moving to USA before getting Uk citizenship?

Hi,

My wife and I have our visa interview in London at the end of March.

We've still not decided when to move, but one thing at the back of my mind is that Lisa (US cit) applied for British citizenship at the end of December (just beating reqt to have a citizenship ceremony by 2 days).  They haven't even acknowledged receipt yet, but have cashed the cheque.

I emailed them, and they told me they are presently working on applications received in Feb 2003 (which annoys me becasue the first citizenship ceremony has already been held for those applying after 1 Jan 04)

Anyway - does anyone know what happens if we move to USA before Lisa is naturalised.  We might be back to the Uk to live or move between the 2 countries to live so we want to both be dual citizens.   I wasnt sure how they would react if we notified them of a change of address - in Texas!!

I think you'll still be okay.  Narnia (of American Chick's Guide to the UK IND fame - http://www.overthepond.info/) had this same situation and it seems to have gone alright.  I'm sure if you emailed her she would be happy to answer your questions about the specifics.  

Don't know if that was really helpful but good luck!  

If the spouse of a UK Citizen has applied for UK citizenship they dont need to have the intention of staying in the UK in order to be granted citizenship. So you're ok there. Because of that I cant personally see any reason why (if the application was submitted before leaving the UK) they would deny citizenship simply because you've left. I would send the home office a letter stating that you've moved and leave them with a relative's address in the UK. That way it appears you havent moved out of the US, should that cause any problems. Thats probably what I'll be doing.

Im no expert but I hope that helps.

Sarah

Thanks for the link Wishstar!

Just read the FAQs from the link that Wishstar provided and from what the author says it appears its ok to move out of the UK after the application has been sent in. The only thing is you'll have to request your documents back and that could cause you to withdraw your application if they havent gotten to it yet or havent gotten past the passport check. You could get around this by using certified copies of the passports.

Does anyone know where and how I can get certified copies of my US passport and my husband's UK passport and how much it might cost?

Thanks,
Sarah

Certified copies can be made through a soliciter....kind of like a notary service.  When I got a quote it was pretty expensive because they charge you by the page, and each page (even if it is blank) has to be copied and certified.  The soliciter I spoke to wanted to charge me £50!

I've been calling different solicitors about getting certified copies... most seem to charge about £5 per page.  I found one who will charge £1 per page, and another that will charge 40p per page (guess which one I'm using!).  Apparently Justices of the Peace (JP's) and Magistrates will do certified copies for free, so it might be worth ringing up your local Magistrates' Court.

Thanks for the tips