USA passport due to expire, I have ILR, what do I need to do?

Hello,

It's been years since I've been on here, but I remember how helpful everyone was then.

I am USA citizen who married my English husband 9 and a bit years ago and everything, Spousal visa and then ILR went on from there.  Now that I'm looking at having to renew my passport early next year I'm a little worried about my ILR sticker in my current passport. 

Honestly I've not looked for official advise on what to do anywhere else first, but I'm hoping asking on here will point me in the right direction.

I am not considering becoming a UK citizen as from my perspective it really won't change how my husband and I live or be of any real benefit to us. 

Has anyone else just remained American and kept up their ILRs?

Thanks in advance!
Beth

Lots of people have been in your situation, but I will say this - get British citizenship. You never know what may change for you, and as you know, if you are out of the UK for more than 2 years, the ILR expires. It doesn't affect you US citizenship, and it makes everything a LOT easier when you travel to/from the US. It's money well spent, and eliminates all sorts of potential hassle at the airport. You use your US PP to enter and leave the US (as required by law), and your British PP to enter the UK.

In the interim, renew your passport as usual, and carry both your new and expired PP with the ILR sticker. Someone else may pop on and include info about the BRP that folks now need to have. My ILR predated that, as does yours. Not sure if you need a BRP or not.

Do you work?  If so, you will have to apply for a BRP to remain legal.  It costs c£260 pounds and takes six months to process.  Or you can apply in person for a 10 day turnaround at an additional c£600.

The biggest advantage to citizenship is that you do NOT still have to keep abreast of the current rules.  And the ability to vote.

So, if you work and need to travel within the next six months - it may be just a bit more money to go for citizenship instead of the BRP.

Thank you for the responses so far.  I do work, but hadn't realized that whatever the BRP is would be required..  When did that happen?  When would I need the BRP by if I don't choose to get British Citizenship?  I'll have to look into both I suppose, but I get that I wouldn't have to worry about surprises like this BRP thing if I went for citizenship.

Thanks again.

Thank you for the responses so far.  I do work, but hadn't realized that whatever the BRP is would be required..  When did that happen?  When would I need the BRP by if I don't choose to get British Citizenship?  I'll have to look into both I suppose, but I get that I wouldn't have to worry about surprises like this BRP thing if I went for citizenship.

Thanks again.

The BRP is your visa, and if you work in the UK, at all times, you must either have:
- an ILR sticker in a VALID passport
Or
- a valid passport and a BRP card

So, as long as you still hold ILR and not citizenship you will always need a visa/BRP to live in the UK... and BRPs need to be renewed every 10 years.

Or you could pay the one-off cost for citizenship and you’ll never need to worry about visas, ILR or BRPs again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The switch to requiring a BRP for working rights was made in December 2014.

As soon as you have your new passport and the one containing your ILR is cancelled, you'll need to apply for a BRP.