Questions about time in the UK in order to naturalize

This one is a little hard to explain...

I obtained an FLR Visa in 2004 (on the basis of being with my British partner) and my ILR in November 2006.At the time my passport did not have enough space in it, so I obtained a new passport and sent it in to have my visa put in, but now the visa says Issued Sept 19th 07.Technically I moved to the UK in 2002, but we were back and forth and I was only using visitors visas. So does my time in the UK start in 2002...or 2004?

I have worked in the UK since obtaining my FLR, and will eventually apply for duel citizenship.


I am not sure if I need to have the ILR for three years to go for my duel citizenship... how do I prove that it was issued 11.06? As I see it, I think I should be eligible in Nov 09 to apply, but I am also hearing that I might be eligible now, there are some message boards that say I might be able to start the process after 1 year of getting my ILR.

Also, it says 5 years in the UK on a work permit...but 3 as a wife or partner? I am not married...but I have an unmarried partner visa, that then went to an ILR, and that is the same as a marriage visa...so can I qualify now? I would like to start the process as my partner now looks as though he might be transferred out to Israel for about three years, and this will happen in April, I would like to be with him of course, but I am afraid I will mess up my visas and have to start again from scratch, but I am reluctant to sit in England until November just to meet this requirement. Actually, I really can't afford to.

Losing my visa is unthinkable, as I own a home here and we plan to settle here eventually.

I am a little confused!

Any information would be most helpful!

In order to qualify for citizenship as a spouse/civil or unmarried partner of a UK citizen, you have to be in the UK for at least 3 years and have permanent residency (and fulfill the necessary residency requirements - that you were not out of the UK for more than 270 in the 3 years and 90 days in the last year before you apply)... usually people qualify by having FLR for 2 years and then ILR for a further 12 months after that.

What this means is that you were actually eligible for citizenship in 2007 (1 year after your ILR was issued) (see here for eligibility requirements) .

ksand is not quite correct...in order to have a 3 year qualifying time for citizenship under the current rules, you have to be married/civil partnered to a British citizen.  If you are an unmarried partner, you have to have been residing in the UK for 5 years total, with at least one year of that being on ILR.  Now you can use visitor's visas to qualify for citizenship, but you still have to meet the other requirements re : days out of the country so your start date will depend on how long the gaps were between visits.  Can you be more specific about your time in the UK from 2002-04?   

also...if it does turn out you can't apply for citizenship until say, November and you're unwilling to wait, if you did get married to your partner (assuming he's British) you'd certainly be eligible for citizenship as soon as you married.

ksand is not quite correct...in order to have a 3 year qualifying time for citizenship under the current rules, you have to be married/civil partnered to a British citizen.  If you are an unmarried partner, you have to have been residing in the UK for 5 years total, with at least one year of that being on ILR. 

Before I posted, I tried to research whether the 3 years applied to an unmarried partner visa or not, and from what I could tell on the UKBA site, it implied that you could apply the same as a spouse or civil partner  - I apologise if I was wrong.

ksand24, it is a bit confusing now, especially as a Civil Partner could just be mentioned as a partner.

However the fact is that unless a person is married to, or in Civil Partnership with, a British Citizen, there is a 5 year qualifying for Naturalisation.

Can I apply now, in November of 09 , or do I have to wait (eek.) till Sept of 10?

The answer is ... don't know! It depends on your actual dates in the UK in 2004, that is, 5 years ago.

You must have been in the UK exactly 5 years before UKBA receive the Naturalisation application. So you need to check out your dates in the UK in 2004.

You need to work out your days absences in 2004-2005 as well, to see if this time can be counted.

Let me know if you want a hand.

Vicky

You need to work out your days absences in 2004-2005 as well, to see if this time can be counted.

Why?

Vicky, I can understand you asking about days out of the UK in the last year, but 2004-2005?

I should have said every year.

Vicky

I should have said every year.

Because?

I would guess because the 5 year naturalisation period has the following requirement: have not spent more than 450 days outside the United Kingdom during the five year period.

That is right, there is a 450 day test as regards the 5 years, collectively, and also a 90 days test as regards the last year.

But there is no requirement to look at each of the 5 years in isolation, apart from the last year, of course.

No, but it is a good idea to look at each year in isolation so that if the 450 has been passed it is easier to see when she would subsequently qualify.

Vicky

Oops, got an error message there, that just cut half my post off...

UK for 2002 are : 84 days in UK since September 17th / 4 days out since September

Since moving to Uk September 17th 2002 on visitors visa, 4 days out.
 
2003 Total days out of UK : 127
 
2004: Total time spent out of UK : 42 days

FLR GRANTED NOVE 10 2004
 
2005: Total days out of the UK 113
 
2006: Total days out of UK: 23
 
NOVEMBER 10 2006 ILR GRANTED

2007: 38 days out of UK
 
2008: 32 Days out of the UK

Travel dates 2009

3 Days in 2009 so far...

If we look at the dates outof the UK since I was granted my FLR, it is about 102 days in the last 5 years, going from 10.11.2009 to 10.11.2009
 

If we start since 2002 (about 2 years before my FLR, starting in September of 2002 when I made the move however "unofficially" ) We are looking at about: 282 days out.

These dates and places are a little rough, like I said I am going by my passport and will need to double check times and places, but this is pretty concise.

I would like to know more about using my "visitors time" in 2003 towards my residency...if this is possible...(sorry Victoria if this is redundant information from my email to you...just in a flap over here...) I know I am under the 450 days...but I am not sure when the clock "starts" as it were.I got my FLR in Nov 04, and my ILR in Nov 06, almost to the date. There was not enough room in my passport, so they issued this on a free bit of paper. By the time I got a new US passport, and sent the ILR in to be inserted it was Sept 07. Now the date on my ILR says "Sept 07." This sets me way back for naturalization. I am confused...does my time in UK begin (aka 5 year start) when I got my FLR? Or 3 years from when I got my ILR? If it is the ILR, I will need to prove the original date somehow, tricky as I had to send the original, Nov 06 dated one in to them and I did not get it back. Or...can I use any time here in 2003?

Sorry to baffle everyone with a million dates...