Page 1 of 1

naturalisation with esol course instead of life in the uk

Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2009 9:11 pm
by andre m
it's a long story and i'd rather not bore you all the details but basically i'm unable to do the life in the uk test because i haven't got any photo id and for the forseeable future i don't think i'll be able to get any.
if i was to do a "ESOL Skills for Life with Citizenship Certificate" course instead do you lot think my application would be denied?
the reason i'm asking is because my native language is english, i've lived here all my life (minus a few months) and i'd say i'm pretty fluent so it might be seen as cheating the system or something like that...

Re: naturalisation with esol course instead of life in the u

Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2009 11:27 pm
by keshgrover
andre m wrote:it's a long story and i'd rather not bore you all the details but basically i'm unable to do the life in the uk test because i haven't got any photo id and for the forseeable future i don't think i'll be able to get any.
if i was to do a "ESOL Skills for Life with Citizenship Certificate" course instead do you lot think my application would be denied?
the reason i'm asking is because my native language is english, i've lived here all my life (minus a few months) and i'd say i'm pretty fluent so it might be seen as cheating the system or something like that...
HO would need your phonto ID to process your application for ILR/Naturalisation. About your course. It is a lengthy course and a crash cross does not count towards your citizenship application. Entirely up to you. If you have enough time then you can study up to level 2 or 3 and submit certification along with your application. BUT I would love to know what happend to your ID? Having no Photo ID sounds bit fishy.......

Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2009 11:38 pm
by andre m
according to the guide i can use a birth cert. or a NI card - both of which i have so i don't think i'll have any problems there.
Nothing happened to my ID because I never got one. i was born in yugoslavia, moved to the uk when i was young on my mother's passport so I never got one of those and i got ILR when my mum did it and all they needed was her photo id. that was back in 2001.

Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2009 11:45 pm
by keshgrover
andre m wrote:according to the guide i can use a birth cert. or a NI card - both of which i have so i don't think i'll have any problems there.
Nothing happened to my ID because I never got one. i was born in yugoslavia, moved to the uk when i was young on my mother's passport so I never got one of those and i got ILR when my mum did it and all they needed was her photo id. that was back in 2001.
Ah got you. Sorry for being harsh earlier. You can do life in UK. That is very easy just needs a couple of days good reading of the life in UK book chapter 2 to 6.

Good Luck.

Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2009 11:50 pm
by andre m
keshgrover wrote:
andre m wrote:according to the guide i can use a birth cert. or a NI card - both of which i have so i don't think i'll have any problems there.
Nothing happened to my ID because I never got one. i was born in yugoslavia, moved to the uk when i was young on my mother's passport so I never got one of those and i got ILR when my mum did it and all they needed was her photo id. that was back in 2001.
Ah got you. Sorry for being harsh earlier. You can do life in UK. That is very easy just needs a couple of days good reading of the life in UK book chapter 2 to 6.

Good Luck.
i'm sure i can do it but they won't let me :( when you take the test, they want you to bring photo id to prove who you are, probably so people don't pay other people to take the test for them

Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2009 11:52 pm
by keshgrover
andre m wrote:
keshgrover wrote:
andre m wrote:according to the guide i can use a birth cert. or a NI card - both of which i have so i don't think i'll have any problems there.
Nothing happened to my ID because I never got one. i was born in yugoslavia, moved to the uk when i was young on my mother's passport so I never got one of those and i got ILR when my mum did it and all they needed was her photo id. that was back in 2001.
Ah got you. Sorry for being harsh earlier. You can do life in UK. That is very easy just needs a couple of days good reading of the life in UK book chapter 2 to 6.

Good Luck.
i'm sure i can do it but they won't let me :( when you take the test, they want you to bring photo id to prove who you are, probably so people don't pay other people to take the test for them
Check on Life in UK website. There must be a way out of alternative documentation.

Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2009 12:03 am
by andre m
oh i have,
Yes, you need to bring photographic ID with you to your test centre to present to the test supervisor. You must bring one of the following forms of ID (please note photos on all documents must be a true likeness of you for them to be accepted):
a passport (from your country of origin) - this document may be out of date
a UK photocard driving licence, full or provisional - this document must be in date
one of the following Home Office travel documents: a Convention Travel Document (CTD), a Certificate of Identity Document (CID) or a Stateless Person Document (SPD) - this document must be in date
an Immigration Status Document, endorsed with a UK Residence Permit and bearing a photo of the holder - this document may be out of date
Home Office Identity Card - ID Card will show the holder's status and entitlements (e.g. Employment Prohibited)
http://www.lifeintheuktest.gov.uk/htmls ... ng_10.html

i do think the esol course is the easiest option now but i'm just concerned they'll just look at my application and say "this guy's fluent in english, why didn't he just take the LITUK test? how fishy!" and then it'll get rejected and i'll lose £700 (it'll probably be increased to £1000 by the time I finish the course :roll: )

Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 12:38 pm
by mrlookforward
I am sure you must have tried to get a passport from your country of birth, but could get one.

One idea about getting a photo id would be to apply for a home office travel document.

Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 1:51 pm
by Casa
I think we may be missing something here! How are the Home Office going to know what level of English you have? Join an ESOL course at level 2..complete this and when the college confirms you are ready for level 3, you have complied with the regulations. Make sure the ESOL course has Citizens content though. Not all do. Try your local Adult Education classes.

Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 1:58 pm
by andre m
mrlookforward wrote:I am sure you must have tried to get a passport from your country of birth, but could get one.

One idea about getting a photo id would be to apply for a home office travel document.
i can't get one because the home office says they'll only give those out if i can prove that i've been denied a passport unreasonably by my native country. lack of identity is a reasonable reason for that so no travel doc for me!
Casa wrote:I think we may be missing something here! How are the Home Office going to know what level of English you have? Join an ESOL course at level 2..complete this and when the college confirms you are ready for level 3, you have complied with the regulations. Make sure the ESOL course has Citizens content though. Not all do. Try your local Adult Education classes.
probably just paranoia but i was just worried they'd see i've lived here all my life, do some digging and find out about my english gcse. i've found a esol course (with citizenship! :) ) and i'll be applying for that. i'll report back to this very thread whether my scheme fails or not.

thanks for the advice, everyone

Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 2:02 pm
by Casa
I'm sure you'll be fine.