Unsuccessful Naturalisation (AN) applications

[maria41]

Hi,

my naturalization application has just been refused.

Back ground: I am French, married to a British citizen since 2001. I have been resident in the UK since 1997. My husband worked in Brazil for 15 months between 2011 and 2012. So I spent time over there and did not work for 15 months.

I don't have a permanent residency card, or whatever it is called. I never heard of it until I applied for citizenship.

When I first applied for my citizenship, in Oct 2015, I thought that, married to a Brit, I could just show 3 years of full residency. Apparently I was mistaken, and, as an EU citizen, I have to apply via EU treaty rights only! I have to show full employment for 5 years. Obviously I cannot demonstrate that as I was out of the UK for 15 months between 2011 and 2012.
SO my application was turned down by HO.
I will look into this once again when I can qualify, in Oct 2017 (only 18 months)... debating if it is worth also to pay a solicitor or a company to put my request forward at that time!

In addition, I am a contractor, I am employed by my own Limited Company. That can also make things a little bit more complicated....

In any case, I am very disappointed but I won't give up ....

[maria41]

Hi,

As previously explained in another thread, my citizenship application was refused as I did not comply with 5 years EU Treaty rights requirements residency in the UK. My mistake, I spent time out of the UK between 2011 and 2012 (due to work commitments). I have been resident in the UK since 1997!

Anyway, by Oct 2017, I will meet the residency requirements and 5 years of continuous work in the UK so I will apply again (unless rules changes !).

My question is the following: will I need to pass the English test and/or the Life in the UK test again or are they valid for ever?

Thanks,

Maria

[lijogrg444]

Have you got the PR card?

As far as I know there no validity period for LIUK test certificate. May be other members can comment on it

[imnewhere]

As far as I am aware, the Life in the UK test is valid forever. In terms of the English test, i am not sure but again, all depends on the government of the day and what rules they decide to implement.

[ohara]

Hi,

my naturalization application has just been refused.

Back ground: I am French, married to a British citizen since 2001. I have been resident in the UK since 1997. My husband worked in Brazil for 15 months between 2011 and 2012. So I spent time over there and did not work for 15 months.

I don't have a permanent residency card, or whatever it is called. I never heard of it until I applied for citizenship.

When I first applied for my citizenship, in Oct 2015, I thought that, married to a Brit, I could just show 3 years of full residency. Apparently I was mistaken, and, as an EU citizen, I have to apply via EU treaty rights only! I have to show full employment for 5 years. Obviously I cannot demonstrate that as I was out of the UK for 15 months between 2011 and 2012.
SO my application was turned down by HO.
I will look into this once again when I can qualify, in Oct 2017 (only 18 months)... debating if it is worth also to pay a solicitor or a company to put my request forward at that time!

In addition, I am a contractor, I am employed by my own Limited Company. That can also make things a little bit more complicated....

In any case, I am very disappointed but I won't give up ....

Regardless of the absence limits you still need to have settled status at the time of your application for naturalisation. For EEA citizens this is permanent residence.

For PR you need to have exercised treaty rights for 5 continuous years. Once you have completed those 5 years you acquire PR automatically. There is no requirement to apply for anything, as EEA residence documentation is not mandatory. However, since 12th November 2015 you will need a permanent residence card if you are applying for naturalisation. Once you have PR, you no longer need to exercise treaty rights, and you won't lose it unless you leave the UK for more than 2 years.

Using a solicitor to submit your application will not help at all, other than making sure you have filled the form in correctly and meet the requirements. It'll also probably cost you £1000 for the pleasure and the AN fee is now £1236 alone. NCS offer basic sanity checking which would have picked up on your mistake and it only costs ~£70.

Also there is nothing to say that you cannot be self employed.

[maria41]

Hi, no I don't have the PR card. I guess now I need it before anything. It was not compulsory early last year when I first researched the process.

SO the latest process seems to be PR card in October 2017 then citizenship one year later!

That is a long wait. And it seems rather unfair considering that non-EU citizens married to Brits can apply for citizenship after only 3 years in the UK.

But then things may change a lot again depending on the referendum....

[maria41]

Thanks Ohara. It seems rules keep changing all the time

So I can apply for the PR card in Oct 2017 then at end of 2018 for naturalization....

I was hoping to retire in 2017 with my husband and go travelling for a while. So we may have to revise our plans and keep my limited company going and contracting throughout 2018

[ohara]

See my reply to your post in the other thread.

Do you have permanent residence or not? Post a timeline of your activity since you came to the UK. Applying for a PR card does not grant or confer PR, it merely confirms it. Having a PR card is not mandatory, and has only recently been a requirement for those applying for naturalisation. For information, I acquired PR in 2012 but only applied for a PR card in late 2015.

If you are married to a British citizen you don't need to wait for 12 months to apply for naturalisation after acquiring PR.

And it seems rather unfair considering that non-EU citizens married to Brits can apply for citizenship after only 3 years in the UK.

They can but it is considerably more expensive through the spouse visa + ILR route.

[maria41]

Hi Ohara, thanks again fro your posts.

No I don't have PR yet. I will investigate and apply for it when I meet the requirements.
My time line in the UK is as following:

I arrived in April 1997 (with my now British husband). Worked in various places from Aug 1997 to May 2007 (as staff). We went travelling around south America for 11 months from late May 2007 to April 2008. I worked from July 2008 to June 2011 (as staff and then contracting).

Left the UK July 2011 and back and forth many times due to visa problems in Brazil. My husband was sent to open a Brazil Branch by his company and I naturally followed. It took us a longtime to get our permanent visas so we went back and forth many times.

I returned in the UK in Oct 2012 and started contracting immediately via my newly formed limited company, with the same large company I was contracting for before leaving for Brazil. Been contracting there since. (I work in IT).

I intend to contract until late 2017 (to qualify). We would like then to retire or semi retire... So having citizenship would allow us to come and go as we like. If not I am anxious I may not be allowed back in the future!

[noajthan]

...

That is a long wait. And it seems rather unfair considering that non-EU citizens married to Brits can apply for citizenship after only 3 years in the UK.

This is a misunderstanding; it now takes spouses (at least) 5 years to get ILR.

The residency component of the requirement is separate; the 3 years residency period may run concurrently with the 5 years it takes to get ILR but it doesn't mean someone can naturalise in just 3 years.

The EU route is still a walk in the park compared to UK migration route.