Take a moment to review the future intentions requirement
Future intentions requirement
This section tells you about the future intentions requirement for those applying for naturalisation under section 6(1).
The main purpose of the requirement is that those wishing to be naturalised as British citizens should not already have decided, or intend, to break their links with the UK. The clearest indicator of this will be past behaviour. If that suggests that the requirement is met, and there is no reason to think this will not continue, the applicant’s statement about future intentions may be taken at face value.
A person must intend, if naturalised, to either:
have their principal home in the UK
enter into, or continue in either:
Crown service under the government of the UK
an international organisation of which the UK or HM Government is a member
a company or association established in the UK
Principal home in the UK
If applicants say their intention is to have their principal home in the UK, you should accept that they meet the requirement if they:
meet the residence requirements, without the need to exercise any discretion over excess absences other than up to 30 days
have an established home here
have been, or intend to be, absent from the UK for not more than 6 months
the absence was, or will be, clearly temporary
if it is an intended absence, we are satisfied they intend to return to the UK
they have maintained an established home here where any close family who have not accompanied them abroad have continued to live
there is no information to cast doubt on their intention, for example, either:
a partner who is or intends to live outside of the UK
a recent absence from the UK for a period of 6 months or more
Where it is proposed to exercise discretion to waive excess absences, you must be satisfied that the applicant has an established residence, family and a substantial proportion of any estate here. You should normally accept that situation will continue, and that the future intentions requirement has therefore been met, unless you have information that, since the date of the application, the applicant or their partner no longer has an established residence here or is planning to move abroad.
Where it is not certain that a residence has been established you must make enquiries to see whether there is evidence of a principal residence outside this country including whether the:
applicant or their partner owns property abroad
applicant’s family live abroad, either in the family home or elsewhere
Where there is such evidence, or your doubts cannot be resolved satisfactorily, you must refuse the application.
Information may also come to our attention that HMRC regard an applicant as domiciled abroad for tax purposes. In such cases, you must request the applicant’s permission to contact the HMRC. You should then ask the HMRC to provide us with a copy of the applicant’s completed ‘Domicile Enquiry’ questionnaire, which may throw some light on future intentions. If the applicant refuses permission, you must refuse the application.
The fact that an applicant’s spouse or partner is not applying for citizenship should not, of itself, be taken as evidence that the requirement is not met. In such a case, however, you should make enquiries of the applicant - whether the spouse or partner is resident abroad or whether there is any evidence that the spouse or partner intends to move abroad. The fact that a spouse or partner is living, or will shortly be living, abroad should not normally be taken as evidence that the requirement is not met if any of the following apply:
the couple are separated
the spouse or partner has applied for, and is awaiting, an entry clearance
you are otherwise satisfied that the spouse or partner intends to join the applicant here
it is clear the couple are content to live apart for the foreseeable future
If none of these reasons apply, and the information suggests that any applicant maintains, or intends shortly to maintain, their principal residence abroad, spends substantial periods with their spouse or partner and children abroad, the application should normally be refused.
Applicant intends to live outside the UK
If applicants make it clear that, while they intend to live in the UK for a period, they have made firm plans to establish their principal home abroad at some future date the application must be refused. You must not refuse an application solely on the suspicion that the applicant will reside outside of the UK.
If the applicant is abroad or is about to go abroad for a continuous period of more than 6 months, you should normally refuse the application and advise the applicant to re-apply, on their return to the UK, for permanent residence. An exception may be made to the general rule, however, where any of the following apply:
the applicant is undertaking voluntary work such as with the Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO)
the applicant is undertaking studies, training, or employment abroad which is necessary to pursue a UK based profession, vocation or occupation
the absence forms part of an established pattern, such as in relation to employment at sea and the applicant is primarily based in the UK
Where an applicant has more than one home and their principal home is outside of the UK at the time of application you must refuse the application.
No principal home
There are some applicants whose way of life does not allow them to maintain a principal home in the conventional sense. This applies to some international celebrities. Applications from such people must be dealt with on their merits, but you must establish:
their position under UK tax law
what, if any, property they own here
what personal connections they may have with the UK
the length of time they spend in the UK each year
the extent to which they identify themselves with the UK
You should normally accept that applicants meet the requirement if they meet all the following:
are domiciled in the UK for tax
spend a reasonable period of time in the UK other than when working in the UK
have some personal connections in the UK
International organisations
Employment with an international organisation of which the UK or HM government is a member was added to the types of service designated under the British Nationality Act 1981 in 2006. Where the employment relates to a period before 2006 you must not consider it as designated service.
