Citizenship : Ready to apply?

Dear all,

Here I am, back again! You all have helped me through the first 3 Visas and I am very thankful for all your help and guidance and a lot of hand-holding along the way. I got my indefinite leave to remain/settlement status at the end of October and took some time off to recover and relax but now, I think it's time to start approaching the final hurdle. Dual Citizenship. As I understand it as I am married to a British Citizen I do not need to wait for a year to apply for Citizenship. I was also hoping since I have just been through the process recently that perhaps it would be easier to lay my hands on the required documents etc.

I have lived in the UK over 5 years now, I have passed the life in the UK test and I am married to a British citizen, I have remained in this country for the appropriate amount of time without breaks and I am of good character. So how straight forward is this application? I am a self-employed artist and we have used my husband's income in the past (he is also self-employed). Is this application income based at all? What documents do I need to acquire or is there a site that clearly states the documents needed? Is there an interview? Thank you for any and all help or feedback you can provide as I get ready for this final frontier. x

Welcome back .

As I understand it as I am married to a British Citizen I do not need to wait for a year to apply for Citizenship. I was also hoping since I have just been through the process recently that perhaps it would be easier to lay my hands on the required documents etc.

Yes, that's correct - you do not have to wait 12 months. You can apply as soon as you have ILR and have passed the Life in the UK test.

I have lived in the UK over 5 years now, I have passed the life in the UK test and I am married to a British citizen, I have remained in this country for the appropriate amount of time without breaks and I am of good character. So how straight forward is this application?

It's very straightforward. Much, much simpler than your other applications.

I am a self-employed artist and we have used my husband's income in the past (he is also self-employed). Is this application income based at all?

There is no income requirement, however you do have to give your employment history in the UK and as you are self-employed, you will need to provide your latest HMRC tax return.

What documents do I need to acquire or is there a site that clearly states the documents needed? Is there an interview?

There's no interview and almost no documents are required.

What you need to send are:
- your US passport
- your BRP
- marriage certificate
- Life in the UK pass certificate
- evidence of your self-employment to show you have been paying your taxes (your latest HMRC tax return)
And I think that's about it.

You will need 2 referees as well:
- one must be a British citizen aged over 25 who has known you for at least 3 years
- the other must be of professional standing, but can be any nationality, and must have known you for at least 3 years.

See here for the application form and the guidance notes, though you can apply online now:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/become-a-british-citizen-by-naturalisation-form-an
and
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/form-an-guidance

The list of documents you need is near the end of the paper form (page 29 onwards - not all of them will apply to you):
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/834937/form-an-10-19.pdf

Wow. Thank you, you always make it seem so clear and doable and I always show up here totally freaked out.
Thank you again, I'm glad it seems pretty straightforward. No time like the present to get started and apply then.

You know I will have my usual nervous questions and double-checking... I'll keep you posted.

Thanks again!

Wow. Thank you, you always make it seem so clear and doable and I always show up here totally freaked out.
Thank you again, I'm glad it seems pretty straightforward. No time like the present to get started and apply then.

You know I will have my usual nervous questions and double-checking... I'll keep you posted.

Thanks again!

No problem .

I think what confuses/catches people out with citizenship is that it IS so simple... it almost seems too simple compared to the spousal/FLR(M)/ILR applications, so people tend to worry that they're missing something, or that they aren't sending enough, or that it seems too easy.

They aren't missing anything... it really is that straightforward.

So let me confirm this because we had planned for my wife:

August  2017 Spouse Visa
February 2020 FLR(M)  -  just completed.
August  2022 ILR
August  2023 British Citizenship and Passport

but according to this thread we can apply for and obtain my wife's British Passport in August 2022 or shortly thereafter?  As soon as the ILR is in?

Many thanks as always,

Matt

So let me confirm this because we had planned for my wife:

August  2017 Spouse Visa
February 2020 FLR(M)  -  just completed.
August  2022 ILR
August  2023 British Citizenship and Passport

but according to this thread we can apply for and obtain my wife's British Passport in August 2022 or shortly thereafter?  As soon as the ILR is in?

Many thanks as always,

Matt

Yes, you can apply for citizenship as soon as ILR has been granted. Some people have applied within just days of receiving their ILR.

