Confused by stages and processes from spousal visa to citizenship

Hi all,

I'm a little confused by the process from arrival in the UK as a spouse to eventual citizenship. The different acronyms are throwing me off and I'm not sure what's relevant.

Very briefly, I'm the US spouse of a British citizen and mother to a US/UK citizen. I arrived in the UK with my spousal visa on 4/4/18. We both work, we own a home, we file US taxes, and our son (3.5 years old) will start school next year.

Can someone give me a very broad top-down timeline of what the stages are from my arrival last April with my "leave to enter" to eventually applying for citizenship? I'm not concerned right now about costs or details - I'm very confused about "next steps" and then the "next steps" after that.

My husband travels a lot for work, and frustratingly may need to have extended time in the US for a large project (he's a US green card holder, and we never got him US citizenship - that's another story for a different topic!), so I want to understand my timeline better so that in case we as a family need to temporarily relocate in the US for a period.

For you, the path is this:

Spousal Visa: Valid for 33 months from date of issue.  You already have this, of course, and you probably have an expiry date on your BRP of somewhere around December 2020 or January 2021 (?).  Sometime between from 28 days before you have been in the UK for 30 months (28 days before 4 September, 2020) and the expiration of your BRP, you will need to apply for Further Leave to Remain (FLR(M)).

FLR(M) (Further Leave to Remain): Valid for 30 months.  This is the next step.  It is an extension of your limited leave to remain in the UK to get you to 60+ months to qualify for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR).

ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain): After you have lived in the UK for 60+ months, you are eligible for Indefinite Leave to Remain.  This is the final visa, and gives you the right to live here indefinitely, as long as you don't leave for more than 2 years.  You can work on this visa, can access public funds, and pretty much do anything a citizen can, except vote in elections.

As the spouse of a British person, you can apply for citizenship as soon as you have ILR.  You don't have to apply for citizenship, but you will be eligible for it.  If you do get citizenship and then move out of the UK, you can stay in the other countr(ies) for as long as you want and still be a British citizen and can come back at any time.

Truly helpful - thank you!!

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Keep in mind citizenship has firm residency requirements which limit the amount of time you can spend outside of the UK to qualify.  As you are married to a UK citizen, you can have up to 270 days out of the country in the 3 years prior to your citizenship application of which, no more than 90 days absent in the previous 12 months before application.

Yes, I figured as much. When I was researching I wasn't sure what next stages applied to me so it's helpful to know what is next so that I can make sure I'm fulfilling my obligations at each stage.

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Yes, I figured as much. When I was researching I wasn't sure what next stages applied to me so it's helpful to know what is next so that I can make sure I'm fulfilling

Before confirming any changes to your living arrangements I would come back here first to see if the plans could hinder any stage of your application.

Yes of course! The forum is a great source of up to date information.

Any move would include a school-aged child so would not be undertaken lightly. I don't anticipate we will move but I can't be sure. I'd want to have ILR or preferably citizenship in hand beforehand, but timing is out of my hands and up in the air for now.

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