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Unable to find someone who meets passport referee requirement

Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 2:32 am
by isla87
I think one of my referees would be suitable to sign as a professional referee for BC, but she is not a UK citizen and can't sign for the British passport if BC is approved.
Is there any way to to apply for BC and passport together?

I think given this situation, it wouldn't make sense to apply for BC if I can't apply for the passport.

Re: Unable to find someone who meets passport referee requirement

Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 3:06 am
by vinny
Can you think of any eligible British or Irish professional friend, neighbour or colleague, etc?

Re: Unable to find someone who meets passport referee requirement

Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 3:18 am
by isla87
vinny wrote:
Wed Aug 03, 2022 3:06 am
Can you think of any eligible British or Irish professional friend, neighbour or colleague, etc?
Unfortunately not. The people whom I know from those professionals are not British or Irish.

Re: Unable to find someone who meets passport referee requirement

Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 4:23 am
by isla87
vinny wrote:
Wed Aug 03, 2022 3:06 am
Can you think of any eligible British or Irish professional friend, neighbour or colleague, etc?
I know someone who was a Justice of the Peace in the past but is not now. Would this be acceptable?

Re: Unable to find someone who meets passport referee requirement

Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 4:29 am
by vinny
Accepted occupations for countersignatories
Your countersignatory must either:

work in (or be retired from) a recognised profession
be ‘a person of good standing in their community’

Re: Unable to find someone who meets passport referee requirement

Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 4:32 am
by isla87
vinny wrote:
Wed Aug 03, 2022 4:29 am
Accepted occupations for countersignatories
Your countersignatory must either:

work in (or be retired from) a recognised profession
be ‘a person of good standing in their community’
Thank you.
Does the same apply for referees for British citizenship or can the referees for naturalisation not be retired?

Re: Unable to find someone who meets passport referee requirement

Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 4:37 am
by isla87
Also, I became self-employed in June, so don't yet have a statement of account. Is it ok if I apply without submitting this?

BC application requires self assessment tax return but I only became self-employed this year

Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 5:52 am
by isla87
Even though I mentioned that the start date of self employment is June 2022, the checklist shows I must submit a tax return for the latest complete tax year and statement of account at HMRC. I don't have these documents as my self employment is new.
How do I notify them of this?

Also, I was on tier 2 when I got ILR 2 years ago. Does it matter that I left the job?

Re: BC application requires self assessment tax return but I only became self-employed this year

Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 6:01 am
by vinny
The latest completed tax year ended on 5th April 2022.

Re: BC application requires self assessment tax return but I only became self-employed this year

Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 4:50 pm
by isla87
vinny wrote:
Wed Aug 03, 2022 6:01 am
The latest completed tax year ended on 5th April 2022.
Hello
Yes, but since my self employment started in June 2022, I haven't yet submitted a self assessment. My first self assessment will be for the year ending April 2023.

Can the director of a dormant limited company be a referee?

Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2022 11:38 pm
by isla87
Also, does it have to be VAT-regsitered?

Re: Can the director of a dormant limited company be a referee?

Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2022 10:12 am
by alterhase58
isla87 wrote:
Thu Aug 04, 2022 11:38 pm
Also, does it have to be VAT-regsitered?
VAT registration is normally governed by turnover threshold, so if company is below threshold it doesn't need to be registered. And for naturalisations earnings and taxes are not a requirement.

Re: Can the director of a dormant limited company be a referee?

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2022 12:09 pm
by isla87
I read some old posts from last year of people who had no issues with immigration but were denied naturalisation on the basis on "deception" in their immigration applications?

Just wondering if this is happening frequently nowadays?

Re: Can the director of a dormant limited company be a referee?

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2022 12:32 pm
by alterhase58
isla87 wrote:
Thu Sep 29, 2022 12:09 pm
I read some old posts from last year of people who had no issues with immigration but were denied naturalisation on the basis on "deception" in their immigration applications?

Just wondering if this is happening frequently nowadays?
Can't comment on how frequent this might be - we only see what has is shared by readers here.
There's probably a government statistic somewhere as to the reasons why applications are refused.
Note that immigration/visa/ILR applications have different requirements (based on the UK immigration regulations) whereas naturalisation is governed by the British Nationality Act, and good character is looked at more closely, at the discretion of the Home Secretary.
Do you have a specific concern? Referee of dormant company?

Re: Can the director of a dormant limited company be a referee?

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2022 3:24 pm
by isla87
alterhase58 wrote:
Thu Sep 29, 2022 12:32 pm
isla87 wrote:
Thu Sep 29, 2022 12:09 pm
I read some old posts from last year of people who had no issues with immigration but were denied naturalisation on the basis on "deception" in their immigration applications?

