AN (naturalisation) queries

Hi again folks,

Of course, we'll probably kick off this stage soon, once everything has settled down at least, and it all seems quite straightforward, I think (as others have previously said). However, my query is around this line:

"...prove you were in the UK exactly 3 years before the day the Home Office receives your application"

How exactly does one prove they were here on the day? Is this a simple case of by stating the dates of being away, this is "proof" enough, or is there a peculiarly byzantine process to do so? I had a search on the boards and nothing immediately explicit came up.

Thanks!

There's nothing over-complicated about it -- you use your passport stamps to prove it.

There's nothing over-complicated about it -- you use your passport stamps to prove it.

Thanks so much Gwen that's really helpful!

OK, next question here, do we get to keep hold of the fresh ILR biometric permit whilst this is going on? I seem to recall on the old paper form that it wanted a reason for doing so, but this was a while ago.

We were contemplating waiting until the pandemic had settled down though I'm not sure if, assuming it was processed that quickly, our area has any digital ceremonies and we wouldn't want to fall foul of that particular black hole.

I looked through my photos to confirm this... you keep your BRP until your ceremony, then you have 5 days to cut it up and post the pieces to the address they'll provide with a note explaining why you're returning it.

I looked through my photos to confirm this... you keep your BRP until your ceremony, then you have 5 days to cut it up and post the pieces to the address they'll provide with a note explaining why you're returning it.

That's wonderful. Thanks so much

I looked through my photos to confirm this... you keep your BRP until your ceremony, then you have 5 days to cut it up and post the pieces to the address they'll provide with a note explaining why you're returning it.

I'd forgotten all about that! The citizenship application is just a blur, haha! 

I'd forgotten all about that! The citizenship application is just a blur, haha! 

It was such a relief to have everything done forever.  It'd be very hard for them to take it away from me now. 

It was such a relief to have everything done forever.  It'd be very hard for them to take it away from me now. 

Absolutely! A HUGE relief! It still makes me happy when I think about it. 

Thanks for all the replies so far.

Hopefully another quick one: is it imperative it is birth parents referenced on the AN form, or would a step-parent be acceptable? I *think* we can find the details for my other half's birth father, but just in case, I thought I would ask (and if something else had to be mentioned in this case).

I believe they want birth parents.  I think it's for verifying their citizenship route?  Like, born in UK to UKCs, born in UK to one UKC and one non-UKC, born outside of UK to UKCs, etc.

Edited to add:  If your partner was adopted, the adoptive parents would work.

No problem and thank-you. I'm guessing that it's going to be quite secondary because of the marriage route. My partner wasn't adopted but there has been no sign of birth father more or less since birth.

I'm looking through the paper form to get the ducks in a row, and there are a couple of gotchas - we might be sidestepping them as we're going to apply online. In terms of documents to provide, we see this:

SECTION 3: Evidence of lawful residence during the 5 (or, if the applicant is married or in
civil partnership to a British citizen, 3) years before the date of the application: required for
applications made on the basis of residence in the United Kingdom: required for all applicants,
either:
• your passports
• letters from employers, educational establishments or other Government Departments
indicating presence in UK

This one is a little tricky as we have passports but no letters like this (maybe the occasional home office FLR(M) letter). Are the passports with only a handful of holiday stamps in there sufficient evidence?

SECTION 5: Evidence of freedom from immigration time restrictions: required for all applicants
except those covered by SECTION 4 above, either:
• your passport showing permission to remain permanently in the UK
• the Home Office letter by which you were given permission to remain permanently in the UK
• if you came to the UK as an asylum seeker you should have evidence of appeal applications
• evidence of being freely landed

Now here, we don't actually have any of those things - the grant was by email, and we have a BRP, but nothing like the old letters we got with FLR(M) with it being explicit. In fact, the email itself contains text that says it does not "convey the grant of ILR" or words to that effect. The passport doesn't contain any indication, of course, with it all being done via the BRP.

Finally, we don't have any employment history to write down or enclose evidence for, as the entire FLR(M)/ILR stuff was done from my income alone. Do we just leave this blank and enclose nothing, assuming that this will all be clear and not important?

Thanks again!

Finally, we don't have any employment history to write down or enclose evidence for, as the entire FLR(M)/ILR stuff was done from my income alone. Do we just leave this blank and enclose nothing, assuming that this will all be clear and not important?

Thanks again!

Hi biscuits, we are at the same stage you are. We too do not have employment history evidence to include as we are both retired. So I think we will just have to leave that bit blank, we do have our Self Assessment Tax returns that we can include showing we have paid tax on our US SSA Pensions.  We are also finding it confusing as to exactly what evidence we will need to send.. We are getting too old for all this!!

Hi biscuits, we are at the same stage you are. We too do not have employment history evidence to include as we are both retired. So I think we will just have to leave that bit blank, we do have our Self Assessment Tax returns that we can include showing we have paid tax on our US SSA Pensions.  We are also finding it confusing as to exactly what evidence we will need to send.. We are getting too old for all this!!

Hi Kezzie, yes, it's starting to come clearer with the stages we've been going through with the online form. It does seem to be more straightforward than the paper version, at least so far, and of course as others have mentioned in the past, far more straightforward than SET(M) or FLR(M) forms.

I'm still struggling with this particular bit that the (thus far incomplete) application is mentioning:

"Proof of living in the UK for 5 years if applying in your own right or 3 years if applying as the spouse of a British Citizen"

Fingers crossed there's a definitive answer somewhere! Maybe it's just sending off 36 months worth of utility bills and so on...

Hi Kezzie, yes, it's starting to come clearer with the stages we've been going through with the online form. It does seem to be more straightforward than the paper version, at least so far, and of course as others have mentioned in the past, far more straightforward than SET(M) or FLR(M) forms.

I'm still struggling with this particular bit that the (thus far incomplete) application is mentioning:

"Proof of living in the UK for 5 years if applying in your own right or 3 years if applying as the spouse of a British Citizen"

Fingers crossed there's a definitive answer somewhere! Maybe it's just sending off 36 months worth of utility bills and so on...

Yes we are struggling with the same bit and are hoping it will become clearer too.