Question on prove your knowledge of English?

[nuaaxiayu]

Dear Forum,

When filling my UK citizenship application, the online AN form asks me the following question:

"Do you have a previous visa, entry clearance or leave to remain where you had to prove your knowledge of English?"

I am currently holding my ILR, but when I applied for my ILR some time ago, I was not asked to provide any English language proof.

My previous visa is Tier-2 (General) work visa, and when I applied for this Tier-2 visa, I provided my UK degree as my English language proof.

Therefore, should I answer "yes" to the above AN form question? If so, then the follow-up question in the AN from says:

"Tell us the previous visa, entry clearance or leave to remain you had"

Should I answer: "Tier 2 (General) work visa, with BRP number xxx", or something else which is more appropriate?

Thank you.

[contorted_svy]

Dear Forum,

When filling my UK citizenship application, the online AN form asks me the following question:

"Do you have a previous visa, entry clearance or leave to remain where you had to prove your knowledge of English?"

I am currently holding my ILR, but when I applied for my ILR some time ago, I was not asked to provide any English language proof.

My previous visa is Tier-2 (General) work visa, and when I applied for this Tier-2 visa, I provided my UK degree as my English language proof.

Therefore, should I answer "yes" to the above AN form question? If so, then the follow-up question in the AN from says:

"Tell us the previous visa, entry clearance or leave to remain you had"

Should I answer: "Tier 2 (General) work visa, with BRP number xxx", or something else which is more appropriate?

Thank you.

Provide your degree again. Answer "Yes" to the first question. Second question seems ok to me, you can always elaborate in a cover note. You will need to provide proof of your ILR and as much detail as you can recollect from previous visa/leave to remain applications.

[nuaaxiayu]

Dear Contorted_svy,

Thank you for your prompt reply, much appreciated!

Another question in the AN form asks for my previous driving offences, as follows:

"You must tell us about fixed penalty notices (e.g. a speeding or parking ticket) if you've received three or more. If you received a fixed penalty notice but didn't pay the fine and there was a criminal proceeding resulting in a conviction, tell us here."

I did have a few car parking fines, including those issued by local councils and called "Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs)", or issued by private companies and called "Parking Fines/Charges". Are these parking charges classified as Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs)? Someone told me PCNs are technically also FPNs, but I am not sure.

If my above parking fines are not considered as FPNs, should I disclose them in my AN form? I did not disclose the above parking PCNs or fines in my past ILR application, as at that time my solicitor told me that it was not necessary.

Thanks again.

[contorted_svy]

ILR and citizenship are separate processes with different rules/requirements.

PCNs, if paid timely and not a high volume, do not need to be declared (unless you got taken to court for failing to pay). A FPN would be issued by police and sometimes implies losing license points. Those issued by private companies or local councils for eg failing to display a parking ticket don't fall under FPNs; you could get a FPN for parking in a way that obstructs the road for example. Check back on your records to be more confident on what you have received as FPNs do need to be declared.

[nuaaxiayu]

ILR and citizenship are separate processes with different rules/requirements.

PCNs, if paid timely and not a high volume, do not need to be declared (unless you got taken to court for failing to pay). A FPN would be issued by police and sometimes implies losing license points. Those issued by private companies or local councils for eg failing to display a parking ticket don't fall under FPNs; you could get a FPN for parking in a way that obstructs the road for example. Check back on your records to be more confident on what you have received as FPNs do need to be declared.

Dear Contorted_svy,

Thanks a lot again for your kind explanation, I am much clear now.

I have also digged into my records, and as far as I could find, I had the following parking fines:

(1) one Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) from a local council in 2019, for parking my car without a permit on a resident street. I paid the fine in time.

(2) a Parking Charge Notice issued by a car park company on behalf of a supermarket, in 2020. The reason is that I did not pay the parking charge correctly. I paid this fine in time.

