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Hi,

I am a british citizen. My wife would like to apply for British citizenship in November. We have only lived for 3 years in the UK (previously in Germany) and have only set up a Limited Company last December. Our company has not yet generated sufficient earnings to pay salaries or NI.
Is the fact that neither myself nor my wife have paid any tax or NI going to affect the application? We can show that we have sufficient funds to last for another year at least. Any help would be most appreciated. Thanks.

Firstly, what is your wife's UK immigration status? Does she have ILR or ILE?

As regards your question, for a Naturalisation application, you are in danger of inventing a requirement that does not exist. That is, there is no requirement for the applicant ever to have paid any tax or NI. It is perfectly acceptable for the applicant, for example, to be a housewife (or househusband) since arriving in the UK.

John wrote:Firstly, what is your wife's UK immigration status? Does she have ILR or ILE?

As regards your question, for a Naturalisation application, you are in danger of inventing a requirement that does not exist. That is, there is no requirement for the applicant ever to have paid any tax or NI. It is perfectly acceptable for the applicant, for example, to be a housewife (or househusband) since arriving in the UK.

Hi John.

Thanks for the reply. My wife has ILR, Life in UK Test.
I found this on the UK Border Agency website under "Good character requirement" :

We will check that you pay income tax and National Insurance contributions. We may ask HM Revenue & Customs for confirmation of this. If you do not pay income tax through Pay As You Earn (PAYE) you should send a Self Assessment Statement of Account with your application.


Are they just checking if any money is owed to the inland revenue or are they placing an importance on the familiy having a solid income and paying tax,NI ?

Thanks

1. Are they just checking if any money is owed to the inland revenue or
2. are they placing an importance on the familiy having a solid income and paying tax,NI ?

I have slightly edited your quote. The answer is (a), they just want to make sure that any liability has been paid. It is not a problem if the liability is £0.