4.5 yrs UK resident, just married UK citizen: ILR before BC?

[londonzum]

Hello, what a wonderful and repsonsive forum this looks to be - I wonder if anyone can help me clarify my understanding of the right way forward here, given this situation:

A) I came to the UK on a Tier 1 visa on August 20, 2007
B) I am currently on a Tier 2 Visa expiring Nov 9, 2012
C) I married a UK citizen on June 30, 2012.

My Q is a three-parter:
1) Can I apply for citizenship right away (since I have been resident for three years and am married to a UK citizen)?
2) If not, and I need to apply for ILR first, am I right in thinking that it will be marginally easier to get ILR as a spouse of a citizen than as a 5-year resident? Or, if I apply as a spouse, will it confuse things that I am not looking to convert a fiancee visa, and/or will it delay the time I could apply for citizenship?
3) Do I need biometrics for any of this? (I don't currently have any biometric aspect to my Tier 2 visa.)

A line in the FAQ for this board says "If married to a BC, you can apply the same day you are granted ILR if you meet the spouse requirements which includes 3 years residence." - which is very clear; I'm just trying to confirm whether this is the only path (i.e. the ILR is a necessary step no matter what, and my Tier 2 may not be relevant.)

Thanks!

[londonzum]

One more relevant note, the UKBA uses language which is not immediately clear - 'settle' seems to mean 'indefinite leave to remain' and reading semantically I think this page about citizenship includes a line about this (though it would be useful if they used any of the same terms they use elsewhere on the website):

[if you are applying for citizenship based on your marriage to British citizen,] You must be free from immigration time restrictions on the day you make your application.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/briti ... ofcitizen/

I think this means I must have been granted ILR, which I think is equivalent to 'permission to settle', which based on this link

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas ... ettlement/

requires biometrics, and which based on this link

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas ... tiontypes/

I would do using form SET(M) as an already-in-the-UK spouse or SET (O) as a Tier1/Tier2 5-year resident. The two forms have the same fee but SET (M) can be done via local authority Settlement Checking service which sounds like the way to go in my book. At a quick glance this option does not seem to be available for SET (O).

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas ... ormset(m)/

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas ... ormset(o)/

However, even with Settlement Checking, the best the UKBA promises to do with postal applications is decide 90% of them in 6 months. Since I only have 4 months until my Tier 2 expires, I may need to spend the extra money for a premium in person appointment. I'll call my local authority settlement checking service tomorrow to see if they have further advice.

I may have answered my own questions here, but if anyone knowledgable could confirm, that would of course be hugely helpful and appreciated - not just by me but by future readers of the post; I hope I have saved someone some time with this!

[londonzum]

I am having a great conversation with myself here :) but this will be the last post today I think. Having just read the SET(M) instructions in detail I now understand things to be as follows:

There are essentially two channels someone in my shoes can follow to citizenship: the Work channel and the Love channel. Once you're in one channel, you can't switch without going back to the beginning of the other one.

So in the Work channel, after 5 years of residence, I can apply for ILR/Settlement using SET(O), and then with that ILR status I can apply for citizenship after another 12 months.

Or, in the Love channel, I could apply for temporary leave to remain as a spouse of a citizen using FLR(M), and after two years of that status, I could apply for ILR/Settlement using SET(O). Once granted I could apply immediately for citizenship since I have been resident for more than 3 years.

So for me, today, I can get to citizenship using the Work channel in about 14 months, or using the Love channel in about 2 years. But I can't jump from the Work channel to pick up the Love channel halfway through (by using SET(M).

This is a shame as SET(0) is 49 pages long (more than twice as long as SET(M)'s 24 pages. But there is the minor consolation of this all starting to feel like it's making some sense. Too bad it takes 4 hrs of reading UKBA sites and forums like this one to get to that point, but it's better than nothing.

As before, I hope this helps others in a similar situation, and would welcome any tire-kicking of this thread by people wiser than I.

Thanks
CF

[boloney]

After you are granted ILR you don't need to wait 12 months to apply for BC.

[CR001]

Hi,
Once you apply for ILR when you have completed 5 years residence on your current visa, you can apply for BC immediatly after ILR is granted as a spouse of a BC.
Hope this helps.
Thanks
Char

[Jambo]

Following changes by the government, the love channel will change tomorrow from 2 years to 5 years so doesn't make sense to change now.

You need to separate the two processes: settlement (ILR) has its own rules. Naturalisation has its own rules and they are not related (although you need first to be settled to apply for naturalisation).

[londonzum]

Thanks very much for all these responses - hugely appreciated!! It was the point about settlement being a necessary step to citizenship which wasn't laid out very explicitly in the citizenship pages on UKBA.com - as well as the fact I could 'reset my channel' after getting settlement via Work to then immediately get ciitzenship via Love. Thanks again.