ILR to Citizenship

[willsk22]

Hi all, coupla quick Q`s....

Wife has ILR, after 2yrs on spouse visa... I gather its 2yrs + 1 yr on ILR minimum?

If so, misleading on UKBA site, saying can take up to 6 or 7 months to process (but can be less) so is that 2yrs spouse visa + 1 yr ILR + up to 6-7 months for citizenship???? Or can we apply earlier????

Main reason(s) being I am in the British Army and am posted abroad around the same time as the minimum year is up on ILR (July 2009) and it will be difficult to live abroad if we`re still going through the whole process...

Do they keep her passport for the waiting time (`... up to 6-7 months...`???)

Any help or advice mucho appreciated !!!

Will S-K

[Christophe]

Well, at this stage, as the wife of a British citizen she can apply for naturalisation after 3 years' residence in the UK provided that she has ILR on the day on which she applies. (In other words, she doesn't need to have had ILR for a year but she does need to have lived in the UK for 3 years, and so given the time frames that you mention, it probably amounts to the same thing in her case in practice.)

The time between her making the application and the Home Office's decision is just one of those things, I'm afraid. The Home Office doesn't reckon this in the time frame for naturalisation.

I don't believe that there would be an insuperable difficulty if you were not in the UK while the decision is being made. If you could apply while you are in the UK, you could use the NCS (nationality checking service) run by local councils, who will check your application and copy the originals, including your passport, and return them to you. (If you don't use the NCS, you can still send a certified copy of your passport rather than the original.)

There are changes proposed to the naturalisation rules that are likely to take effect towards the end of 2009, so you would probably be well advised to make your application next July if possible.

Others may well have more to add..

[John]

Wife has ILR, after 2yrs on spouse visa

Before the spouse visa, was she in the UK, for example on a fiancée visa? If so, please give details.

If so, misleading on UKBA site, saying can take up to 6 or 7 months to process (but can be less) so is that 2yrs spouse visa + 1 yr ILR + up to 6-7 months for citizenship???? Or can we apply earlier????

Your wife needs to pass the "applicant was physically in the UK exactly three years before UKBA receive the Naturalisation application" test. She cannot apply unless she can pass that test ...... except .....

You are in Crown Service, so was your wife living with you, for example in Married Quarters, while you were serving overseas .... before she got granted the 2-year spouse visa? If so, please give details.

Main reason(s) being I am in the British Army and am posted abroad around the same time as the minimum year is up on ILR (July 2009)

Presuming you are a British Citizen ... do please confirm .... my comment about that is ...."the minimum year" .... what minimum year? Or are you simply doing 3 - 2 = 1 year? The fact is, yes she needs ILR, and yes she needs to pass the "applicant was physically in the UK exactly three years before UKBA receive the Naturalisation application" test mentioned above, but for the spouse of a British Citizen there is no "minimum year" test at all.

Which is why I have asked about previous visas! For example, if she came to the UK on a fiancée visa, and then 5 months later that was converted to the current 2-year spouse visa, on those assumed facts, she could apply for Naturalisation just 7 months after getting the ILR. Or again, if she had been in the UK, say on a student visa etc, for more than one year before getting the spouse visa, she could apply for the Naturalisation immediately after getting the ILR.

Do they keep her passport for the waiting time (`... up to 6-7 months...`?

Suspect that is your main worry! In which case the good news to pass to you is NCS! Make the application at an NCS office and your wife's passport, and your passport, will be photocopied by the NCS office ..... and then handed straight back to you. That is, apart from a couple of minutes, you do have your passports at all times.

NCS? Take a look at this webpage.

[willsk22]

Hi sorry- to clarify

wife was in UK for 2 yrs on spouse visa. That was July... so i know the minimum is 3 yrs (of which she spent 2 yrs on spouse visa and the 3RD year we`re one month into- hence minimum of 1 extra year on top of spouse 2 yrs...)

She has ILR now and we can apply for Naturalisation 4th July next year? which means the application can be in process even when we leave at end of JUly with minimum days out of the UK i know it can be up to 90 days absent- not sure if thats during whole time but doesn`t matter as its nowhere near that, and i guess the application can be underway without having to explain about crown service etc...

