Citizenship: Retirees as referees?

Could someone (physician, academic etc.) who has retired and is not currently actively practicing serve as a Citizenship referee? At my age most of my friends are retired (so am I!) and we are finding it hard to come up with a potential referee who is actively employed.

Could someone (physician, academic etc.) who has retired and is not currently actively practicing serve as a Citizenship referee? At my age most of my friends are retired (so am I!) and we are finding it hard to come up with a potential referee who is actively employed.

I would try to find someone who is not retired if at all possible. Think beyond friends, they can be people you know purely in a professional capacity and they don't need to be from the UK.

If the referee is not acceptable to them, they will come back to you for an alternative.

I would try to find someone who is not retired if at all possible. Think beyond friends, they can be people you know purely in a professional capacity and they don't need to be from the UK.

If the referee is not acceptable to them, they will come back to you for an alternative.

Yes--think about people you know in the US. I totally forgot about this and panicked a bit too, but I was able to find two people who would do it for me. One (the professional) is an architect from Portugal.

Thank you both. To be honest, I feel uncomfortable about asking someone who is not a good friend to be a referee. The referee must provide certain personal info via the applicant to the Home Office; also the Referee Form states that he or she could be fined up to GBP 5000 or go to prison for knowingly giving false information. A highly unlikely instance, to be sure, but it's a kind of thing that can make people feel uneasy about doing this (I know I would, unless asked by someone whom I feel I can confidently and happily vouch for).

Part of the issue is that I'm still socially relatively new here; in a few year's time my friends circle will hopefully expand to include someone suitable to be a referee. Unlike visa extensions, I have no set time limit for the citizenship application.

Thank you both. To be honest, I feel uncomfortable about asking someone who is not a good friend to be a referee. The referee must provide certain personal info via the applicant to the Home Office; also the Referee Form states that he or she could be fined up to GBP 5000 or go to prison for knowingly giving false information. A highly unlikely instance, to be sure, but it's a kind of thing that can make people feel uneasy about doing this (I know I would, unless asked by someone whom I feel I can confidently and happily vouch for).

Part of the issue is that I'm still socially relatively new here; in a few year's time my friends circle will hopefully expand to include someone suitable to be a referee. Unlike visa extensions, I have no set time limit for the citizenship application.

The professional referee does not have to be in/from the UK. And the punishment results from someone "knowingly" giving incorrect information, not someone omitting something because they didn't know it about you. I've never actually heard of a referee being contacted in the first place, not that it couldn't happen though.
The process is changing all the time and almost always it becomes more difficult. They constantly tighten up on the good character requirement (you now have to declare parking tickets) and it's unlikely not to continue going up in price.
Also, once the momentum of applications is lost, it's hard to pick up again where you left off.

Obviously it's up to you, but most of us here take the opportunity as soon as it's offered. Not to have to keep up with the immigration rules is priceless, as you would still have to, even with ILR.

The guidance from this link might be helpful: https://www.edgewaterlegal.com/insight/referees-in-british-citizenship-applications-why-who-what-where-when-and-how

I also didn't have many social connections outside of family and had just changed jobs as well. This is a good list of possible candidates of professions that do NOT have to be UK passport holders:
accountant 
airline pilot 
articled clerk of a limited company
assurance agent of recognised company
bank or building society official 
barrister 
British Computer Society (BCS) - professional grades which are Associate (AMBCS), Member (MBCS), Fellow (FBCS) (PN 25/2003) 
broker 
chairman or director of limited company 
chemist 
chiropodist 
Christian science practitioner 
commissioner for oaths 
councillor: local or county
civil servant (permanent) 
dentist 
designated premises supervisors 
director or Manager of a VAT registered charity 
director, manager or personnel officer of a VAT registered company 
driving instructor (approved) 
engineer (with professional qualifications) 
fire service official 
funeral director
insurance agent (full time) of a recognised company 
journalist
justice of the Peace
legal secretary (members and fellows of the Institute of legal secretaries)
local government officer
manager or Personnel officer (of limited company)
member of Parliament
member of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces
Merchant Navy officer
minister of a recognised religion
nurse (RN, SEN or holder of a BA in nursing)
officer of the armed services (active or retired)
optician
paralegal (certified or qualified paralegals, and associate members of the Institute of Paralegals) 
person with honours (such as OBE, MBE and so on)
personal licensee holders
photographer (professional)
police officer 
Post Office official 
president or secretary of a recognised organisation 
Salvation Army officer
social worker 
solicitor
surveyor
teacher, lecturer 
trade union officer 
travel agency (qualified) 
valuers and auctioneers (fellow and associate members of the incorporated society)
warrant officers and chief petty officers

As for the other referee, anyone over 25 who is a UK passport holder is fine. Your retired friends would be suitable.

