British Citizenship "When did you first arrive in the UK?"

[mexicanboy]

Right know I am ready to submit my application for my citizenship however I have doubt about one question.

This is the background, from 01 of September 2006 to 28 of February 2012 I lived in UK as student with General student visa. I returned to UK on 01 of July 2013 with a general Tier 2 Visa, since then I have been living here, I got my ILR based on my arrival on 01/Jul/2013

In the citizenship application, there is a question

"When did you first arrive in the UK?"
My question is what date should I use, the date I arrived as Student on 01/Sep/2006 or when i returned to UK with a Tier 2 (01/Jul/2013). In the Nationality Forms guide (April 2019) it says “Enter the day you first arrived with a view to staying in the UK on a long-term basis, and the airport or seaport through which you then entered.”

It is confusing because in the ILR application the question is more straightforward
6.1 When did you (the main applicant) first enter the UK? This refers to the date of your first entry into the UK at the beginning of the period of stay on which this application is based.

For the ILR application I used 01/Jul/2013.

I have called three times to the UKBA Citizenship and nationality inquiries, and each time I got a diferent answer from them .

I will appreciate your help

Thanks,

[secret.simon]

My question is what date should I use

This one.

the date I arrived as Student on 01/Sep/2006

While your ILR application only looked at whether you met the requirements for the particular path to ILR that you applied for, the naturalisation application looks at all your stay in the UK prior to naturalisation.

[BigMo]

@secret.simon I wou;d've thought it's the date an individual arrived in the UK with the intention to settle here (i.e. the date of the start of ILR period). This is based on the HO guidance with regards to the nationality forms (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... Guide_.pdf), see p.10. I applied recently (admittedly awaiting decision) and went through the same thought process, and had to do a bit of digging (including looking at other similar posts on the forum).

Any thoughts?

[mexicanboy]

Thank you BigMo and secret.simon for your reply.

I am afraid of messing up my application for not using the right date. At first, I was thinking about using the date when returned to UK with a tier 2, following the same criteria used for getting the IILR. But now I am not so sure.

Cheers

[CR001]

Please do not post duplicate questions/posts in other topics on the forum when you already have your own topic where you have been given advice already.

[aman90]

Same circumstances.
I used my entry on Tier1 as arrival date.
IF we applicants are confused with a question than HO is at fault here. Therefore I presume an incorrect answer would have no impact.
They usually have all our past info on and do verify whatever we state.

[mexicanboy]

I apologize CR001 for duplicating my post.

Thanks

[mexicanboy]

My question is what date should I use

This one.

the date I arrived as Student on 01/Sep/2006

While your ILR application only looked at whether you met the requirements for the particular path to ILR that you applied for, the naturalisation application looks at all your stay in the UK prior to naturalisation.

I am still a bit confused as the guide (April 2019) says
“Enter the day you first arrived with a view to staying in the UK on a long-term basis, and the airport or seaport through which you then entered.”

I don't know if having been a student meets that criteria.

Thanks

[Plotoder]

Don’t think being a student meets the criteria and could possibly be seen negatively. I personally wouldn’t risk it but will let the mods answer from a position of more experience.

[CR001]

Don’t think being a student meets the criteria and could possibly be seen negatively. I personally wouldn’t risk it but will let the mods answer from a position of more experience.

What nonsense!! Why would being legally in the UK as a student be viewed negatively or not meet the requirements for citizenship???

[mexicanboy]

Don’t think being a student meets the criteria and could possibly be seen negatively. I personally wouldn’t risk it but will let the mods answer from a position of more experience.

Thank you for your reply.

Just to clarify, I studied here in UK from 2006 to 2012, after finishing my degree I returned to my country for a year. In 2013 I was offered a job and returned to UK with a Tier 2 vIsa. Last year I got my ILR.

Thanks

[CR001]

It makes no difference what date you put in all honesty!!

You do have to list ALL visas you have held as well.

[Plotoder]

Don’t think being a student meets the criteria and could possibly be seen negatively. I personally wouldn’t risk it but will let the mods answer from a position of more experience.

What nonsense!! Why would being legally in the UK as a student be viewed negatively or not meet the requirements for citizenship???

Because when you arrive as a student, you don’t arrive with an intention to settle, do you?

You have more experience so, whatever you say holds more weight.

[mexicanboy]

[quote=CR001 post_id=<a href="tel:1821223">1821223</a> time=<a href="tel:1567524364">1567524364</a> user_id=70994]
[quote=Plotoder post_id=<a href="tel:1821220">1821220</a> time=<a href="tel:1567524230">1567524230</a> user_id=183633]
Don’t think being a student meets the criteria and could possibly be seen negatively. I personally wouldn’t risk it but will let the mods answer from a position of more experience.

What nonsense!! Why would being legally in the UK as a student be viewed negatively or not meet the requirements for citizenship???
[/quote]

Because when you arrive as a student, you don’t arrive with an intention to settle, do you?

You have more experience so, whatever you say holds more weight.
[/quote]

That's right Plotoder, I didn't arrive with an intention to settle.

Thanks