Passport Expiry

[Ranu007]

My husband is going to apply for natiralisation. But he still has to take the life in uk test. His spouse visa is expiring on 11 August. If he fails the test and has to apply again after 7 days for the uk test if his visa has expired what is the process? Can anyone advise me ? Can he still apply for naturalisation? Many Thanks Ranu

[Casa]

Your husband needs to have been granted ILR before he qualifies for British citizenship. For ILR he requires B1 level English from an UKVI approved test/test provider + a pass in the Life in the UK test.

Edit: I see in a previous post that your husband already has ILR, so how is his 'visa' expiring?

[Tea_Rocket]

Your husband needs to have been granted ILR before he qualifies for British citizenship. For ILR he requires B1 level English from an UKVI approved test/test provider + a pass in the Life in the UK test.

Edit: I see in a previous post that your husband already has ILR, so how is his 'visa' expiring?

...and how has he obtained ILR without passing the Life in the UK test, which has been a requirement for ILR since before he arrived?

[Ranu007]

Hi there again. I need to clarify the situation . Husband came on a spouse visa in 2011. He has been on this visa since then. He wants to apply for his naturalisation . He did the english speaking and writing test when applying for spouse visa and i was advised that even though the cert has expired its still valid and he doesnt need to do this. Only the Life In UK Test. Problem he has is that his spouse visa is expiring in Aug so doesnt give him much time to apply for naturalisation. If he fails the test it states you have to have a 7 day break before doing the teat again. What i need some info on is if his visa expires can he still apply for the naturalisation or does he need to apply for ILR? He comes under the old rules as spouse visa agreed from HO in 2011. Can anyone advise please ?

[Tea_Rocket]

Your husband needs ILR before he can apply for naturalisation. If you are a UK citizen when he obtains his ILR, then he can apply for naturalisation as the spouse of a UK citizen as soon as he has ILR. If you are not, then he will need to hold ILR for a year before naturalising (assuming he meets all the other requirements).

If his visa expires before he applies for ILR, then there is a discretionary period of 28 days that will not count against him if he applies for a new visa or ILR within that time. However, I have no idea if the rules for naturalisation are the same, or if any period of overstay will lead to his application being rejected.

The way I see it, your choices are to hope that he passes the Life in the UK test before his current visa expires, and then to apply for ILR as soon as you can afterward, or to apply for another spouse visa to give him more time to pass the Life in the UK test. The latter is a money sink, but the peace of mind might be worth it.