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Please Advise
Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 11:02 am
by k820
My friend married a British Citizen in 2006 and received a spousal visa. After 2 years he qualified for ILR.
His visa was expired in Jun 2008 but due to family issues he applied for ILR in Feb 2009 and got ILR in April 2009.
He can apply for my Naturalisation - Citizenship so a total of 3 years.
My question is that is he can apply for Citizenship now?
Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 11:54 am
by Casa
Was he without any form of visa between June 2008 and April 2009?
Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 1:50 pm
by k820
yes, his visa expired in Jun2008 and he applied in Feb 2009 for ILR which was granted in April 2009
Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 2:03 pm
by Casa
He must have 3 years legal residence in the UK before applying for BC...so you may find that the time spent without a visa will be deducted.
Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 2:11 pm
by John
I don't think it is a question of deducting those months. That is, it is necessary for the applicant, married to (or in Civil Partnership with) a British Citizen, to have been "legal" throughout the 3-year qualifying period, when in the UK.
So on the facts as described it looks like he will not be able to apply for Naturalisation until April 2012, and even that is subject to legislation in force at the time.
But a query. Did he happen to apply for further leave to remain, using form FLR(M), before the expiry of his 2-year spouse visa. If yes, that would make all the difference.
Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 3:20 pm
by Casa
Thanks John. I erred on the side of caution, but also queried whether they were 'without' a visa during this time. If so, unusual (or incredibly fortunate) that ILR was granted so long after expiry of the spouse visa.
Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 5:35 pm
by k820
thanks for our replies guys, yes he was in uk and as i mentioned due to family issues he was not able to apply for ILR, but he explained the family issue in cover letter and he got the ILR,
so my understanding is that , he will be not be able to get ILR in APril 2010 while his lawyer said to him he can apply for ILR on april 2010.
Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 8:02 pm
by John
he will be not be able to get ILR in APril 2010 while his lawyer said to him he can apply for ILR on april 2010.
Confusing. He already has his ILR? Do you mean Naturalisation?
Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 4:55 pm
by k820
sorry john,
yes for british citizenship not ILR as he already got ILR