Who wants to be a British citizen???

I've sent in my naturalization forms. I want citizenship because:

I'd like the right to vote and participate as a citizen, rather than a denizen;
the opportunity to work in the ever-expanding EU;
I, too, am tired of being asked on every entry how I got the ILR, since I'm vaguely dark-skinned, I assume this is a question about fake marriage;
getting a ILR/LTR stamp in a new US passport is not free. We have to pay the same costs [150 by mail,250 by person]. While this doesn't come up often, still it's an extra cost;
and, this will surprise people, but an ILR does not guarantee you the right to re-enter the UK, even with continuous residence. There are a number of grounds on which an IO can still refuse admission. Admittedly, this would be a rare occurrence, but it just takes a bad hair day on one IO officer's part (so, just because you have an ILR or LTR, please don't think this means we can be a little sassy to IOs).

I want to be a British citizen because it seems the most convenient and 'settled' thing to do. Having that UK passport will mean peace of mind. And eventually, we'll go to the US and get my DH his US citizenship; that's the plan.

I did it because it's my home, now.

and, this will surprise people, but an ILR does not guarantee you the right to re-enter the UK, even with continuous residence. There are a number of grounds on which an IO can still refuse admission. Admittedly, this would be a rare occurrence, but it just takes a bad hair day on one IO officer's part (so, just because you have an ILR or LTR, please don't think this means we can be a little sassy to IOs).

Could you please expound on what those grounds would be and where you have found this information?

I had no choice, I was born in the UK before the Immigration Law of 1981 and have it by default.   

bvamin

I have to second elle's incredulity about the ILR issue. An ILR holder who has not broken residence and is, for example, only returning from a holiday abroad is subject to the full panoply of ECHR protections, which have now been incorporated directly into English law. I would have thought, on that basis, that one could then only be deprived of lawful residence as a result of conviction for crime (i.e., similar to green-card holders in the US). That has always been my understanding.

The Home Office never gets the last word on these tricky issues, anyway, because the courts can, and do, overturn Home Office immigration decisions. Always consult a lawyer on these hard questions!

Could you please expound on what those grounds would be and where you have found this information?

The information comes from the IND's manual for IO officers, which is available on-line.
They've altered the organization of it, and I can't find the more simple page that I had once listed elsewhere on-line. But here's a similar one, which groups lots of cases, and gives the language the IO is supposed to say. Formulae for refusal of enter after ILR/LTR is way down (sorry, but it's a bit bureacratese so you have to focus on their meaning).

http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind/en/home/laws___policy/policy_instructions/table_of_contents/chapter_9/annex_a_-_refusal.html


Basically, if they think that you cheated in the time during your pre-ILR by taking public funds, they can invalidate it; if they think that you're going to be a problem in the UK, they can invalidate it; if they think that you're coming back to commit suicide, they can invalidate it; if they think that you're not actually returning to reside (but just popping in to save yourself from the two year expiry date), they can invalidate it, and so on.

There's a lot of leeway for an IO to make your life awkward for a few hours, should they so choose, while you have to find proof of residency etc. I don't mean to make people panic about these things, since I think that it'd be extremely rare for an ILR/LTR to be questioned. But folks should know that even with an ILR, the British government does not consider us permanently vested settlers. That's why it's useful to move onto citizenship when possible, or, at least, not to get too uppity, no matter how annoying an IO may be to you. Mom was right, politeness pays!

I had no choice, I was born in the UK before the Immigration Law of 1981 and have it by default.   

bvamin

Rub it in, why don't you! 

The information comes from the IND's manual for IO officers, which is available on-line.
They've altered the organization of it, and I can't find the more simple page that I had once listed elsewhere on-line. But here's a similar one, which groups lots of cases, and gives the language the IO is supposed to say. Formulae for refusal of enter after ILR/LTR is way down (sorry, but it's a bit bureacratese so you have to focus on their meaning).

Thanks for the link and the info.  I only ask because I have wondered about this.  As you say, it's another good reason to take the leap into citizenship.

