British Citizenship
Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2023 5:59 pm
Hi Members,
I want to apply for Naturalisation as a British Citizen, and I would like some guidance. My situation is as follows:
I am married to an EU citizen (they are still an EU citizen and do not want to become a British Citizen yet) in the UK since January 2017. I had BRC under EEA regulations and then in 2019 I applied for Pre-settled Status via EUSS. Then I applied for Settled Status and I have Settled Status via EUSS since 13 March 2022.
I intend to apply for my citizenship on 14 March 2023, since I will be eligible for it after having had Settled Status for 12 months (prefer to be on the safe side hence I want to apply a day after I was given settled status).
The residency requirement requires the applicant to not be absent from the UK for 450days in the last 5years and 90days in the last 12months of applying for the citizenship.
The application submission date requirement requires me to have been physically in the UK exactly 5 years ago, i.e., 15/03/2018, on the day which my application will be received by the HO, i.e., 14/03/2023.
My questions are:
1- What documents can I provide as evidence to prove I was in the UK on 15/03/2018? Do I need to provide evidence of this at all? I have P60s for the past 5 years, and also Council Tax Bills, would these suffice?
2- Good Character Requirement. Do I need to provide any evidence for this? Surely they will have my records. I have no caution, penalties or any criminality records. On the application I have declared I have none. Do I need to prove it?
3- Because of Brexit, I had to update my BRC which was issued under EEA regulations to the one under EUSS, which was Pre-settled. That BRC is still valid, even though I have now Settled Status, however, when I got settled status (via email), HO did not send me a new BRC stating on it settled status as opposed to the one which I have which states pre-settled on it. Would this make things complicated?
4- Proof of living in the UK for me for 5 years. What documents should I submit to prove this? On the application, on documents section, it states that:
“If you are a Non-EEA National, you need to include your passport to prove you have lived in the UK for the relevant 3- or 5-year period.
If you do not have your passport or it was not stamped when you entered the UK, you need to include letters (for example, from your employer or government department) as proof.
Bank statements or household bills are not suitable proof you have been living in the UK.”
My question here is: can I provide P60s and Council Tax Bills for the past 5 years? Would these be suitable proof?
5- For proof of residency in the UK for the past 5 years, I have obtained my travel history from HO, and they have provided it to me. The guidance says that to prove qualifying period and that I have not been absent from the UK for more than 450 days in 5 years and more than 90 days in the last 12 months, I should provide my passport with stamps to evidence these. As family member of an EU national, most of my travels were in the EU and therefore, my passports were not stamped at all. What documents can I provide to evidence these? I don't have the tickets however, HO has my travel history and I can see that they have all my travel history for the past 5 years, and according to their records of my travel history, I have not been out of the UK for more than 450 days in the last 5 years and more than 90 days in the last 12 months.
6- To evidence that I intend to live in the UK after I obtain British Citizenship, what documents can I submit? Can I submit my employment contract and the Title of our flat? Is there any other evidence that I should supply?
Apologies for a long list of questions and thank you in advance.
I want to apply for Naturalisation as a British Citizen, and I would like some guidance. My situation is as follows:
I am married to an EU citizen (they are still an EU citizen and do not want to become a British Citizen yet) in the UK since January 2017. I had BRC under EEA regulations and then in 2019 I applied for Pre-settled Status via EUSS. Then I applied for Settled Status and I have Settled Status via EUSS since 13 March 2022.
I intend to apply for my citizenship on 14 March 2023, since I will be eligible for it after having had Settled Status for 12 months (prefer to be on the safe side hence I want to apply a day after I was given settled status).
The residency requirement requires the applicant to not be absent from the UK for 450days in the last 5years and 90days in the last 12months of applying for the citizenship.
The application submission date requirement requires me to have been physically in the UK exactly 5 years ago, i.e., 15/03/2018, on the day which my application will be received by the HO, i.e., 14/03/2023.
My questions are:
1- What documents can I provide as evidence to prove I was in the UK on 15/03/2018? Do I need to provide evidence of this at all? I have P60s for the past 5 years, and also Council Tax Bills, would these suffice?
2- Good Character Requirement. Do I need to provide any evidence for this? Surely they will have my records. I have no caution, penalties or any criminality records. On the application I have declared I have none. Do I need to prove it?
3- Because of Brexit, I had to update my BRC which was issued under EEA regulations to the one under EUSS, which was Pre-settled. That BRC is still valid, even though I have now Settled Status, however, when I got settled status (via email), HO did not send me a new BRC stating on it settled status as opposed to the one which I have which states pre-settled on it. Would this make things complicated?
4- Proof of living in the UK for me for 5 years. What documents should I submit to prove this? On the application, on documents section, it states that:
“If you are a Non-EEA National, you need to include your passport to prove you have lived in the UK for the relevant 3- or 5-year period.
If you do not have your passport or it was not stamped when you entered the UK, you need to include letters (for example, from your employer or government department) as proof.
Bank statements or household bills are not suitable proof you have been living in the UK.”
My question here is: can I provide P60s and Council Tax Bills for the past 5 years? Would these be suitable proof?
5- For proof of residency in the UK for the past 5 years, I have obtained my travel history from HO, and they have provided it to me. The guidance says that to prove qualifying period and that I have not been absent from the UK for more than 450 days in 5 years and more than 90 days in the last 12 months, I should provide my passport with stamps to evidence these. As family member of an EU national, most of my travels were in the EU and therefore, my passports were not stamped at all. What documents can I provide to evidence these? I don't have the tickets however, HO has my travel history and I can see that they have all my travel history for the past 5 years, and according to their records of my travel history, I have not been out of the UK for more than 450 days in the last 5 years and more than 90 days in the last 12 months.
6- To evidence that I intend to live in the UK after I obtain British Citizenship, what documents can I submit? Can I submit my employment contract and the Title of our flat? Is there any other evidence that I should supply?
Apologies for a long list of questions and thank you in advance.