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ILR holder vs British Citizen.
Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 12:28 pm
by Galaa
Hi All,
I understood that if you are ILR holder you can not vote for General Election and the ILR status can be lost if you live outside UK for more than two years. Other than these two points what are the difference between settled person and British citizen?
Thanks in advance
Re: ILR holder vs British Citizen.
Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 12:47 pm
by vinny
Re: ILR holder vs British Citizen.
Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 12:54 pm
by secret.simon
The main difference between ILR and British citizenship is ironically when you are abroad. Within the UK, there is very little difference between the two. Indeed, children born to ILR holders within the UK are British citizens by birth.
ILR is a domestic legal status, that is not necessarily recognised by other countries and may not be of benefit outside the UK.
Consular assistance abroad is provided by the country/ies of your passport(s) (or countries associated with them). If you have only ILR, you will not be eligible for British consular assistance abroad.
Galaa wrote: ↑Wed Sep 23, 2020 12:28 pm
if you are ILR holder you can not vote for General Election
You can vote in the UK if you are a resident Commonwealth citizen (all elections) or EU citizen (for certain elections only). Wales now allows ILR holders to vote for elections to the Welsh Senedd elections. So British citizenship itself is not a requirement for voting in elections in the UK.
Re: ILR holder vs British Citizen.
Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 1:16 pm
by Galaa
Thanks a lot, now it is much clear
Re: ILR holder vs British Citizen.
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 5:27 pm
by pimlicollb31
secret.simon wrote: ↑Wed Sep 23, 2020 12:54 pm
The main difference between ILR and British citizenship is ironically when you are abroad. Within the UK, there is very little difference between the two. Indeed, children born to ILR holders within the UK are British citizens by birth.
ILR is a domestic legal status, that is not necessarily recognised by other countries and may not be of benefit outside the UK.
Consular assistance abroad is provided by the country/ies of your passport(s) (or countries associated with them). If you have only ILR, you will not be eligible for British consular assistance abroad.
Galaa wrote: ↑Wed Sep 23, 2020 12:28 pm
if you are ILR holder you can not vote for General Election
You can vote in the UK if you are a resident Commonwealth citizen (all elections) or EU citizen (for certain elections only). Wales now allows ILR holders to vote for elections to the Welsh Senedd elections. So British citizenship itself is not a requirement for voting in elections in the UK.
EU citizens cannot vote in general elections, it is British Citizens and selected commonwealth countries only. They can only vote in Mayoral or European elections.
Re: ILR holder vs British Citizen.
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 5:37 pm
by alterhase58
pimlicollb31 wrote: ↑Thu Sep 24, 2020 5:27 pm
EU citizens cannot vote in general elections, it is British Citizens and selected commonwealth countries only. They can only vote in Mayoral or European elections.
And of course EU citizens have lost those limited UK voting rights without recourse to appeal.
Citizenship once granted isn't that easy to be taken away, apart from very defined circumstances, and even then there is normally a right of appeal.
Re: ILR holder vs British Citizen.
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 9:09 pm
by London22
ILR is just a normal permanent leave to remain while being a British national is totally a different case.Many migrants think both are similar rights wise but it is totally opposite of it. With ILR when travel outside UK very often silly immigration officers try to find something from your history to ask questions on which is too weird but travelling with British passport you don't have to face this stupidity.Also ILR is very easy to revoke as compared to nationality.ILR used to be a strong leave but these days it has been revoked on thousands of migrants hence has lost its previous value of a decade ago or so.
Re: ILR holder vs British Citizen.
Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2020 9:06 am
by Xterra
London22 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 25, 2020 9:09 pm
ILR is just a normal permanent leave to remain while being a British national is totally a different case.Many migrants think both are similar rights wise but it is totally opposite of it. With ILR when travel outside UK very often silly immigration officers try to find something from your history to ask questions on which is too weird but travelling with British passport you don't have to face this stupidity.Also ILR is very easy to revoke as compared to nationality.ILR used to be a strong leave but these days it has been revoked on thousands of migrants hence has lost its previous value of a decade ago or so.
I agree with you. I held ILR for 3 years before getting naturalised this year. I travel a lot due to my job and almost everytime I face these unnecessary questioning. I thought questions such as where I work and how much I earn are no longer necessary when I have ILR. But most of the time, it is not the questions themselves but the way they are asked.