Just wondering if this is happening frequently nowadays?
Can't comment on how frequent this might be - we only see what has is shared by readers here.
There's probably a government statistic somewhere as to the reasons why applications are refused.
Note that immigration/visa/ILR applications have different requirements (based on the UK immigration regulations) whereas naturalisation is governed by the British Nationality Act, and good character is looked at more closely, at the discretion of the Home Secretary.
Do you have a specific concern? Referee of dormant company?
Hi
Thank you. I read a couple of threads from 2021 where the applicants were refused naturalisation and the reason was that they used deception in their immigration applications. They had no clue as to what was going on and they had no issues getting ILR either, so it was the first time that they'd heard of the deception accusation!
So made me wonder if this is something that is happening of late since you can't appeal their decision.

I do have concerns as to whether the referee can be a director of a dormant company, but that's not linked to my question about the refusals though.

Re: Can the director of a dormant limited company be a referee?

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2022 5:08 pm
by isla87
alterhase58 wrote:
Thu Sep 29, 2022 12:32 pm
isla87 wrote:
Thu Sep 29, 2022 12:09 pm
I read some old posts from last year of people who had no issues with immigration but were denied naturalisation on the basis on "deception" in their immigration applications?

Just wondering if this is happening frequently nowadays?
Can't comment on how frequent this might be - we only see what has is shared by readers here.
There's probably a government statistic somewhere as to the reasons why applications are refused.
Note that immigration/visa/ILR applications have different requirements (based on the UK immigration regulations) whereas naturalisation is governed by the British Nationality Act, and good character is looked at more closely, at the discretion of the Home Secretary.
Do you have a specific concern? Referee of dormant company?
This case in particular makes me wonder if it's worth it applying if they can just accuse you of deception with no details and no appeal rights.

http://www.immigrationboards.com/britis ... 12359.html

Re: Can the director of a dormant limited company be a referee?

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2022 7:43 pm
by alterhase58
Unfortunately the member (@kash87) hasn't been back since Feb 2021.... so we don't know what the actual outcome was (if any).
I think trawling through older posts may lead you (and others) to see problems where there are none - and overthinking in the process. Nobody wants to loose their fees so we try to get everything spot-on. There aren't that many cases reported like the one you found. And without knowing the full details of this or similar cases it's difficult to comment. The majority of applicants posting here do get their approval, and many with long and complex immigration histories.

Can the referee be living at the same address as the applicant?

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2023 12:07 pm
by isla87
Wondering if my housemate can sign?

Re: Can the referee be living at the same address as the applicant?

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2023 12:15 pm
by alterhase58
Yes, as long as referee qualifies and is not related to you.

Re: Can the referee be living at the same address as the applicant?

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2023 1:38 pm
by te23
alterhase58 wrote:
Fri Jan 06, 2023 12:15 pm
Yes, as long as referee qualifies and is not related to you.
I thought having the same home address disqualifies a person from being a referee?

Re: Can the referee be living at the same address as the applicant?

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2023 2:15 pm
by CR001
te23 wrote:
Fri Jan 06, 2023 1:38 pm
alterhase58 wrote:
Fri Jan 06, 2023 12:15 pm
Yes, as long as referee qualifies and is not related to you.
I thought having the same home address disqualifies a person from being a referee?
You thought wrong. Read the guide, the only restriction is they cannot be related to you or the other referee.

NHS prescriptions penalty charges: do these have to be declared?

Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2023 12:26 am
by isla87
If these are issued and paid, do these have to be declared as penalties on the citizenship form?

Re: NHS prescriptions penalty charges: do these have to be declared?

Posted: Sun Apr 16, 2023 2:58 pm
by isla87
Hello

Could someone please advise?

Thank you.

Re: NHS prescriptions penalty charges: do these have to be declared?

Posted: Sun Apr 16, 2023 3:16 pm
by alterhase58
There's no specific guidance on this aspect of dealing with the NHS.
There are however mentions of NHS related issues in the good character guidance:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... y-guidance
(search for "health")
If it was a one-off mistake (or more often?) why not declare it and explain the background?
We can't know how this will be be viewed suffice to say I haven't seen refusals based on your scenario, but others may know.

Re: NHS prescriptions penalty charges: do these have to be declared?

Posted: Sun Apr 16, 2023 9:41 pm
by isla87
alterhase58 wrote:
Sun Apr 16, 2023 3:16 pm
There's no specific guidance on this aspect of dealing with the NHS.
There are however mentions of NHS related issues in the good character guidance:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... y-guidance
(search for "health")
If it was a one-off mistake (or more often?) why not declare it and explain the background?
We can't know how this will be be viewed suffice to say I haven't seen refusals based on your scenario, but others may know.
Thank you. It is an error at their end because I had a valid exemption. Have challenged the decision.


I also wanted to know how to prove 5 years of residence. Do I scan every page of my passport to upload?