proof of residence for wife and child

[longgapilr]

Hi there,

My wife will qualify to apply for the naturalisation at the end of Oct (1 year ILR), so we are currently preparing her application.

We need to provide proof of residence since Oct 2013 (i.e.past 5 years) but she doesn't have her previous passport because our government keeps the old passports when we get a new passport. Her current passport was issued in May 2014. So we need to provide alternative proof of evidence for the period Oct 2013 - May 2014. However, my wife wasn't studying or working anywhere at the time. She wasn't receiving any benefits.

We got married in Oct 2010. I arrived in the UK in Jan 2012 under Tier 2(G). She arrived in the UK in Jun 2012 under Tier 2 (G) Spouse visa. She got her ILR in Oct 2017. For ILR, we used the utility bills and bank statements as proof of residence, however, it seems for the naturalisation application we must provide either original passport or correspondence from government departments.

We do have a certified colour copy of all pages of her previous passport (certified here in England).

We have 2 kids. One was born here in England and is already British. I received my ceremony invite letter on Saturday so by the time my wife submits her naturalisation application may be I would have attended the ceremony and become British by then. Therefore, would it be easier if we apply for her naturalisation under the 3-year marriage to a British citizen route? Can we do this? That way we can only provide her current original passport as proof of residence for the past 3 years.

If I don't attend the ceremony and become British by the time my wife submits her naturalisation application (due to my travel plans), what alternative proofs of residence can my wife provide for her application?

What alternative proofs of residence can we provide for my child? He didn't have his own passport until May 2014. Until then, he was included in my wife's passport. He was born in Jan 2012 so he wasn't attending nursery during the period Oct 2013 - May 2014.

If we provide letters from GP, will that be sufficient? Can we rely that Home Office records will have our travel history in and out of the UK or do we have to obtain that from the Home Office via FOI and submit that to the Home Office with the naturalisation application? Is there even proof of residence requirement for children? He was born back in our home country and arrived in the UK in Jun 2012 together with my wife.

[trilobite1981]

You sounds like a clever person. I think it would be easier to consider 3 years route but I am not an expert. I’ll leave this to be answered by an experienced member.