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Hi everyone,

I have a question on the referee requirement.

A friend of mine is a qualified accountant but she is authorised by the Hong Kong accounting professional body (which is equivalent to the ICAEW). Can I ask her to be my referee or do I need to find someone who is qualified by the UK institute?

Thanks!

There's no specific guidance on whether the professional body has to be based in the UK.
Also the professional referee can be of any nationality. Expect this is not an issue.

alterhase58 wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 12, 2022 12:04 pm

Also the professional referee can be of any nationality.

Can you please provide a link to source where this is made explicit?

According to the Nationality Policy: general information – all British nationals (page 10):

The referee must:
• have known the (adult) applicant for at least 3 years
• a British passport holder and either a professional person or aged over 25 (at
least one referee must be a professional person)

As per that wording, all referees must be British passport holders. What is optional is the age over 25. So, as it reads it would look like both need to have a British passport, and on top of that, one needs to be a professional person, the other can either be a professional person or aged over 25.

This is really confusing.

This is from the paper format of the referee form:
https://visas-immigration.service.gov.u ... on_MN1.pdf
Also the AN paper application: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... -07-21.pdf

Quote:
"For an adult application, one referee should be a person of any nationality who has
professional standing, eg minister of religion, civil servant, or a member of a
professional body e.g. accountant or solicitor (who is not representing you with this
application).
For all applications, the second referee must normally be the holder of a British
citizen passport and either a professional person or over the age of 25."

alterhase58 wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 14, 2022 5:55 pm

For an adult application, one referee should be a person of any nationality who has
professional standing, eg minister of religion, civil servant, or a member of a
professional body e.g. accountant or solicitor (who is not representing you with this
application).

If that is all the guidance that is given in relation to the allowed professions, then that document is extremely vague and misleading.

As it stands, we have two separate and seemingly up-to-date documents giving contradictory information, the first to case workers assessing applications (where referees must be British passport holders); the second to applicants preparing their applications (where referees can be of any nationality). None supersedes the other.

I wonder, where is the actual legislation, the actual legal document these two documents are supposed to follow?

Also, has anyone used a non-British referee for a recent succesful application?

Also, I noticed the below paragraph in relation to referees (Nationality Policy: general information – all British nationals , page 10):

Where the applicant is living outside of the UK and does not know a British citizen
passport holder who is a professional or over the age of 25, a commonwealth citizen
or a citizen of the country in which they are residing may complete and sign the form
providing they meet the other requirements and the consul considers their signature
to be acceptable.

So I think only if the applicant is preparing an application outside of the UK then they are allowed non-British referees. But otherwise both referees need to be British. My solicitors confirmed this.

So let me rephrase my question: Has anyone been successful with an in-country application for British citizenship (application within the UK) using a professional person referee that did not hold a British passport?

alterhase58 wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 14, 2022 5:55 pm

Also the AN paper application: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... -07-21.pdf

Also, please note that the AN paper application is explicitly "To be used by people in the Channel Islands, Isle of Man and British overseas territories, and by people who live elsewhere and want to apply by post."

The above supports the assumption that non-British referees are allowed for applications outside of the UK, and is not a proof that non-British referees are also allowed for in-country applications.

But please, if anyone else has prof that this assumption is incorrect (e.g. first-hand experience of non-British referees for a successful in-country application), please share your experience.