We used a friend who is still working back in the USA as the professional referee and a retired friend that we have known many years from here in Scotland.  We had no issues.  we also sent the form to the USA and had them scan it back to us and then put the original in the mail.  We were then able to upload the form as soon as we received the scan back from the the USA but we had the original to take with us when we went for the Biometrics.  We decided to apply for citizenship as soon as we had the ILR because we just wanted to be free from immigration for good. 

Sorry not trying to hijack this thread but it just got me thinking. Are people who are work colleagues able to be used as referees. Even if pretty much all of our interaction is at work?

Sorry not trying to hijack this thread but it just got me thinking. Are people who are work colleagues able to be used as referees. Even if pretty much all of our interaction is at work?

As long as they meet the other criteria, yes.

The guidance from this link might be helpful: https://www.edgewaterlegal.com/insight/referees-in-british-citizenship-applications-why-who-what-where-when-and-how

I also didn't have many social connections outside of family and had just changed jobs as well. This is a good list of possible candidates of professions that do NOT have to be UK passport holders:

Thanks Heidi. Yes I have seen the list, and part of the difficulty I face is that it seems to be a rather peculiar list of professions - it looks selective and uneven. Among my still-active friends are several physicians and two veterinarians; their specialities/profession are not listed (perhaps they can come under "personal licence holders").

You said your professional referee was an architect; that's not a profession on the list either. May I ask how you chose that person? I might be thinking too narrowly when it comes to who would count as someone with professional standing.

Thanks Heidi. Yes I have seen the list, and part of the difficulty I face is that it seems to be a rather peculiar list of professions - it looks selective and uneven. Among my still-active friends are several physicians and two veterinarians; their specialities/profession are not listed (perhaps they can come under "personal licence holders").

The list is not exhaustive and you can use professions that are not on the list.

A physician or veterinarian should be fine to use.

Just found this page from December 2020, which DOES show doctors and vets on the list:
https://support.citizencard.com/Knowledgebase/Article/View/who-can-be-a-referee

And this link shows personal accounts of people who used their doctor as a referee and were granted citizenship:
https://www.immigrationboards.com/british-citizenship/doctors-as-acceptabel-referees-t249242.html

And this one also confirms the same thing:
https://www.forum.ukcen.com/forum/uk-nationality-questions/an-applications/referees-aa/19684-is-a-doctor-ok-for-a-professional-referee-for-citizenship-if-i-work-with-her


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Thanks Heidi. Yes I have seen the list, and part of the difficulty I face is that it seems to be a rather peculiar list of professions - it looks selective and uneven. Among my still-active friends are several physicians and two veterinarians; their specialities/profession are not listed (perhaps they can come under "personal licence holders").

You said your professional referee was an architect; that's not a profession on the list either. May I ask how you chose that person? I might be thinking too narrowly when it comes to who would count as someone with professional standing.

You are definitely overthinking it. My referee holds a professional qualification as a registered architect. (He had just earned it, in fact.) Anyone with a recognized professional qualification would work. Think about US counterparts to some of those professions. The vet, dentist, doctor...yes, they'd all be fine.

I think there is a slight cultural disconnect between US and UK recognition of credentials and how they are identified (and also how important they are, particularly in the UK). Maybe it's because we don't have OBEs, etc. in the US, it's not such a big thing. I've been asked several times over here if I have any titles, and it just seems weird. One of my friends here puts his BA after his name (something I'd never even think of doing).

Thank you, this is really helpful. It totally opens up possibilities; I should be able to find two suitable referees from within the UK.

Thank you, this is really helpful. It totally opens up possibilities; I should be able to find two suitable referees from within the UK.

Just do it! You'll be so happy when it's all over.

Heck, I'd offer to be your referee. I'm a professional journalist and I have my UK passport. Granted, I just met you here... <smile>

I've signed off as a referee for several people in a professional capacity and have no problem doing so.  I won't sign off on anyone (or their kid) if I don't actually meet the requirement of having known them for the specified period of time.

Literally all I'm declaring is that the person I know as XXXXX is the person in the photograph.

Don't get me started on the UK determining certain people are "good enough" to sign off on a photograph.  Classism at its finest.....