - he got that in 2009. Regarding the money - My husband's brother has offered to loan him the money for the passport - but his brother does not know about his debt so he is unable to ask him for money for this. We are making arrangements to pay the council tax but it may take some time. My husband has been advised by a friend that if he pays £70 there is someone who can make the relevant checks for him prior to putting his application in to see if he is likely to be refused. Thank you for your replies

Your question is still not clear (to me at least).

Does applicant have Indefinite leave to stay by which I suppose you mean ILR and ALSO British Citizenship
OR does he only have Indefinite leave to stay (ILR)

So.. are you asking about a naturalisation application OR a passport application? - they are quite different animals

If he's really been a BC since 2009 it seems very late in the day to apply for a passport only now.

If it is actually a passport application then there are no credit/character checks - that will all have been done and dusted in order to be naturalised.

I think I am really confused - as to what he needs to reply for - He got his initial indefinite leave to remain visa in March 2007 and arrived in UK in April 2007, then 2 years later he applied to stay in the country which was granted. Is this different to British Citizenship? In which case he needs to do this before applying for British passport?

Thank you

Surely depends on what exactly he applied for and what was granted?

Seems odd that he was granted indefinite leave to remain before moving to the UK...

It is kind of weird asking forum members to tell you the types of permissions your spouse was granted. You / he are the ones who know what applications were made and what permissions were granted, and have access to the associated documents / letters / evidences of grant of permission.

How do you expect anyone on a forum to know all this?
No one here on the forum is a clairvoyant or has a magic wand!


My "guess":
settlement visa in March 2007
Arrival in UK on settlement visa in April 2007
ILR in 2009, after 2 years as spouse of BC / settled person.

On such basis, he needs to apply for naturalisation to become a British citizen and may apply for a British passport only after being naturalised.

mickeyjane70 wrote:I apologise he does have British Citizenship - Indefinite leave to stay I explained wrongly in my post - he got that in 2009. Regarding the money - My husband's brother has offered to loan him the money for the passport - but his brother does not know about his debt so he is unable to ask him for money for this. We are making arrangements to pay the council tax but it may take some time. My husband has been advised by a friend that if he pays £70 there is someone who can make the relevant checks for him prior to putting his application in to see if he is likely to be refused. Thank you for your replies

By someone you mean NCS at a council? Or someone who's a friend of a friend who may/may not be well versed in BC requirements? Not knowing your husband's UK history apart from his debts, I suggest you tread cautiously so you do not get conned. Take heed of mods' advice about paying off debt before applying. Factor in BC application cost of £1236. And also read up : http://www.immigrationboards.com/britis ... 95747.html

geriatrix wrote: My "guess":
settlement visa in March 2007
Arrival in UK on settlement visa in April 2007
ILR in 2009, after 2 years as spouse of BC / settled person.

On such basis, he needs to apply for naturalisation to become a British citizen and may apply for a British passport only after being naturalised.

^This sounds most likely to me.

The easy way to clarify whether your husband has been granted British citizenship....
Did he attend a citizenship ceremony held by your local Council, where he was presented with a certificate?