If citizenship application is denied

[JTR]

Hi

Can anyone advise me what happens if my Citizenship application is denied? is there a time limit before you can apply again? I declared myself bankrupt in 2015 and want to apply for Citizenship. I have lived here for 21 years and have ILR. I know the bankruptcy falls into the good character requirements but there does not seem to be any straightforward answers to this and seems to be a bit discretionary. For me there was no fraud involved, no dishonesty, I was a single parent struggling and just simply couldn't make ends meet once my working tax credits stopped. I tried to pay my debts back and went through formal help with a debt management plan but in the end was advised to declare myself bankrupt. That aside I don't want to wait 10 years to apply for Citizenship. I am fine with trying and the possibility of being rejected but am concerned if I am rejected there will be some sort of ban on applying again for a period of time and I can't seem to find any info on this. Any advice would be appreciated. Many thanks.

[CR001]

Can anyone advise me what happens if my Citizenship application is denied?

Nothing happens. You lose your fee. You only get £80 back, which is the ceremony fee.

is there a time limit before you can apply again?

No.

I declared myself bankrupt in 2015 and want to apply for Citizenship. I have lived here for 21 years and have ILR. I know the bankruptcy falls into the good character requirements but there does not seem to be any straightforward answers to this and seems to be a bit discretionary.
For me there was no fraud involved, no dishonesty, I was a single parent struggling and just simply couldn't make ends meet once my working tax credits stopped. I tried to pay my debts back and went through formal help with a debt management plan but in the end was advised to declare myself bankrupt. That aside I don't want to wait 10 years to apply for Citizenship. I am fine with trying and the possibility of being rejected but am concerned if I am rejected there will be some sort of ban on applying again for a period of time and I can't seem to find any info on this. Any advice would be appreciated. Many thanks.

HO check the insolvency register. You would have been wise to apply for citizenship before you declared yourself bankrupt if you held ILR back then. There is no ban, you simply apply again when you qualify, but you do risk being refused as it is not even 6 years since the bankruptcy.

[JTR]

Great thanks so much for your response, much appreciated. Yes unfortunately I was fully aware of the repercussions of bankruptcy with regards any future citizenship application but sadly didn't have the financial means to apply at the time & felt it was the right choice for the situation I found myself in. What is the relevance of 6 years? I know credit wise it is helpful and yes it drops of your record then but does that make any difference with regards a Citizenship application? I thought it was 10 years.

[Amber]

“ If a person states that they have been declared bankrupt or have been a Director or involved in the management of a company (either wholly or partly) that has gone into liquidation, further enquiries must be made.

On receipt of information, an application can be granted where there is evidence that:

• the bankruptcy order has been annulled
• the person was discharged at least 10 years ago
• the person was declared bankrupt abroad
• the person was involved with a company that was liquidated over 10 years ago.

If the conditions above are not met but there is evidence that the person has been bankrupt or been involved with a company that went into liquidation, you must:

• take account of the scale of the bankruptcy or liquidation
• take account of the economic circumstances at the time of application when
looking at any mitigating circumstances
• make a judgement about how culpable the person was in either becoming bankrupt or their involvement in the company that went into liquidation.

You must consider whether the person was reckless or irresponsible in their financial affairs leading to their bankruptcy or their company’s liquidation. If so, it is likely to be reflected by a disqualification order which prevents a person from being a Director or taking part in the management of a limited company for a period of up to 15 years. Details of all disqualifications are on the Companies House website. Where a person has a disqualification order, an application will normally be refused.
An application will also normally be refused where the person has deliberately relied on a recession to avoid payment of taxes or payment to creditors.

However, where the person was made bankrupt or their company went into liquidation through little or no fault of their own, the application will not normally be refused. For example, they may have simply been a victim of the poor business decisions of others or their business has been severely affected by an economic downturn.”