AN (naturalisation) queries

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

Yes, as we're on the online form, currently paused for the minutiae of the second referee's details, we do see the document list appearing as we go along. I hope that the resolution appears soon

For reference, the referee requirements listed on the online form are:

Referees must:
not be a relative, solicitor or agent of the applicant
not be related to the other referee
not be employed by the Home Office
know or have known the applicant personally for more than 3 years
they are willing to give full details of their knowledge of the applicant
advise the Home Office of any reason why the applicant should not be registered
Referees must also not have been convicted of an imprisonable offence. A single non-custodial sentence may be disregarded if:
it did not occur within the last 12 months
there is strong evidence showing that the referee is of good character

The first bit wants:

* Full name and title
* Gender
* Date of birth
* Address/town/postcode
* Whether they've lived there for more than 3 years

then once that's been entered, the following options appear:

* Phone number
* Email address
* Profession
* British passport number
* How does the referee know the applicant

This is for referee one. Referee two might have different questions if they might be international, I guess!

biscuits, I found this on our Documents check list for proof of residence:-



If you are married to, or in a civil partnership with, a British citizen, you must have been in the UK for the past 3 years.

If you are not married, or in a civil partnership with, a British citizen, you must have been in the UK for the past 5 years.

If you are an EEA National, you need to include letters from employers, educational establishments or other government departments, indicating your presence in the UK during the relevant 3- or 5-year period.

If you are a Non-EEA National, you need to include your passport to prove you have lived in the UK for the relevant 3- or 5-year period.

If you do not have your passport or it was not stamped when you entered the UK, you need to include letters (for example, from your employer or government department) as proof.

Bank statements or household bills are not suitable proof you have been living in the UK.


Do you think just the passport showing initial entry and the current passport will be enough?

For the proof of living in the UK, I believe you just need to include your passport showing your visa.

For the referees, I believe it asks the same questions for both referees... at least it did on the paper form. It was just the same form for each referee.

The citizenship application has very few required documents. It’s really simple compared to the actual visa applications - so simple in fact, that most people question it and try to make it more complicated than it is because it just seems too easy .


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That's perfect, thank you both - my partner's old passport in her maiden name will have the original "fiancée" visa vignette in it, stamped.

I really hear that too, ksand24! It does seem a little too straightforward, but then I suppose we have all done all of the heavy lifting required for this over the past ... almost six years!

Kezzie62: do we submit the documents scanned electronically as per the UKVCAS system, are they presented at biometrics, or do we post them manually? I understand if you don't have any indication yet, though the idea of letting passports and the BRP out of our sight when the BRP is truly the only document we have proving our ILR is a little scary (given we don't have a physical letter attesting such from the Home Office).

That's perfect, thank you both - my partner's old passport in her maiden name will have the original "fiancée" visa vignette in it, stamped.

I really hear that too, ksand24! It does seem a little too straightforward, but then I suppose we have all done all of the heavy lifting required for this over the past ... almost six years!

Kezzie62: do we submit the documents scanned electronically as per the UKVCAS system, are they presented at biometrics, or do we post them manually? I understand if you don't have any indication yet, though the idea of letting passports and the BRP out of our sight when the BRP is truly the only document we have proving our ILR is a little scary (given we don't have a physical letter attesting such from the Home Office).

Everything is uploaded as we did for the ILR, if you have to go for Biometrics you can pay for scanning if you dont want to do your own scanning. The referee forms are the same for both and there is a link at the end of the application online form to download them just before you pay.

Everything is uploaded as we did for the ILR, if you have to go for Biometrics you can pay for scanning if you dont want to do your own scanning. The referee forms are the same for both and there is a link at the end of the application online form to download them just before you pay.

Thank you so much for the information - it lifts another weight that's really helpful, thanks again.

Hi folks,

Now I'm completing the information about previous applications. All are fine except for the initial application: we literally just got the visa in the passport, int the post back in 2015, so we don't have a reference number (but we could put in a number off the visa itself), and oddly, we don't have a date of application, because we posted it and the first thing and only thing we heard was when the visa was dropped off in the US by UPS.

So, for the date, should we put the one it arrived, or the one from the passport vignette, do you think? Or does it not matter?

EDIT: it was posted to Sheffield from the USA - what should we enter in the box for where the application was made?:

Was this application made in the UK? No
Where was it made? (For example, New York or British Consulate General New York)

I put down that it was posted from the town in the USA to Sheffield. That must be pretty close.

