5-Year Residency Requirement for UK Naturalisation

[Rofmr]

Hi, I have a question regarding the 5-year residency requirement for UK naturalisation. I’ve been in the UK since December 2019:

Dec 2019 to May 2020: Tourist visa

May 2020 to Aug 2020: Visa extension due to COVID

Sept 2020 to Apr 2024: Global Talent Visa (applied for and granted while in the UK)

April 2024: ILR

Given this timeline, should I apply for naturalisation in April 2025 or September 2025? Thanks!

[contorted_svy]

How you got ILR is not important, all that matters is that your stay was lawful for the whole time and that you lived in the UK for 5 years. You may want to elaborate on the fact you arrived on a tourist visa and how your extensions were granted due to COVID rules at the time. You can apply in April 2025.

[Rofmr]

How you got ILR is not important, all that matters is that your stay was lawful for the whole time and that you lived in the UK for 5 years. You may want to elaborate on the fact you arrived on a tourist visa and how your extensions were granted due to COVID rules at the time. You can apply in April 2025.

Thanks for your reply! I was a bit confused because I thought my 5-year residency started from when I got my Global Talent Visa in September 2020. I appreciate the clarification that my entire lawful stay counts.

Would you recommend including a cover letter to explain my initial stay on a tourist visa and the COVID-related extensions, or is it unnecessary as long as all my documents are in order?

[contorted_svy]

As your circumstances were slightly different due to the pandemic I would spend the time on a cover letter.

[Rofmr]

As your circumstances were slightly different due to the pandemic I would spend the time on a cover letter.

Thank you for your response! I’m currently drafting a cover letter and wanted to confirm my understanding of the July 2024 guidance. According to page 9 of the Forms Guide, lawful residence from the date of first arrival with a view to staying in the UK long-term is required:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... pdf#page=9

While I originally entered as a visitor, the Home Office's exceptional pandemic-related policies effectively allowed me to remain lawfully and continuously, with the intention to settle long-term. I'm hoping this will be considered in line with the guidance.

[contorted_svy]

This circumstance is slightly unusual and I don't recall seeing any cases like yours if I am honest. To avoid headaches you could apply in September. As you arrived here on a visitor visa I don't know how you would argue that your intention was to settle. So your stay was lawful but you didn't arrive with an intention to settle (because you were only granted a visitor visa). This point in the guidance about "intention to settle" is a detail I hadn't picked up on.

[Rofmr]

This circumstance is slightly unusual and I don't recall seeing any cases like yours if I am honest. To avoid headaches you could apply in September. As you arrived here on a visitor visa I don't know how you would argue that your intention was to settle. So your stay was lawful but you didn't arrive with an intention to settle (because you were only granted a visitor visa). This point in the guidance about "intention to settle" is a detail I hadn't picked up on.

You're right it is a bit unusual, and the safest option would be September. However, the exceptional circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic did provide flexibility for people on visitor visas to apply for leave to remain, with a potential pathway to settlement. Regarding the intention to settle, I understand that visitor visas don’t typically imply an intention to stay long-term. But the circumstances were different due to COVID, which created an exceptional situation.

[contorted_svy]

I am not disagreeing with your reading and I am sure other people will find themselves in a similar situation. I am only suggesting given the wording of the guidance that the safer option is to postpone applying to Septmeber, only a few months away.

[Ticktack]

It's a lot of money to gamble on technicalities. We can only advise as already said by @contorted_svy. OP is free to do what they feel best.

We all just might learn something from this anomaly.

[Rofmr]

I absolutely understand and appreciate the caution raised by @contorted_svy and @Ticktack it’s a lot of money!

As your circumstances were slightly different due to the pandemic I would spend the time on a cover letter.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... pdf#page=9 Apologies for the confusion here — I mistakenly linked to the wrong guidance. The one I shared was intended for applicants in the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, British Overseas Territories, or applying from outside the UK by post, so it doesn't apply to applications made from within the UK.

I spent quite a bit of time carefully reviewing the correct guidance for applicants in the UK, here’s what I found and understood:

From the official Home Office policy guidance “Naturalisation as a British citizen by discretion” (updated February 2024) here on page 13:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... retion.pdf

the requirement is that you must have been physically present in the UK exactly 5 years before the date of your application. It does not specify that you must have held a particular visa type at that time, the key point is lawful physical presence.

From the current Guide AN (May 2025 version) here page 14:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... 5+_V2_.pdf

“You should have been in the UK lawfully during the 5 years (or 3 years, if applying as the spouse or civil partner of a British citizen), before making your application.”

So as long as my stay was lawful for the full qualifying period, the type of visa should not automatically disqualify me.

Apologies for the earlier mix-up. I’d really love to hear your thoughts on this updated interpretation, especially in light of the correct guidance.

[contorted_svy]

I agree in principle with your reading, the issue is the definition of "lawful" - a visitor visa may not count in their eyes as "lawful residence" for naturalisation. I would recommend you just hold off until September. It's only a few more months to wait, not worth the headache in my view.

[Rofmr]

I agree in principle with your reading, the issue is the definition of "lawful" - a visitor visa may not count in their eyes as "lawful residence" for naturalisation. I would recommend you just hold off until September. It's only a few more months to wait, not worth the headache in my view.

Thanks for your reply! I agree - it’s not worth the headache, and waiting 3 more months until September is no big deal. That was actually my plan, but with the white paper proposal and potential policy changes, I started revisiting the guidance to see if applying earlier might be possible.

[contorted_svy]

Those changes are likely to affect the ILR process rather than citizenship and they are not even law yet. In any case they wouldn't revoke existing grants of ILR.