British citizenship following EEA4

mj330 · Post by **mj330** » Thu Jan 26, 2012 9:59 am

Hi all,

I have a question on applying British citizenship following EEA4. I have obtained EEA4 in November last year, but the relationship between my husband (EEA national) and I hasn't been going well and we are planning a divorce now, although we are still on good terms and he would still help me if I needed his support on citizenship application. I wonder if the divorce will affect my application for the British citizenship or even my EEA4 visa.

Thanks for your help!

Post by **Jambo** » Thu Jan 26, 2012 11:03 am

A divorce will not affect your status in the UK or a naturalisation application.

Permanent Residence status means that you are not dependant on your EEA partner any more. If you apply for BC in November (1 year after PR sticker) you don't need your husband help at all.

mj330 · Post by **mj330** » Thu Jan 26, 2012 11:22 am

Jambo wrote:A divorce will not affect your status in the UK or a naturalisation application.

Permanent Residence status means that you are not dependant on your EEA partner any more. If you apply for BC in November (1 year after PR sticker) you don't need your husband help at all.

Thank you Jambo!

I'm not sure how long it will take for the divorce to be finalised, if it doesn't finalise before November this year, on my application form for BC, should I state my marital status as married or divorced? Will they be able to check my status?

Do I need to inform the HO about my divorce while I'm on EEA4 visa?

Post by **Jambo** » Thu Jan 26, 2012 11:43 am

mj330 wrote: I'm not sure how long it will take for the divorce to be finalised, if it doesn't finalise before November this year, on my application form for BC, should I state my marital status as married or divorced? Will they be able to check my status?

Well, if you are not divorced, then you are still married. It should not have any affect on the decision any way so just state your current status at the time of the application.

Do I need to inform the HO about my divorce while I'm on EEA4 visa?

No.

BTW - It's not a "visa". You have obtained a Permanent Residence status which means you are now free from immigration control.

mj330 · Post by **mj330** » Thu Jan 26, 2012 12:07 pm

Jambo wrote:
mj330 wrote: I'm not sure how long it will take for the divorce to be finalised, if it doesn't finalise before November this year, on my application form for BC, should I state my marital status as married or divorced? Will they be able to check my status?
Well, if you are not divorced, then you are still married. It should not have any affect on the decision any way so just state your current status at the time of the application.

Do I need to inform the HO about my divorce while I'm on EEA4 visa?
No.

BTW - It's not a "visa". You have obtained a Permanent Residence status which means you are now free from immigration control.

Thank you very much for your answer!

I just have a final question:

If I state on the BC application form that I'm married and then I become a British citizen (which means afterwards all my future documents will have to be provided by the councils/government services in the UK), will that information be stored somewhere by the HO or some other government services? So in the future if I marry again, how do I prove my marital status (if I do need to prove), and where should I go to get some sort of a certificate or am I free to marry without any proof of my divorce?

Post by **Jambo** » Thu Jan 26, 2012 1:42 pm

Stating a marital status in the naturalisation form will not prevent you from re-marrying again later. You will just need to provide proof of the divorce which you should get once you are divorced.

Don't worry about it. Just state the correct status at the time of the application.

reda · Post by **reda** » Thu Jan 26, 2012 4:49 pm

Jambo wrote:A divorce will not affect your status in the UK or a naturalisation application.

Permanent Residence status means that you are not dependant on your EEA partner any more. If you apply for BC in November (1 year after PR sticker) you don't need your husband help at all.

hi mj330,
I'm pretty sure you can apply for citizenship before November(6 years married in UK), assuming that your husband willing to help you with his documents the same ones you shown the Home Office when you apply for your EEA4.
when did you complete 5 years (resident and married) in UK?.

mj330 · Post by **mj330** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 1:00 am

Jambo wrote:Stating a marital status in the naturalisation form will not prevent you from re-marrying again later. You will just need to provide proof of the divorce which you should get once you are divorced.

Don't worry about it. Just state the correct status at the time of the application.

Thank you very much for your answer!

It would just be more reassuring if I know how my marital status information is stored by the HO or any other government agencies, as we didn't marry in the UK.

mj330 · Post by **mj330** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 1:04 am

reda wrote:
Jambo wrote:A divorce will not affect your status in the UK or a naturalisation application.

Permanent Residence status means that you are not dependant on your EEA partner any more. If you apply for BC in November (1 year after PR sticker) you don't need your husband help at all.

hi mj330,
I'm pretty sure you can apply for citizenship before November(6 years married in UK), assuming that your husband willing to help you with his documents the same ones you shown the Home Office when you apply for your EEA4.
when did you complete 5 years (resident and married) in UK?.

about June 2011 would be the time I completed 5 years together with my husband in the UK, so I guess I could in theory apply in June this year, but I think it's probably better to wait until later, so I don't need to provide his documents any more, although he would help if I wanted, but I just don't want to trouble him.

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British citizenship following EEA4

British citizenship following EEA4