French citizen wants to apply for British citizenship

[AlexCh]

Hi All,

I have a British friend who is married to a French woman, she has been living in the UK for 15 years. Now for some reason they want her to apply for British citizenship.

Can anybody tell me what exactly she has to do? What is the difference comparing with the process for non-EU nationals?

Or - it would be easier if somebody could point me to some online guide or document.

Thank you.

[Christophe]

It seems sensible for your friend's wife to naturalise as a British citizen if she has been living here for 15 years and this is her home. She will not lose her French citizenship if she does, since neither the UK nor France would require that.

Try the guide to naturalisation IND guide (http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/6353/1 ... idean1.pdf), accessible from http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/applyi ... dguidance/. This gives all the requirements and tells you how to apply.

Essentially, there's no difference between an EU citizen and a non-EU citizen naturalising. The only difference might be that an EU citizen won't have a stamp in the passport indicating indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

When submitting the application, you can use the Nationality Checking Service (see http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/applyi ... nality/ncs), which people find helpful.

[AlexCh]

but does she need to get something like ILR (Residence Permit?) and wait 1 year before applying for naturalisation? Or she can go straight forward and apply for naturalisation?

[Marco 72]

She does, but if she has been a resident for so long then most likely she automatically got ILR on 30 April 2006, when the rules were changed. Prior to that you needed to apply for it (as I did in 2005). From that date onwards it's automatic after five years of "exercising treaty rights". See here. Since she is married to a British citizen she doesn't need to wait a year after that. She does, however, need to pass the "Life in the UK" test.

An additional problem for EU citizens applying for naturalisation is that their passports don't get stamped when they enter or leave the UK. I am an Italian citizen. When I applied for naturalisation in January I was told by the NCS to bring "proof of residence". I asked if my passport was enough, since it wasn't stamped. They asked me if I could bring letters from employers, which I did. They made copies of those, and of my passports when I had the appointment. I received my approval letter 29 days later.

[Christophe]

An additional problem for EU citizens applying for naturalisation is that their passports don't get stamped when they enter or leave the UK.

Neither do those Commonwealth citizens who have a right of abode certificate in their passport, which can create the same issue. Nobody much gets stamped on leaving the UK at present, since exit passport checks are sporadic in any case.

[Marco 72]

Neither do those Commonwealth citizens who have a right of abode certificate in their passport, which can create the same issue. Nobody much gets stamped on leaving the UK at present, since exit passport checks are sporadic in any case.

You are right. I have just checked my wife's passport and it only gets stamped when she enters the UK. In Italy on the other hand her passport gets stamped both ways (although the stamps are sometimes illegible).