Have there been changes to eligibility for British citizenship if you are married to a British Citizen?

[Joey1978]

Hi,

First of all many thanks for a wonderfully useful forum and for the answers to my previous post regarding reapplying for ILR (Set M) - indefinite-leave-to-remain/new-ilr-appl ... l#p1784660.

We are now going through the process and hopefully I will be successful this time!

I want to apply for citizenship immediately after my ILR is granted as according to the guidelines on the gov.uk citizenship website (https://www.gov.uk/apply-citizenship-spouse) it looks like I can apply as soon as I have indefinite leave to remain in the UK so long as I am:
• Over 18 (yes)
• married to a British citizen (yes)
• has lived in the UK for at least 3 years before application (actually I have lived in the UK for 7+ years – originally on a Tier 2 visa and for the last 5 years on a spousal visa as wife to a British Citizen).

However, I just spoke to an immigration lawyer who said the rules around being able to apply for citizenship immediately after being granted ILR have changed and now I must wait 12 months, whether I'm married to a British citizen or not. The lawyer also said the gov.uk website has not been updated to reflect the change in the rules.

Is this really the case? If so, what part of the law has changed, when was it changed and why has this not been reflected in the gov.uk guidance notes and eligibility criteria? Surely it is illegal for the government website to be giving erroneous information - particularly as the lawyer said the the government would also not refund the fees.

Is that really right????!!!

Thanks so much and if there are also people who are similarly going through / have successfully gone through the application for citizenship, as spouse of a British Citizen, within a year of being granted ILR it would be good to hear your.

[Joey1978]

...story and if it was very recent.

Sorry - I was a bit trigger happy with the submit button!

[CR001]

However, I just spoke to an immigration lawyer who said the rules around being able to apply for citizenship immediately after being granted ILR have changed and now I must wait 12 months, whether I'm married to a British citizen or not. The lawyer also said the gov.uk website has not been updated to reflect the change in the rules.

Ask him to show where exactly the Nationality LAWS have changed. He is talking nonsense. There have been NO changes. Note that citizenship is based on (harder to change) Nationality Laws and not on (easy to change) immigration rules.

Is this really the case? If so, what part of the law has changed, when was it changed and why has this not been reflected in the gov.uk guidance notes and eligibility criteria? Surely it is illegal for the government website to be giving erroneous information - particularly as the lawyer said the the government would also not refund the fees.

Like I said, ask him to point it out to you and post the link.

Thanks so much and if there are also people who are similarly going through / have successfully gone through the application for citizenship, as spouse of a British Citizen, within a year of being granted ILR it would be good to hear your.

Many have, myself included. There has been NO change.

[zimba]

Also here is the UK nationality law you can read it yourself online: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/61
There has been NO changes under section 6(2) which clearly allows spouse of a British citizen to naturalise after 3 years.