Thanks again

Will

[John]

I have now looked back and In an earlier topic you posted :-

visa was issued in Moscow 27 Jul 06 and Aliona came here 01 Aug 06

-: so obviously the answer to the question "we can apply for Naturalisation 4th July next year? " is NO!

The test I highlighted earlier is actually very simple, in terms of the principle involved. Question ... can she apply for Naturalisation on 04.07.09? Answer ... no ... because she was not physically in the country on 04.07.06 ... was she!

Seems to me the earliest she can apply, taking account of the weekend that gets in the way, is Monday, 03.08.09!

[willsk22]

Yes sorry, i thought that the 3rd year req`d (after the 2 yrs spouse visa) started from when we got ILR...

Is there no way we can apply in advance with extenuating circumstances?

as we won`t even be in the country then and stuff like getting our application checked by local NCS centre will be impossible....

i won`t get my hopes up, as actually serving this country doesn`t actually seem to count for anything these days...

if only i was a disabled homosexual off the boat from Afghan or somewhere with an ASBO.... maybe i`d get priority treatment.........................

[John]

if only i was a disabled homosexual off the boat from Afghan or somewhere with an ASBO.... maybe i`d get priority treatment

That is not called for ... and totally untrue. The fact is that as regards the need to be in the UK at the beginning of the qualifying period ... 5 years for most .... but 3 years for those married to, or in Civil Partnership with, a British Citizen .... UKBA has no discretion about the matter.

But you are in Crown Service, and there is your "let out clause". You either need to explain, if applicable, that your wife was living with you outside the UK prior to 01.08.06 because of your overseas Crown Service .... or alternatively she can apply from outside the UK after 01.08.09, again if she is living with you and you are abroad because of Crown Service.

So you see, those serving their country do get special treatment!

[willsk22]

Humour John, i thought us Brits were famous for our dark, sometimes sarcastic sense of it????

No?

Or do people live in this PC bubble because its what they believe or `aught` to believe????

I see things differently as i feel soldiers are treated as second class citizens, if a few of the PC brigade went out to such places, getting shot at bombed and sh*t constantly, they may view it differently..

[Wanderer]

Humour John, i thought us Brits were famous for our dark, sometimes sarcastic sense of it????

No?

Or do people live in this PC bubble because its what they believe or `aught` to believe????

I see things differently as i feel soldiers are treated as second class citizens, if a few of the PC brigade went out to such places, getting shot at bombed and sh*t constantly, they may view it differently..

Watch 'Clerks II'! Despite it being american it's the most un-pc rubbish I've ever seen, except perhaps for 'Freddie Got Fingered'....

[John]

Humour John, i thought us Brits were famous for our dark, sometimes sarcastic sense of it????

No?

Or do people live in this PC bubble because its what they believe or `aught` to believe????

I think you need to appreciate that some of those reading this Board are asylum seekers, or indeed have been asylum seekers. Against that background I make no apologies for being sensitive on this issue.

I see things differently as i feel soldiers are treated as second class citizens,

But not treated as second class citizens by UKBA! As Crown Servants there are beneficial provisions in the citizenship law, which your wife might well be able to take advantage of. So do appreciate that I am trying to help you here, but information needed! :-

You either need to explain, if applicable, that your wife was living with you outside the UK prior to 01.08.06 because of your overseas Crown Service .... or alternatively she can apply from outside the UK after 01.08.09, again if she is living with you and you are abroad because of Crown Service.

[global gypsy]

Humour John, i thought us Brits were famous for our dark, sometimes sarcastic sense of it????

No?

Or do people live in this PC bubble because its what they believe or `aught` to believe????

I think you need to appreciate that some of those reading this Board are asylum seekers, or indeed have been asylum seekers. Against that background I make no apologies for being sensitive on this issue.

Well, one doesn't need to be an asylum seeker to speak out against offensive remarks.

[willsk22]

Moderator edit .... text deleted, as totally off topic.

willsk22, you came here for advice about Naturalisation for your wife. We are very happy to have you here on that basis. Twice you have been asked for information relevant to that, and still no answer.