So now it is asking about employment history:

You must provide your employment history for the past 10 years or since you have been in the UK

My partner worked in the USA some six years ago (and before) but not in the UK. Do I need to enter anything here for her US employment history? The dates we have are now pretty approximate, and the form will only accept exact ones (so we have e.g. 1st July when really we only recall know "some time in summer")

I put down that it was posted from the town in the USA to Sheffield. That must be pretty close.

So now it is asking about employment history:

My partner worked in the USA some six years ago (and before) but not in the UK. Do I need to enter anything here for her US employment history? The dates we have are now pretty approximate, and the form will only accept exact ones (so we have e.g. 1st July when really we only recall know "some time in summer")

We did not include any info from employment in the US and we replied NO to any work in the UK as we are retired.

 

So now it is asking about employment history:

My partner worked in the USA some six years ago (and before) but not in the UK. Do I need to enter anything here for her US employment history? The dates we have are now pretty approximate, and the form will only accept exact ones (so we have e.g. 1st July when really we only recall know "some time in summer")

No, you do not include any US employment history.

They ask about employment history for the Good Character Requirement... because they need to check that if you have been working in the UK, you have been paying your UK National Insurance contributions.

If the applicant has never worked in the UK, then you just don't fill out any employment history.

Kezzie62, ksand24, thank-you so much for that! I think we're about ready to submit this application (subject to referees completing things). I can confirm too that it's suggesting everything is digitally uploaded, and nothing is physically posted doing it this way - also a huge relief.

Thanks everyone!

Hi again, time for today's question!

So we submitted and paid today, and have taken some passporty photographs with a phone and are getting them delivered ready for the referees.

We've been asked for:

Passport issued by the USA
Proof of living in the UK
Marriage certificate
Proof of freedom from immigration time restrictions
Passport issued by the USA (to prove English language requirement)
Two referee declarations
One proof of British citizenship for me (passport)
Current BRP

Time to upload some documents, and the categories are:

Other
Residence in the UK
Finances
Proof of Business
Life Events
Medical Information
Sponsors / Employment
Proof of Identity / Travel History
Educational

So, I'm guessing we don't need to repeatedly upload passports. I'm thinking:

Other - two completed referee forms
Required - current passport
Residence in the UK - original passport containing fiancée visa vignette and BRP
Life events - marriage certificate
Sponsors / Employment -  Spouse passport

I'm not sure if it matters which sections you upload into, but based on what goes in the various upload sections for FLR and ILR, the only ones that actually seem to apply for citizenship are:

Applicant Documents
- current US passport

Proof of Identity/Travel History
- Spouse's UK passport
- current BRP
- previous US passport with fiance visa in it

Other
- Marriage certificate
- Two referee declarations

Because normally the other sections would contain:
Residence in the UK - accommodation documents and cohabitation documents for FLR/ILR
Finances - financial requirement documents for FLR/ILR
Proof of Business - N/A
Life Events - N/A
Medical Information - N/A
Sponsors / Employment - N/A
Educational - N/A

I'm not sure if it matters which sections you upload into, but based on what goes in the various upload sections for FLR and ILR, the only ones that actually seem to apply for citizenship are:

Applicant Documents
- current US passport

Proof of Identity/Travel History
- Spouse's UK passport
- current BRP
- previous US passport with fiance visa in it

Other
- Marriage certificate
- Two referee declarations

Because normally the other sections would contain:
Residence in the UK - accommodation documents and cohabitation documents for FLR/ILR
Finances - financial requirement documents for FLR/ILR
Proof of Business - N/A
Life Events - N/A
Medical Information - N/A
Sponsors / Employment - N/A
Educational - N/A

Magnificent - thank you so much ksand24. I'm also not sure if it really matters! But, part of me hopes that they'll appreciate the effort.

OK, the photographs have arrived and I think they're following the passport photo guidelines well enough!

I'm looking now at the referee form. It says "on the back of the applicant's photograph, please write their full name and date of birth".

Is this saying that the referee should write the full name and date of birth on the photograph, then they glue it, then they complete the form, or does it mean that we write the name and DOB on the photo, we glue it on, then the referee fills out the rest of the form.

(Also: glue, is a Pritt Stick kind of glue OK?)