There is no exhaustive list of international organisations, of which the UK or HM Government is a member for the purpose of the British Nationality Act 1981. When considering whether an individual’s employment falls within the provisions for designated service, the following requirements must be met:
the organisation must be an intergovernmental organisation composed primarily of sovereign states, of which the UK or HM Government must be a direct member of the organisation, participate in its activities and play an active role in the governing body:
examples of intergovernmental organisations include the United Nations (UN), United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the World Trade Organisation
the individual is an employee, or giving services both:
on a full-time basis without payment or for a nominal sum
direct to, and for the benefit of, the organisation
You should refuse applications where the applicant only provides services to an international organisation on an occasional basis as they have not established a substantial degree of commitment and direct involvement over a period of time. Each case must be considered on its merits.
Whilst the UK may be a member of an organisation it is important to be aware that this may not be the case for any subsidiary body.
Service of a company established in the UK
What constitutes such service is not defined in the British Nationality Act 1981. But we should accept that applicants working outside the UK are in such service if they are any of the following:
an employee
self-employed and have registered themselves as a company
self-employed as a partner in a going concern
a company director
A company may be regarded as established in the UK if all the following apply, it is:
described as an English, Scottish, Wales, Northern Irish or overseas company registered under the Companies Acts
a ‘going’ concern
not registered for convenience only
A company may not be regarded as established in the UK if any of the following apply:
it has not been registered as an English, Scottish, Northern Irish or overseas company
it is not a ‘going’ concern
it is registered for convenience only
the distribution of its workforce is such that it is essentially an overseas company with a notional presence in the UK
Applicants serving abroad in Crown or other qualifying service or employment
Applicants who are in Crown or other qualifying service or employment abroad at the time of application, and who clearly intend to continue in that service or employment for at least 5 years from the date the application is substantively considered, should be regarded as meeting the future intentions requirement.
If an applicant cannot, or intends not to, complete 5 years’ service or employment from the date when the application is considered, you must consider their future intentions on completion of the service or employment. These may be regarded as met if the applicant can satisfy the Home Office of an intention to remain in, or return to, or come to, the UK on completion of the service or employment. You can be satisfied if any of the following apply. The applicant has:
already bought property here
strong family links here
always returned to this country after previous employment abroad in addition to this both the following must apply:
they have stated intention to live in the UK on the completion of the service or employment
there is no information in the papers to suggest otherwise
Applicants who intend to enter Crown or other qualifying service or employment
Applicants who state that they intend, on being naturalised, to enter Crown or other qualifying service or employment for 5 years or more from the date of substantive consideration of the application may be regarded as meeting the future intentions requirement.
If the intended period of qualifying service or employment is for less than 5 years from the date that the application is considered, you must consider the applicants future intentions in the normal way.
Applicants accompanying an established spouse, or civil partner, on a posting outside the UK
You must consider the applicant as meeting the future intentions requirement where they are accompanying an established spouse or civil partner on a posting outside the UK for a period of 6 months or more where the applicant’s spouse or civil partner circumstances would meet the principal home requirement.
You must obtain written confirmation of the future intentions of the applicant’s spouse or civil partner. This written confirmation will normally be sufficient.
However, you should not normally regard the future intentions requirement as being met where; for example, there is evidence to suggest that the applicant’s own intentions do not correspond with those of their spouse or civil partner.
For a spouse or civil partner to be considered as established they must have been married, in a civil partnership or cohabited with their partner for a period of at least 12 months. Where a government department confirms the length of relationship you do not need to query this further. In other cases, you must ask for documentary evidence of cohabitation covering the 12 months immediately prior to application.
Evidence should be in the form of official documents such as bank statements and utility bills, you must not accept circular mail.
A few things to note:
- You can't apply for UK citizenship from abroad. You must be in the UK for that full day and also to attend biometrics.
- The HO will make decisions based on your pattern of absences in the first place. Do you respect both absences requirements?
- You fall into sort of a gray area of the guidance. The safest thing would be not to move abroad and start a job abroad while your application is being examined as declaring you live at an address abroad you definitely would attract some attention from the caseworker. Your main residence would need to remain in the UK for this to work out. You would need to wait until you submit the application to move abroad, but in this case the section I highlighted in yellow above would apply to you. I don't know how the HO would know this other than your declarations, but it's never great to obfuscate the truth in these applications.
All of this is working under the assumption that you are not married to a British citizen, as Section 6(2) doesn't have the future intentions requirement.
All advice comes from personal research and experience and should not be regarded as professional opinion.
