Has anyone become a British Citizen?

Has anyone after their indefinite leave to remain chosen to become a brit cit?  If so, why and are there any benefits?  How long did the process take.  I know that i have a while yet to consider it, but i thought one of the great benefits would be help with education...

Other benefits would be; the right to vote, get a British passport, leave the UK for any amount of time & come back without going through immigration hassle again (though ILR is good for 2 years away from the UK, more under extenuating circumstances) and the right to work and live in any EU country.

For me it would be being able to go live in Spain with no problem....picture it..beach, sun, sand, sangria....

Okay...might not be for everyone...but still...I just think that it is a wonderful thing to be able to have the entire EC at your footsteps...plus keeping the whole US citizenship too...

Would also like to hear from people that have done it...Do you just use your US passport in the US or do you use when traveling to other countries?

Well, you must, according to US law, use your US passport to travel to and from the US. I am going to Canada at the end of this month for a week and because I need to transfer in Boston I shall still have to use my US passport to enter Canada.

I became a UK citizen after being granted ILR in 1998, which followed from a 4-year work permit granted in 1994. I find that being able to vote, serve on a jury, and carry a UK passport is worth it.

The downside of being a dual citizen is that the US continues to tax you even when you are domiciled in the UK. This is difficult to swallow, as only the US, the Philippines and Eritrea tax their expatriates. I shall be spending some time at my company's NY office this year and my tax affairs will become horribly complex because of that.

Good luck in your quest to become a British citizen.

Chris Hansen http://www.hansenhome.demon.co.uk

I've been thinking about doing this recently.

Hmmmm...
wench