Immigrationboards.com

Good evening,

First time poster. I believe I am posting in the right forum. If not I apologise, and grateful for a steer in the right direction.

Scenario: I am a South African citizen who has recently acquired ILR in the UK (granted: 26/09/2021). I was in the UK throughout the 5 year qualifying period on an Ancestral Visa. 2.5 years ago I married a British (birth) Citizen. As such, I believe I immediately qualify to apply for British Citizenship by way of being married to a British Citizen, holding ILR, as well by meeting the residency and other requirements.

The SOUTH AFRICAN CITIZENSH1P ACT, 1995 6. (1) states that unless one applies for permission to retain ones South African citizenship before being granted citizenship of another country then said individual loses their South African citizenship. I understand that this permission can be applied for through submitting form BI-1664 to the South African Department of Home Affairs.

https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/ ... f1995.pdf

Question: The SACA 1995 states that this provision is only applicable to someone who obtains citizenship through some voluntary and formal act other than marriage. Given that my application for British Citizenship is based on my marriage to a British Citizen, rather than say having spent an additional year in the UK after obtaining ILR, do I need to apply to the South African Department of Home Affairs for permission to retain my South African citizenship in order to keep it?

Best regards,
Nic

You are voluntarily and formally applying to naturalise as British.

This is not the same as citizenship through marriage.

You be have to apply and it pay by UKVI for a non acquisition letter first before you can apply for SA retention which also has a fee.

Note that if you retain it and anything happens to you while you are in SA, you cannot get British consular assistance if you are dual south African/British.

If you are only British and choose to lose your SA citizenship, you will still have the right to permanent residence in SA if you were born there and can get a letter free of charge from SA consular service stating this and giving permission to travel in and out I tour british passport. I did this so that if I am back home and the poo hits the fan for any reason, I can get British consual help.

Thanks for the quick response, CR001.

Question: do I need to provide evidence that I have permission to retain my SA citizenship as part of my UK citizenship application? I urgently need to apply for British Citizenship and I'm thinking that if I don't need to provide this evidence as part of my UK citizenship application then presumably I could apply for British Citizenship straight after applying for the non acquisition letter and SA retention i.e. I could apply for British Citizenship (c. 6 months processing) whilst my SA retention is being processed by South African High Commission in London? Does anyone have a feel for the SAHCL processing times of retention applications? Their guidance online states 20 days.

Best,
Nic

do I need to provide evidence that I have permission to retain my SA citizenship as part of my UK citizenship application?

No,because the UK allows dual nationality.

You should wait for the permission from SA consular before applying for British citizenship. The non acquisition and non retention can take some time, this was the case even before covid. Now there are likely longer delays.

Why do you urgently need to apply for British citizenship??

Thanks, that's helpful.

Whilst my primary residence and family are in the UK, the requirements of my work are such that I need to spend significant time out of the UK on business travel. This hasn't been the case over the last 18 months given COVID. As I am required to start traveling again, I will most likely be spending more than 90 days outside the UK in a 12 month period, and so I want to get my application done before I do start travelling.

Your earlier points are taken regarding losing RSA citizenship and the benefits of British consular support in SA. The irrational part of me is just not ready to let go of the SA citizenship!