Bangladesh Citizen with ILR - Help with documentation needed for online British citizenship by naturalisation

[BDukhopeful]

Hello all,

I was filling out the online naturalisation application process and I was wondering if you could provide some answers regarding the following questions I have.

1. Under the employment section, I responded with "Unemployed". It asked me no further questions regarding previous employments in the past 5 years. I have proceeded filling in all the answers and I believe I am at the final page of questions, however I still see nothing here that would indicate the application form is asking for my past employment details or even when the unemployment period started. Is this correct that no employment information is necessary?

2. My Bangladeshi passport has been expired since 2020. The stamps on my passport should clearly indicate I have been living in the UK all of the past 5 years. There is a gap from the expiry date until a few months ago when I applied for Universal Credit. With an expired Bangladeshi passport I clearly could not travel out of the UK after 2020. Will the expired passport and recent Universal Credit application letter be sufficient evidence to show proof of living for me?

3. I still only have the expired passport which ran upto 2020. Do I need a new active passport for the application?

Thank you all in advance for your time.

[BDukhopeful]

Additional info:

In the documents page in the online portal, the checklist is as follows:


1. The expired passport issued by Bangladesh for Mr BDukhopeful


2. The degree certificate for Mr BDukhopeful to prove the level of English language required


3. Current Biometric Residence Permit for Mr BDukhopeful


4. Proof of living in the UK for Mr BDukhopeful for 5 years if applying in your own right or 3 years if applying as the spouse of a British Citizen
If you are married to, or in a civil partnership with, a British citizen, you must have been in the UK for the past 3 years.

If you are not married, or in a civil partnership with, a British citizen, you must have been in the UK for the past 5 years.

If you are an EEA National, you need to include letters from employers, educational establishments or other government departments, indicating your presence in the UK during the relevant 3- or 5-year period.

If you are a Non-EEA National, you need to include your passport to prove you have lived in the UK for the relevant 3- or 5-year period.

If you do not have your passport or it was not stamped when you entered the UK, you need to include letters (for example, from your employer or government department) as proof.

Bank statements or household bills are not suitable proof you have been living in the UK.


5. Two referee declarations for Mr BDukhopeful


Will I be able to apply for naturalisation with essentially just my expired passport, BRP card, University certificate and referees? I had assumed I would need P60 or past employer's letters but this information seems to suggest I do not.

[Ticktack]

Additional info:

In the documents page in the online portal, the checklist is as follows:


1. The expired passport issued by Bangladesh for Mr BDukhopeful


2. The degree certificate for Mr BDukhopeful to prove the level of English language required


3. Current Biometric Residence Permit for Mr BDukhopeful


4. Proof of living in the UK for Mr BDukhopeful for 5 years if applying in your own right or 3 years if applying as the spouse of a British Citizen
If you are married to, or in a civil partnership with, a British citizen, you must have been in the UK for the past 3 years.

If you are not married, or in a civil partnership with, a British citizen, you must have been in the UK for the past 5 years.

If you are an EEA National, you need to include letters from employers, educational establishments or other government departments, indicating your presence in the UK during the relevant 3- or 5-year period.

If you are a Non-EEA National, you need to include your passport to prove you have lived in the UK for the relevant 3- or 5-year period.

If you do not have your passport or it was not stamped when you entered the UK, you need to include letters (for example, from your employer or government department) as proof.

Bank statements or household bills are not suitable proof you have been living in the UK.


5. Two referee declarations for Mr BDukhopeful


Will I be able to apply for naturalisation with essentially just my expired passport, BRP card, University certificate and referees? I had assumed I would need P60 or past employer's letters but this information seems to suggest I do not.

Yep, that's all you need. Employment isn't a requirement for British Citizenship.

[BDukhopeful]

Thank you! I had one further question regarding the referee requirement. Is there a need to complete the paper form for the referee declaration for it to be scanned and uploaded to the online application? The referee details page in the online application did not ask for a photo of the referee to be uploaded, but it did ask for their UK passport number.

[Ticktack]

Thank you! I had one further question regarding the referee requirement. Is there a need to complete the paper form for the referee declaration for it to be scanned and uploaded to the online application? The referee details page in the online application did not ask for a photo of the referee to be uploaded, but it did ask for their UK passport number.

Yep, you would print it out. It would be signed by the referee, and you scan and upload it on the portal.

The passport photo in question is yours and not that of your referee!

[BDukhopeful]

Oh thank you for pointing that out! I clearly wasn't thinking haha.

If you wouldn't mind checking one more thing for me: is this the correct document?
https://visas-immigration.service.gov.u ... on_MN1.pdf

I tried searching for "referee declaration" on the Gov website but could not find anything. This link above was sourced from Google.

[alterhase58]

This is the only referee form needed.