Ready to Apply for Citizenship

I received my ILR e-mail on the 7th and I have received my BRP card.

Thank you once again to everyone who has offered input throughout this 5 year process, and a special thanks to @ksand24 for the time you devote to help the members of this forum.

Timeline:
August 14, 2022 - submitted ILR application and paid
August 22, 2022 - received invitation to use the IDV app
August, 27, 2022 -  submitted biometrics via the app on
August 30, 2022? - received a generic e-mail about needing to complete biometrics (seems like most individuals were being told this was a mistake and could be disregarded).
October 17, 2022 - received a more personalized e-mail indicating IDV app information was insufficient
November 14, 2022 - attended in person biometrics appointment and docs resubmitted
December 7, 2022 - received approval e-mail
December 9, 2022 - received BRP
I've received a few e-mails about the BRP delivery being scheduled to occur after I had already received my card, last one was on the 13th.

Now, it's been over 3 years since I've flown home to see my family and would like to go in April (tickets unfortunately seem to have gone up in price since our last trip ).  I also want to apply for citizenship ASAP, as I understand it I can apply at any point now since I'm married to UK citizen.

I read on the Gov website that you can travel after you have submitted your application for citizenship, however, there is apparently a point during the process when you can no longer travel.  When exactly is travel no longer an option during the citizenship process? 

It seems like some applications for citizenship are getting approved in under 4 months and some appear to take over the 6 month period.  I would like to apply and get this done with, but I also don't want to risk not being able to travel in April.   We only plan to be back in the states for about 3 weeks.  In an ideal world the process would be done before April, or I can visit my family come back and finish the process.  I think you get 3 months to attend the ceremony so even if the invitation comes in April I would assume I should have plenty of time to travel, return, and attend the ceremony.

Referees:
I am pretty much a hermit, I have barely used my local GP.  The only professional in the UK that could possibly be a referee for me would be my driving instructor.  I would prefer to use my current boss who is an attorney, a US citizen only, and resides in the US.  @ksand24 if I recall correctly, I believe you answered this question previously for me and confirmed that the referee can reside out of the UK.  Right?  I've tried to look this up online but all I find states the referee can reside outside of UK I am not in the UK when applying.  If I have to, I guess I could ask my instructor for a huge favor but would like to avoid it.  I plan to mail the referee form to the US and then I believe they can just scan it back since everything is submitted online.  Do I need the wet signed form returned to me?

The other referee I plan to use is a UK citizen, with passport, but she's my brother-in-law's girlfriend.  Would this be allowed?  I just read some online posts saying that this may be too close, or considered related due to their partnership.

Everything on here seems to point out that this citizenship application is going to be so much easier than the other applications....so I'm hoping it's easy peasy lemon squeezy and I rather get it out of the way right now...finish ripping that band aid and be DONE!!

Congratulations! That's so exciting!

I got my citizenship earlier this year. Applied mid-March, submitted everything beginning of April, heard back mid-June. My council had one ceremony a month so, due to Covid and a trip back to the US, I ended up having to wait until the September ceremony (though I could pay for one sooner). I was able to travel until the date that I attended the ceremony with no issue, as I technically had not taken up citizenship yet so my current ILR status was still applicable. However, once I received my certificate of naturalisation, I couldn’t practically travel without a British passport (people have done it but best to avoid the hassle if you can). I applied for my UK passport the same day as my ceremony and it arrived back within 4 weeks, much quicker than the projected 10 weeks (though I don't know what the time scale is now).

Given my experience and hoping processing times are similar, you could possibly get everything done by April but, honestly, if you have no travel restrictions after your trip, it might be worth doing it when you return. Your ILR isn't going anywhere and you don't have to worry about timing.

Good luck with your application and your trip and congratulations again on ILR! 

Congratulations! That's so exciting!

I got my citizenship earlier this year. Applied mid-March, submitted everything beginning of April, heard back mid-June. My council had one ceremony a month so, due to Covid and a trip back to the US, I ended up having to wait until the September ceremony (though I could pay for one sooner). I was able to travel until the date that I attended the ceremony with no issue, as I technically had not taken up citizenship yet so my current ILR status was still applicable. However, once I received my certificate of naturalisation, I couldn’t practically travel without a British passport (people have done it but best to avoid the hassle if you can). I applied for my UK passport the same day as my ceremony and it arrived back within 4 weeks, much quicker than the projected 10 weeks (though I don't know what the time scale is now).

Given my experience and hoping processing times are similar, you could possibly get everything done by April but, honestly, if you have no travel restrictions after your trip, it might be worth doing it when you return. Your ILR isn't going anywhere and you don't have to worry about timing.

Good luck with your application and your trip and congratulations again on ILR! 

Thanks for the input.  I'm going to risk it, I fear if I don't do it soon while I'm "hot" about it I'll end up leaving it on the back burner for way longer than I should. 

Now I'm just trying to figure out this "qualifying period" as a Spouse of British citizen.  My last trip outside of the UK was on Nov. 24, 2019 and arrived back in the UK on Dec. 31, 2019.  I think this means I do not yet meet the qualifying period requirement ("you must have been in the UK on the date 3 years before making the application" ).  Am I understanding this correctly?  Does this mean I have to wait until December 31, 2022 to submit the citizenship application?  My current status is ILR married to a British spouse.

Also, based on the below question on the application:

"If you are the spouse or civil partner of a British citizen, provide details about trips from the last 3 years, otherwise provide details from the last 5 years."

Does this mean that after Dec. 31, 2022, I do not have to disclose any other trips outside of the UK on my application? 

Yes, you must have been physically inside the U.K. exactly 3 years prior to the date you submit the online application.

So if you were to submit today, you must have been in the U.K. on 23rd Dec 2019.

Since you weren’t in the UK on that date, you’ll need to wait until at least Dec 31st before you submit the application.

For the application, you need to show you have not been outside the UK for more than 270 days (9 months) in the last 3 years, with no more than 90 of those days being in the last 12 months before applying.

If you have not been outside the UK at all since Dec 31st 2019, then you can say you have been outside the UK for 0 days and won’t have any trips to list.


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