(3) a Parking Charge Notice issued by UKPN for parking without a permit at a college campus, in 2023. I appealed this one as I did have a permit to park, and UKPN eventually accepted my appeal and cancelled this charge notice.

I might have other older parking fines/charges, but I could not relocate them or recall their details. None of my parking fines were Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs).

In this case, do you think I would need to declare any of the above parking fines/PCNs/charges in my AN form? I do not want to hide anything from HO, but do not want to complicate things either.

As I did not declare any of the above parking fines during my past ILR application, as advised by my solicitor, I am a bit worried that if I now declare these parking fines in my naturalization application, there would be some inconsistency between my ILR and Citizenship applications.

Hope you could help me on this matter.

Thank you very much again.

[contorted_svy]

ILR and citizenship are separate processes with different rules/requirements.

PCNs, if paid timely and not a high volume, do not need to be declared (unless you got taken to court for failing to pay). A FPN would be issued by police and sometimes implies losing license points. Those issued by private companies or local councils for eg failing to display a parking ticket don't fall under FPNs; you could get a FPN for parking in a way that obstructs the road for example. Check back on your records to be more confident on what you have received as FPNs do need to be declared.

Dear Contorted_svy,

Thanks a lot again for your kind explanation, I am much clear now.

I have also digged into my records, and as far as I could find, I had the following parking fines:

(1) one Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) from a local council in 2019, for parking my car without a permit on a resident street. I paid the fine in time.

(2) a Parking Charge Notice issued by a car park company on behalf of a supermarket, in 2020. The reason is that I did not pay the parking charge correctly. I paid this fine in time.

(3) a Parking Charge Notice issued by UKPN for parking without a permit at a college campus, in 2023. I appealed this one as I did have a permit to park, and UKPN eventually accepted my appeal and cancelled this charge notice.

I might have other older parking fines/charges, but I could not relocate them or recall their details. None of my parking fines were Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs).

In this case, do you think I would need to declare any of the above parking fines/PCNs/charges in my AN form? I do not want to hide anything from HO, but do not want to complicate things either. No need to declare anything, you're fine.

As I did not declare any of the above parking fines during my past ILR application, as advised by my solicitor, I am a bit worried that if I now declare these parking fines in my naturalization application, there would be some inconsistency between my ILR and Citizenship applications. No issue. It wouldn't count as absconding anyway. ILR and citizenship are separate processes under different pieces of law entirely.

Hope you could help me on this matter.

Thank you very much again.

[nuaaxiayu]

Dear Contorted_Svy,

Thank you very much again, and sorry for my late reply.

I also have another question regarding my employment. I work at a primary school as a teacher, but my employer shown on my payslips and P60s is actually our local council, which funds our primary school. So in order to answer the question in my AN form related to my employment, should I provide my primary school's name and address, or the local council's name and address? The PAYE reference number on my P60 is linked to the council.

Thank you very much.

[alterhase58]

Your employer is the one you have a contract of employment with. I don't think UKVI will be bothered about where your salary comes from. Also, they can use your NI number to look at your HMRC record. BTW, employment is not a requirement so your arrangements with school and council won't have any impact on your application.

[contorted_svy]

I would provide the council as your employer, unlikely to be a problem.

[nuaaxiayu]

Dear experts,

Thanks to all your kind help so far, I also have a question regarding applying for citizenship before holding ILR for 12 months. I have been holding my ILR for around 11 months now, and am just wondering if I could apply for citizenship now, as it may exceed 12 months anyway when I enroll my biometrics? Although my application date on the form would be less than 12 months since my ILR grant.

The reason is because I may travel abroad in early 2025 so I wish to obtain my UK citizenship before that to make overseas travel easier. Should I let HO know in the AN form about this reason for my early reply?

Thank you.

[contorted_svy]

You can only apply once you complete 1 year on ILR. Submission date is what counts for citizenship, not biometrics. You are free to travel once your application is submitted. Standard processing tiems are around six months so unlikley you would become a British citizen before early 2025 anyway.

