British Citizenship

[Rosylee]

So, now that I have ILR, what is the process for applying for citizenship? How long do we have to wait before we are eligible to apply? What form do we have to use? Where can I contact that Checking service you referred to. Sorry for all the questions, but the website is not very clear.

Thanks
Rosylee

[ICE]

Hi,

I see you are in the Midlands, but I'm not sire where, so I just Googled Nationality Checking Service Midlands, have a look....

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Nat...L_enGB242GB242

[Rosylee]

Thanks for the info. It's very helpful.

[OneTime]

Hi Rosylee,

I was just mentioning this to Travlr in this thread

I believe you can apply for naturalisation as long as you have been settled for 5 years and have ILR.

That being said - there is mention of an extra year, so I'll try to do some more homework and let you know...

[Rosylee]

Thanks OneTime. It would be great if we did not have to wait another 12 months before applying for Citizenship! Looking forward to hearing from you.

I want my daughter and I to keep our SA citizenship. How far in advance should we apply to Home Affairs to do this and just how do we go about applying for the right to retain our citizenship? I defintely want to still keep my citizenship - it's part of who I am and I never came to the UK so that I could forget my roots.

Thanks

[Rosylee]

I spoke to someone at the nationality enquiry service and she confirmed we have to wait another 12 months before we can apply for naturalisation.

I was shocked to see the fees and of course to discover that my 5 year old daughter has to apply separately and pay her own fee of £400. Our application will cost another £735. That is of course before April when we KNOW they will increase the fees!!

What a money making exercise!!

[Travlr]

Hi Rosylee,
Congrats on abtaining your ILR it must be such a relief to finally have something substancial in your possession.

What a bugger about the extra year to be able to apply for citizenship, it certainly does seem like it's all about the money hey

I wanted to ask a question on your recent ILR. I saw in a previous post that were on a work permit for the 5 years - I intend to go over on an ancestral visa from next year and I wondered how the timing works and how sticky they are. From what I've read on the BIA website you have to be in the UK for 5 years practically to the day is this correct?
My concern is that when I apply for the ancestral visa, apparently these days it only takes 5 to 10 days to issue it, but it is only valid for 5 years - what happens if I need some extra time before leaving SA this means I may not have 5 years exactly from the day I arrive but visa still expires......anyones comment here would be great - how do you suggest I plan the move and timing?

[Travlr]

Hi there, as an added bit of info which I found here http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/bri...?view=Standard

"You must be free from immigration time restrictions when you make your naturalisation application. Unless you are married to or the civil partner of a British citizen, you should have been free from immigration time restrictions during the last 12 months of the residential qualifying period."

The last sentance is of particular note and why you were advised you need to stay another 12 months in order to apply for citizenship.

So from what I read this means that the process for getting over and naturalised is 6 years????? - you need 5 to apply for ILR and then an extra 1 year free from any immigration rules to apply for naturalisation. I wonder if this is a standard and counts for absolutely everyone, even those applying from ancestral reasons?????

My comments: Interesting....expensive.....and a long time.......

[Rosylee]

I know very little about ancestral visas but I happened to meet a lady at a restaurant this week who is subject to one. OK OK, I heard the accent and was forward enough to ask if she was from SA. Turns out she is from Zim. She stated that they would be applying next year for ILR after having been here 5 years.

I recall that I got my work permit before I left SA, sometime in November / December but I only arrived in the UK at the end of Jan and only started work on 10 Feb. So the permit was valid for some time before I arrived but my ILR was based on the day I actually arrived in the country. Also even though my orginal permit was valid for 4 years, when I entered the country they only gave me leave to remain for 2 years so I had to reapply for FLR which they then gave me an additional 5 years.

So I think it might be the same for you in terms of ILR. If your permit is due to expire but you have not completed 5 years, I suppose you would need to appy for FLR - further leave to remain to cover you. You don't want to be illegal even for a day. They are full of it over here. Please check out what I am saying though as I am not 100% sure.

Hope this helps

[OneTime]

Hi Travlr and Rosylee,

I also thought that you might have to apply for FLR for that period in between, but the problem with this route is it costs around $350 and $500 (pounds, not dollars, there's no pound sign on my Aussie keyboard) to apply for FLR and then you still have to pay for ILR after that. Seems like a waste of money for what is only a few weeks or months.

I spotted something earlier on the net which may answer the question, but I'll check up on it when I get home and let you know. (I"m on the train with laptop at the mo)

[Travlr]

Thanks for info both of you - never knew about FLR. Heck, these terms are starting to get to me and I thought I worked in an industry with a lot of acronyms

Good to know but phew that makes it an expensive exercise, back to Rosylee's comment about it being a money making exercise