I never went in for the argument that by taking up British citizenship you are somehow taking away from being American.  Because the UK allows dual citizenship with the US, you become and always will be an American.  In fact, you will be British and American (which I don't think diminishes your American-ness).

Also, I don't put much credence in the loss of protection from the American gov't.  If I were an American and decided I wanted to move to Afghanistan and take up citizenship there then I might be concerned about certain protections from the US but the US and UK are first world, industrialized nations.  I think people have been watching too many political-intrigue Tom Clancy-type movies 

Finally, I'm not a huge one for nationalism and am not one to shout "USA! USA!" from the tallest mountain.  People from all countries are essentially the same - human beings, homo sapiens.  It might sound a bit sappy but the world needs to come together, not be separated by strong nationalism.

Matt

Finally, I'm not a huge one for nationalism and am not one to shout "USA! USA!" from the tallest mountain.  People from all countries are essentially the same - human beings, homo sapiens.  It might sound a bit sappy but the world needs to come together, not be separated by strong nationalism.

Well, it was Thoreau who said that patriotism was like a maggot in the mind, by which he meant that he couldn't see why we would value one human higher than another based on the accident of local birthplace.

Well, it was Thoreau who said that patriotism was like a maggot in the mind, by which he meant that he couldn't see why we would value one human higher than another based on the accident of local birthplace.

Ooh, I love that. Is that from Walden? It's been so long since I've read any Thoreau that I can't remember most of it to be honest. But I wouldn't mind reading that entire quote!

Yes, it's from the conclusion of Walden. He's speaking about the value of the self, but, of course, he thinks all of us have this value equally. The full passage is (sorry for the length and it's public domain):


What does Africa -- what does the West stand for? Is not our own interior white on the chart? black though it may prove, like the coast, when discovered. Is it the source of the Nile, or the Niger, or the Mississippi, or a Northwest Passage around this continent, that we would find? Are these the problems which most concern mankind? Is Franklin the only man who is lost, that his wife should be so earnest to find him? Does Mr. Grinnell know where he himself is? Be rather the Mungo Park, the Lewis and Clark and Frobisher, of your own streams and oceans; explore your own higher latitudes -- with shiploads of preserved meats to support you, if they be necessary; and pile the empty cans sky-high for a sign. Were preserved meats invented to preserve meat merely? Nay, be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you, opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought. Every man is the lord of a realm beside which the earthly empire of the Czar is but a petty state, a hummock left by the ice. Yet some can be patriotic who have no self-respect, and sacrifice the greater to the less. They love the soil which makes their graves, but have no sympathy with the spirit which may still animate their clay. Patriotism is a maggot in their heads. What was the meaning of that South-Sea Exploring Expedition, with all its parade and expense, but an indirect recognition of the fact that there are continents and seas in the moral world to which every man is an isthmus or an inlet, yet unexplored by him, but that it is easier to sail many thousand miles through cold and storm and cannibals, in a government ship, with five hundred men and boys to assist one, than it is to explore the private sea, the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean of one's being alone.

I am definitely going to get UK citizenship as soon as I am eligible, but I will have to wait 5 years from now. I have been in the UK for almost 2 years, but that was as a student and BUNAC blue card holder, so that time doesn't count as far as I know (but someone please tell me if there is some way I can make it count if there is one!)

I may want to give up my US citizenship at some point, but that would be a very serious decision. This would at least give me options.

If I ever want to come back to the UK or live/work in another European or Commonwealth country, UK citizenship is invaluable. My favourite way to "travel" is to live in another country, so UK citizenship would give so many options. 

I would also like to vote since I'll be working here and paying taxes.

I can't wait!

BF (from NZ) has his UK citisenship ceremony in a couple weeks, I am going to go along for support and in the meantime I'll be able to experience it too.

Unfortunately, there is no way to make that student time count--unless, I suppose, you have some sort of incredibly special circumstance.  I've got 18 months as a student myself, but it don't mean diddly.  My citizenship count only started when I entered the country with my UP visa about 8 months ago.