[nuaaxiayu]

Dear contorted_svy,

Thank you for your kind reply, understood.

Another question is that the AN form asks for my absence from the UK, so I input all my absences in the past 5 years (I am not married to a British Citizen). For some of my absences, I transferred at foreign airports before heading to my final destination countries. Should I also list these foreign countries where I did the airport transfers in my AN form as well (I never went through the border & customs checkpoints at these airports, and only stayed within the airport transfer area)? Or should I just list my final destination countries in the AN form where I spent my absences from the UK?

If the latter applies, should I mention my airport transfers in the textbox provided? The thing is the textbox has a word limit which I cannot put any details except purposes like "Business travel" or "Holiday"

Thank you again.

[contorted_svy]

If you want to mention those you can do so in a cover letter, eg "please note that the trip I took on this day involved a transfer in xyz airport".

[nuaaxiayu]

Dear contorted_svy,

Thank you for your prompt reply, much appreciated. Would it be ok for me not to mention these airport transfers at all? I do not want to over-complicate my absence history.

[Ticktack]

Dear contorted_svy,

Thank you for your prompt reply, much appreciated. Would it be ok for me not to mention these airport transfers at all? I do not want to over-complicate my absence history.

There's no reason for you to even mention airports you transited through. You didn't cross the border, so officially, you were never there!

Stick with Exits and entries!!

[nuaaxiayu]

Dear experts,

Thank you for all your kind help so far, much appreciated, we have submitted our citizenship applications.

The next step for us is to attend the biometrics appointment with TLSContact. There is little information on their website regarding which documents we should bring on the day, does anyone know what should we bring please? Are our passports and print-out booking confirmations sufficient? We have submitted all other supporting documents online at TLSContact website.

Another question is - on TLSContact online portal, a maximum of 10 documents are allowed to be uploaded online, so if our passports are to be scanned and uploaded on the day of our appointment, would these uploads count as one of the 10 documents allowed to be submitted? If so, should we submit a maximum of 9 documents on our end (which already include our passports)?

Thank you.

[contorted_svy]

Dear experts,

Thank you for all your kind help so far, much appreciated, we have submitted our citizenship applications.

The next step for us is to attend the biometrics appointment with TLSContact. There is little information on their website regarding which documents we should bring on the day, does anyone know what should we bring please? Are our passports and print-out booking confirmations sufficient? We have submitted all other supporting documents online at TLSContact website. this will be enough

Another question is - on TLSContact online portal, a maximum of 10 documents are allowed to be uploaded online, so if our passports are to be scanned and uploaded on the day of our appointment, would these uploads count as one of the 10 documents allowed to be submitted? If so, should we submit a maximum of 9 documents on our end (which already include our passports)? you already uploaded your passport, you will need to bring it as I'd only. It won't be uploaded again.

Thank you.

[nuaaxiayu]

Dear contorted_svy,

Thank you again for your reply and sorry for my late reply.

I have been waiting for my application outcome for more than one month now since I enrolled my biometrics in mid-December. Today I just noticed that my submitted referee forms did not have my name written down on the first page (next to the question "The Applicant Name is:"). The referees have all signed the 2nd page of each form properly, and I also had my photo (with my name and DOB written on its back) glued to the first page, so the only thing I missed was writing down my name on the first page (or ask the referee to write it down for me) of the referee form. In my TLSconact document online submission, all the referee forms (in scaned PDF form) have also been named and identified correctly.

Would it be an issue and if so, how should I contact HO about this? Or should I just wait for HO to contact me if they think this name-missing on the referee form 1st page is a concern?

Thank you again.

[alterhase58]

Your approval may take up to six months, which is the target that UKVI work to.
It often is faster than that, sometime longer than the target.
Re. your referee forms, it's not an issue as you have all your documents on the system.
In the unlikely event there is an issue they will contact you.