For people married to U.K. citizens, the citizenship residency requirements are:
- must have been living in the UK exactly 3 years prior to your application date
- must not have been outside the U.K. for more than 270 days in those 3 years (no more than 90 of those days can be in the final 12 months)
- must hold ILR

For everyone else, the requirements are:
- must have been living in the UK exactly 5 years prior to your application date
- must not have been outside the U.K. for more than 450 days in those 5 years (no more than 90 of those days can be in the final 12 months)
- must have held ILR for at least 12 months


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That's fantastic news. KSand your encyclopedic knowledge of Visa detail is always amazing.

One thing that I am slightly puzzled about:

For people married to U.K. citizens, the citizenship residency requirements are:
- must have been living in the UK exactly 3 years prior to your application date
- must not have been outside the U.K. for more than 270 days in those 3 years (no more than 90 of those days can be in the final 12 months)
- must hold ILR

so who would qualify to do this within 3 years?  We can't get an ILR until my my we've been here for 5 years... so what am I missing here - how would someone obtain an ILR after 3 years?
I guess the silent question I am asking is there any way we could get the Citizenship done after 3 years?

Warm regards,

Matt

That's fantastic news. KSand your encyclopedic knowledge of Visa detail is always amazing.

One thing that I am slightly puzzled about:
so who would qualify to do this within 3 years?  We can't get an ILR until my my we've been here for 5 years... so what am I missing here - how would someone obtain an ILR after 3 years?
I guess the silent question I am asking is there any way we could get the Citizenship done after 3 years?

Warm regards,

Matt

It used not to take 5 years to ILR so made sense at the time, which was before the rules change in 2012.

At that time the immigration rules changed but the citizenship requirements did not, hence the anomaly.

That's fantastic news. KSand your encyclopedic knowledge of Visa detail is always amazing.

One thing that I am slightly puzzled about:
so who would qualify to do this within 3 years?  We can't get an ILR until my my we've been here for 5 years... so what am I missing here - how would someone obtain an ILR after 3 years?
I guess the silent question I am asking is there any way we could get the Citizenship done after 3 years?

No, you cannot qualify after 3 years... because you must also hold ILR, which takes 5 years to qualify for.

So, even though you only have to show 3 years of residency for citizenship, you cannot actually qualify for citizenship for 5 years because of the ILR requirement.

Before July 9th 2012, it only took 2 years to qualify for ILR, on one 27-month spousal visa or one 24-month FLR(M) visa. So you would move to the UK on a spousal visa, apply for ILR after 2 years and then wait another year to qualify for citizenship.

However, they changed the immigration rules on July 9th 2012 and from that date onward, you now had to live in the UK on spousal/FLR(M) visas for 5 years before you could qualify for ILR... which meant that even though the citizenship rules were still 3 years, no one could qualify for citizenship until they had been here for 5 years.

So, the only relevance that the 3 years has now is that you only count back 3 years for your residency in the U.K. and your travel outside the UK


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"You know I will have my usual nervous questions and double-checking... I'll keep you posted." And here I am again @ksand24.

I had a look at things and I gathered up most of my documents. It's the references that are now holding me back. "You will need 2 referees as well:
- one must be a British citizen aged over 25 who has known you for at least 3 years (I have this one)
- the other must be of professional standing, but can be any nationality, and must have known you for at least 3 years." What does professional standing mean exactly? I am sure I am overthinking as usual. Can it be someone who has an office job in the studio I work in? Thanks for any clarification. Will they just want phone numbers of these people or do they write something about me and send it in? Also when I apply online will it save my form as I go or do I have to apply all at once. I would like to go ahead and get started even before I have my references nailed down just to get on with it, but wasn't sure if I would be able... I really want to get this done, but it's always the little details that I worry about and get hung up on. Thank you!

Have a look here for information about the referees:
https://visas-immigration.service.gov.uk/documents/1st_Referee_Declaration_MN1.pdf

https://www.gov.im/media/624353/listofreferees.pdf


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Thank you! Very helpful as always.

@ksand24 I am still working my way through the application - I was stalled for a bit getting my referees in order. Done that now, the next questions is
"Previous applications
Have you made any previous UK immigration applications in the UK or abroad? (Required)
This includes applications for asylum in the UK."

Does this mean all my previous visa/settlement applications? Or does this mean application for naturalisation/citizenship?
It's a yes or no question.
Thanks!

It says 'immigration' applications, not 'citizenship', so it means any and all UK visa applications you have ever made, either inside or outside the UK.

So, your answer will be Yes, because you will have made at least 3 immigration applications in the past (fiance/spousal visa, FLR(M), possibly a second FLR(M) and ILR).

Yes, of course... duh. Thank you.