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Hello

My wife just got her ILR following completion of 5 years on Tier 2 Dependent Visa - She came to UK in January 2013 and has been here since. I was previously on Tier 2 General but became British Citizen in 2016. Given I am now a British Citizen can she apply for Naturalisation straight away or will she have to wait for 12 months with ILR before she can apply for naturalization.

If she can apply straight away will she have to apply using the 3 year qualification route?

Thanks for your help in advance.

If she can apply straight away will she have to apply using the 3 year qualification route?

She can apply now and yes, it will be the 3 year spouse of BC route and she must meet ALL the requirements, including the absence and physically present requirement 3 years ago.

Thank you for your response. Much appreciated.

Dear CR001

I just spoke to 2 lawyers, both of whom advised that if I was not a British citizen at the time my wife first got her PBS dependent visa, she will have to wait for 12 months after getting her ILR. They said that if I had ILR or British Citizen my wife had come to the UK on a dependent visa of a settled person or British citizen, then she would have been able to apply for naturalization without the 12m waiting period.

Have the rules changed recently because of which these lawyers might not be aware or am I missing something?

Thank you for your help.

I just spoke to 2 lawyers, both of whom advised that if I was not a British citizen at the time my wife first got her PBS dependent visa, she will have to wait for 12 months after getting her ILR.

Absolute rubbish. The rules state married to a BC at the time of application. It DOES NOT state you have to be a BC for the duration of the dependents residence.

They said that if I had ILR or British Citizen my wife had come to the UK on a dependent visa of a settled person or British citizen, then she would have been able to apply for naturalization without the 12m waiting period.

Nonsense. You only need to be BC at the time she applies, even if you only attended your ceremony the DAY BEFORE she applies.

Have the rules changed recently because of which these lawyers might not be aware or am I missing something?

Citizenship is based on laws and more difficult to change than immigration rules and there have been no changes to the citizenship laws. They simply don't know what they are talking about.

Hello
Could you advise please what's happened to your wife's application?
Thanks