Applying Alone for British Citizenship

[jilpangs]

Hi,

Me, my wife & daughter all three of us got the PR on 28-Feb-2014. Now that we are eligible for applying citizenship we are planning to apply only for me first and obtain British Passport.

Question 1: Is there any process complications i should be aware in applying alone without Wife & Kid? OR it doesnt matter as they are PR holders and have no dependency with my application?

Question 2: Say if my Citizenship application is approved. Do i have an option of delaying Ceremony for future date? Say after 1 year or so? Do i become British citizen just based on application approval or not until i attend ceremony?

Jil

[ohara]

As you all have PR your wife and kid(s) do not have dependency on you and there is no benefit of submitting your AN applications at different times. You should be aware that the processing times vary wildly and you could be waiting for 6 months (or more). The fee is also increasing in April to £1236. If your daughter is under 18, she can be registered instead of naturalised, which is a considerably cheaper and simpler process.

Once the application is approved you must book your ceremony within 28 days. The ceremony can be up to 90 days in the future. You are not a British citizen until you have attended the ceremony.

Good luck

[CR001]

By PR, do you meant that you/family are EU or do you actually mean you all have ILR under the UK immigration rules?

1. Each applicant has to meet the requirements for citizenship individually. There is not benefit for 'family' applications anymore as ohara has said,

2. You have 21 days from date of approval letter to phone and book your ceremony. You HAVE to attend the ceremony with 90 days from date of approval. If you do not, your certificate will be sent back and you will have to start and apply again, paying the fee again. You are only British AFTER attending the ceremony and taking the oath.

Also please bear in mind that there is a new requirement that you have to return you ILR BRP card (if it is ILR you have) within 5 days of attending the ceremony or face a fine of £1000.

[jilpangs]

Great. Thanks.

Yes my daughter is 6 year old. Can you please guide me with any URLs to know more about "She can be registered instead of naturalised" ? Where to register ? what is this mean really etc. Will she get a passport directly?

Yes, ILR.

6 months or more waiting time? What happens if i need to travel outside UK during this time (i would also need my passport to travel). Any options ?

[ohara]

Children under 18 can be registered as British citizens, once over 18 they can only naturalise. The difference is that under 18's do not need to meet language requirements or pass Life in the UK test. They should still be of good character. I believe the application is £745 and it is done on Form MN1: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... _06_15.pdf

Yes the processing time for citizenship applications can be over 6 months. As said the times vary wildly, some are approved within 5 weeks and some take over a year. Once your application has been received, you can request your passports back from the Home Office (you should wait at least 10 working days after they receive the application before you ask for your documents back): https://www.gov.uk/visa-documents-returned or you can use NCS and keep your passports / BRP.

You cannot get a British passport until you are a British citizen.

[CR001]

No, she cannot get a passport directly as she is not British.

Adults are naturalised.

Children under 18 are registered.

You apply on form MN1 for the child either with you/other parent or after your approval. She will be registered as British under section 3(1) of the nationality act (assuming she was born abroad). You can apply by post (have to submit all original docs) or you can apply using the Nationality Checking Service (NCS) at the council (for any citizenship application - adults and/or children). They charge a small fee per person for this service and check your forms and photocopy your documents and return the originals to you.

Once you have the registration certificate, only then can you apply for a passport for her.

See Children FAQs Citizenship (click)

If you possibly need to travel, I would suggest using NCS to submit your applications so you can keep your original documents (passports and BRP cards)

[secret.simon]

See here for information on registration of children.

Where was your daughter born?

She will lose Indian citizenship when she is registered as a British citizen.

[jilpangs]

Thanks.

My daughter was born in India.

So if i register my daughter , she becomes British Citizen? and with the register certificate i can apply for British passport?

Once she gets british passport she becomes complete british citizen, and still naturalization is required once she turns 18 years? a) why it is required ? is there are any restriction if she dont naturalize? b) again for naturalization there will be a fee? nominal?

[ohara]

Once she is registered, she is a British citizen. You can use the registration certificate to apply for her passport. Nothing else is required, she is a British citizen as soon as they accept the MN1 application. No need to do anything else, ever.

The fee for registration is £749 but one parent must be naturalised before you apply for the registration.

[CR001]

Once she gets british passport she becomes complete british citizen, and still naturalization is required once she turns 18 years? a) why it is required ? is there are any restriction if she dont naturalize? b) again for naturalization there will be a fee? nominal?

Once she is registered she is British, nothing more needs to be done. Why do you think she then needs to be naturalised as British when she turns 18?

Registrations (children) and naturalisation (adults) is basically the same thing. The only difference between the two is that children do not need LIUK or English Language test and children DO NOT attend a ceremony. The certificate of registration will arrive in the post.

[noajthan]

Once she gets british passport she becomes complete british citizen, and still naturalization is required once she turns 18 years? a) why it is required ? is there are any restriction if she dont naturalize? b) again for naturalization there will be a fee? nominal?

You have read the other members' advice too literally.

Just because a child under 18 registers and adults have to naturalise does NOT mean a minor has to naturalise once they turn 18.
Once someone has become British (even by registration) they do not lose their citizenship (and so do not need to reapply) simply by coming of age.

[noajthan]

To avoid confusion I have moved member easy's question to here:
british-citizenship/timing-for-parents- ... 02265.html

[jilpangs]

Thanks all.

That gives me the clarity i wanted. Cheers.

[jilpangs]

Sorry one more question ....

My daughter is in India right now and will be there for next 1 year. Meanwhile if i get my application approved and ceremony completed, can i apply Registration for my daughter while she is in India?

[CR001]

How long has she been away and how long will her absence be in total?

Do you realise that they can lose their ILR status if out of the UK for 2 years or more.

If she was born abroad, some residence is ideally required.

[noajthan]

Sorry one more question ....

My daughter is in India right now and will be there for next 1 year. Meanwhile if i get my application approved and ceremony completed, can i apply Registration for my daughter while she is in India?

You can apply from India (on behalf of daughter) but you may well be refused.

Ref HO guidance on this vital question:

Future intentions
9.17.2 The most important criterion is that the child's future should clearly be seen to lie in the UK. A reliable indicator should be the applicant's and/or the family's past behaviour. If that suggests an established way of life in the UK, and we have no reason to think that this will not continue, we should accept at face value that the child intends to live here

9.17.3 If there is any information to make us doubt that the child's future lies here, for example:

• the child, or one or both parents, has recently left the country for a period of more than six months
  the child is about to leave the United Kingdom
  one or both parents is resident abroad

we should write to clear up the point.

If our doubts are serious, and we are still not satisfied this criterion is met, the application should be refused.

Children abroad
9.17.5
Few applications for the registration of a minor resident abroad are likely to succeed unless the minor falls into one of the categories in 9.6-9.12 or 9.16 above

[jilpangs]

Thanks.

My daughter is in India since Dec 2015 and will return to UK
In Aug 2016(less than a year). Yes I'm aware of the 2 year period.

Then better I will apply after she is back in UK and spent atleast 6 months in UK and not before that. Hope that helps.

[noajthan]

Thanks.

My daughter is in India since Dec 2015 and will return to UK
In Aug 2016(less than a year). Yes I'm aware of the 2 year period.

Then better I will apply after she is back in UK and spent atleast 6 months in UK and not before that. Hope that helps.

That should help make the application straightforward & relatively painless.

[jilpangs]

Many thanks.