Date of first entry in UK - first entry ever or qualifying period
Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2024 4:19 pm
Hi everyone,
First of all thanks for the great help this forum has been over the years through my immigration journey in UK.
I am filling now the Citizenship Application and again in need of some help. Quick intro to my immigration history - I first entered the UK in Oct-2010 to start my PhD on T4 visa, then applied Dec-2014 for T4 DES, then went on to T2 Visa in Oct-2015, and got ILR Jan-2021.
There is this question in the citizenship application - "When did you first arrive in the UK?" I know it looks like a straight forward question, but its making me overthink and here is why.
There was exactly same question in the ILR application form and for this I had put Oct-2015 - when my qualifying period for ILR started. If I follow the same logic - my qualifying period of citizenship would be T2 and ILR - and put Oct-2015 in the citizenship form as well, then I dont know how to answer the next question - i.e. "Where did you first arrive in the UK?" - because I was already in the UK, just relocated to a new city to start my job on T2 visa. Nationality Forms Guide (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... t_2023.pdf) supports this logic too - "Enter the day you first arrived with a view to staying in the UK on a long-term basis, and the airport or seaport through which you then entered." But I dont know how to answer the "WHERE" question.
If however, I take the question as is and put Oct-2010 as the first date of entry, I know where I first came to UK as well. But this will contradict the answer to the same question in the ILR application. Also then, there are the questions for "Details of trips outside the UK". Do I have to list all the trips outside the UK in the last 13 years - i.e. from the date of first entry to the date of application?
How have others answered this question?
First of all thanks for the great help this forum has been over the years through my immigration journey in UK.
I am filling now the Citizenship Application and again in need of some help. Quick intro to my immigration history - I first entered the UK in Oct-2010 to start my PhD on T4 visa, then applied Dec-2014 for T4 DES, then went on to T2 Visa in Oct-2015, and got ILR Jan-2021.
There is this question in the citizenship application - "When did you first arrive in the UK?" I know it looks like a straight forward question, but its making me overthink and here is why.
There was exactly same question in the ILR application form and for this I had put Oct-2015 - when my qualifying period for ILR started. If I follow the same logic - my qualifying period of citizenship would be T2 and ILR - and put Oct-2015 in the citizenship form as well, then I dont know how to answer the next question - i.e. "Where did you first arrive in the UK?" - because I was already in the UK, just relocated to a new city to start my job on T2 visa. Nationality Forms Guide (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... t_2023.pdf) supports this logic too - "Enter the day you first arrived with a view to staying in the UK on a long-term basis, and the airport or seaport through which you then entered." But I dont know how to answer the "WHERE" question.
If however, I take the question as is and put Oct-2010 as the first date of entry, I know where I first came to UK as well. But this will contradict the answer to the same question in the ILR application. Also then, there are the questions for "Details of trips outside the UK". Do I have to list all the trips outside the UK in the last 13 years - i.e. from the date of first entry to the date of application?
How have others answered this question?