Professional Referee - CEO of a foreign company

[ustulation]

Hi all, I was on Tier 2 (General) visa and my spouse was on PBS Dependant (on my visa) visa. I subsequently got ILR and eventually became a naturalised British Citizen a couple of years back. My spouse became eligible for ILR this year, applied for it and got it. She now has a settled status.

I thought she had to wait for a year after she gets ILR to apply for citizenship if she wanted. However I recently came across this on gov.uk which says that:

You do not need to wait 12 months to apply if you’re married to a British citizen.

and the next article linked from there spells out the conditions:

• Above 18 -> yes

• Are married to a British Citizen -> yes (since I am now a British Citizen though at some point in the past I wasn't)

• Have ILR -> yes

• Lived in the UK for at-least last 3 years -> yes, for 5 years in-fact and minimal vacation leaves (totalling less than 60 days)

This makes it seem that we can apply for her citizenship right away if she chooses to do so? Is that correct? Or is this only applicable for those who had married their spouse when the spouse was already a British Citizen (unlike me who became one later, after our marriage)? Is there any other catch I need to be aware of?

[alterhase58]

There are no catches!
This rule has been around for ages .... As long as spouse is British on the day the partner gains ILR partner can apply for naturalisation immediate, if partner satisfies all requirements. So if you picked up your certificate in the morning, partner with ILR can apply during the day, to put it simply.

[meself2]

Yes, she can apply right away.

[ustulation]

Ah cheers all ! What a nice (and accidental) discovery then lol. Had me come here and confirm since I was so surprised. OTOH, what a waste of money! If you can apply on the same day as the ILR receipt why not cut that out and go straight for the citizenship? But anyway, there might be a (good?) reason apart from just making money out of it. It is what it is and I'm not complaining any further

[contorted_svy]

Because ILR is a requisite for citizenship.

[ustulation]

We are applying for British Citizenship for my spouse.

We have many potential British Passport holders (citizens) who qualify as one of the referees (age >=25yrs, known applicant for >= 3 years etc).

For the other referee who needs to be of a "professional standing" (there's a sample list on gov.uk), we know a CEO of a European (Limited) Company, and they live in the UK and are a UK citizen with UK Passport.

Will this do? The list states (among others):

chairman or director of a limited company
manager or personnel officer of a limited company

but doesn't state whether the company needs to be registered in the UK. So will they, as a UK resident + citizen, qualify as a referee if they happen to be a CEO of a company which happens to be in another European Country (Switzerland in this case if it matters)? Their details can all be verified online on the company profile ofc.

[alterhase58]

That's fine - there's no requirement as to where company is registered.

[ustulation]

Brilliant, ta!