Hi everyone, I became a British citizen a couple of years ago through marriage. My mother, who is a Canadian citizen, would like to attain British citizenship or ILR so that she can come to visit for longer periods of time and potentially even live with us when she's older. She doesn't qualify for e...
Thanks EJ. I may try that. Do the HO keep all documents under my file? and Do I or my representitive have the access to all of them under the Data Protection Act? Hi Latte. The HO does keep everything on file (or at least they're supposed to). You'll need to make a Subject Access Request, which cos...
The spouse of somebody on a Student Visa is allowed to join them in the UK provided they can provide evidence of sufficient funds to support themselves. This may also extend to unmarried partnerships; if you've lived together in the States for more than 2 years, you would qualify to enter the UK as ...
Shankark, go to Canada. I had more dearly beloved experiences in my first year of living in the UK than I had in 25 years of living in Canada. I'd move back myself but unfortunately, I work in the one industry that has more prospects in the UK than in Canada: the arts. Somebody working in IT will be...
Sorry Adindas, but I don't think what you've said makes any sense whatsoever. How are illegal immigrants living off of others? They are not entitled to access any social benefits or protections. They frequently work in conditions that allow their British employers to get rich, and put their own live...
I was in a similar situation a few years ago; I left the UK towards the end of my student visa for a short holiday in Italy. When I came back through Heathrow, the customs official pointed out that my visa had expired. I explained that I still needed to pack up my flat and showed them a ticket to re...
No, you definitely do have to send in a copy of every page; I learned that lesson the hard way. Some have suggested that NCS centres will only copy the stamped pages, but I presume that's because the NCS employees are trusted to include everything relevant with your application. You will have to enc...
You're calling this love? Using tricks and lies to force someone to stay with you? I'm a pretty non-judgemental person but with this attitude, I don't think you deserve the wife, child, or ILR. Maybe if you treated your wife with some more respect she would choose to be with you. You should make dec...
First of all, let me express my shock and sympathy at your partner's sentence. I think all of us were really hoping for a positive outcome for both of you and I was horrified when I first read your post. I'm afraid I don't have answers to the questions that you've asked. I am writing instead to ask ...
Such practices are worse than useless because they exacerbate the problems they pretend to prevent. They isolate and antagonize people. I wouldn't suggest for a second that a sane person could be driven to terrorism by such harrasment, but it is part of a bigger message to minorities: no matter what...
Can anyone please comment on the legality of this? You can succumb to this dearly beloved practice and carry your passport (or a copy) around with you all of the time but I for one refuse to do it unless it's required of everyone. Perhaps I can't stop the authorities from making assumptions based on...
I was in the same position as you when I applied for ILR a few months ago. It is sufficient to send in documents addressed to each of you seperately; they're simply looking for evidence that you live at the same address. My wife and I don't receive a single thing in both of our names and it was fine...
Sorry Wanderer, but I don't think that is correct. She's been married to her British husband for two years but to gain ILR she has to have lived in the UK for two years with LLR on the basis of her marriage. The clock doesn't start ticking until after she's been issued the LLR visa she's currently w...
I don't think you need to worry; the naturalisation certificate is just as good as a passport. You were lucky to get such a fast response to your first application and shouldn't expect lightning to strike twice in the same place! You're right, however, that they should have at least sent you an ackn...
Hi tdpff3. I decided not to wait for the Home Office to ask for the original passport, as the telephone attendants said that the caseworker would definitely want it. I thought it would save time if I just sent it myself, and did so on January 2. I don't think that this added to the turn-around time ...
Congratulations Dawie! Do you have to attend an interview with the passport service? I thought that policy wasn't being implemented until April. My brand new passport arrived today. I have to say, it didn't feel real until today. The citizenship ceremony was sweet and sort of funny- people kept taki...
I'm sure that wiser voices than mine will give you more informed advice, but based on my experience, I'm inclined to think that they will be more interested in what you have in the bank than what you own in the US. Eventually the HO will want to see that you have significant ties to the UK; money in...
Compulsory community service is something that is usually reserved for criminals. How nice to let immigrants know that that's how their prospective countrymen and women perceive them. If I was required to do community service before becoming a citizen I can honestly say that I wouldn't have bothered...
Thank you all! I'm really thrilled. It's been a long journey. I managed to get somebody at the HO to speak to Secure Mail about the problem, and they've promised to deliver my materials tomorrow. The person I spoke to at Westminster Council about the ceremony only said to bring a photo ID, but it lo...
It came! I just got a Citizenship Invitation in the post today! I've booked a group ceremony at Westminster Town Hall next Wednesday (Feb 21). Of course, this isn't the end of my troubles. The Home Office misaddressed the package containing my passport and other materials so SecureMail tried to deli...
That's what I thought. But it then occurred to me that they must log every phone call and that repeated enquiries might make the caseworker look negatively upon the file. You're probably right; it doesn't make a lot of sense. But I can't claim to have any insight into how they operate. How frustrati...
She said that once my passport has been seen by the caseworker they will be able to return it without terminating the application. Unfortunately, this doesn't help me as my file hadn't been assigned to a caseworker when I called last week. I was hoping to travel at the end of this week. I'm just goi...
I'm not sure whether the time on his visitor's visa will count towards the three years. You could always phone the Home Office and ask them. The number for advice on Nationality is 0845 010 5200. I found the test incredibly easy; I finished it in 4 minutes! If English is not your partner's first lan...
Yes, good luck Dawie! Based on the NCS experiences of others here, I think you'll probably get a response very quickly. The Home Office have updated their website to state that waiting times for Nationality applications are at an average of 4.03 months. That's down from 4.32 months at the end of Oct...
