Difference between ILR and citizenship?

[chocodream]

I am an ILR holder, basically, I have lived in the UK for more than 6 years already. I am having a problem with the UK life test, I found it's very difficult to pass.

Anyway, my question is ,if I don't apply the naturalisation , can I still get all types of benefits , especially the pension ?

Apart from the nationality, what are the main differences between ILR and citizenship?

Thank you very much for your help^^

[JAJ]

Most people have no problem passing the test.

Advantages of British citizenship:

- British passport
- you keep the right to return to the U.K. if you leave
- pass on British citizenship to overseas born children
- you cant be deported
- right to vote
- access to some Civil Service posts
- right to live in other EEA states

[sakura]

I am an ILR holder, basically, I have lived in the UK for more than 6 years already. I am having a problem with the UK life test, I found it's very difficult to pass.

Anyway, my question is ,if I don't apply the naturalisation , can I still get all types of benefits , especially the pension ?

Apart from the nationality, what are the main differences between ILR and citizenship?

Thank you very much for your help^^

Why are you having problems with the test? What is your first/main language?

[SYH]

Why are you having problems with the test? What is your first/main language?

I'd like to hear this one too.
but sometimes people have trouble with multiple choice, plain and simple

[Dawie]

If you're able to read this sentence then I don't see how you could have any problem with the Life in the UK test.

[chocodream]

Coz my english is not good...I only can speak a little bit english.Doing the test is a difficult for me. And , These posts are typed by my daughter,not by me...

So, back to the question, will I still get the pension if I have not got the citizenship?
and soemone replied that the citizenship can pass to the children in overseas, Is there any age limit for the children? Can I still pass the citizenship to my daughter who is over 25 years old?

[Dawie]

Coz my english is not good...I only can speak a little bit english.Doing the test is a difficult for me. And , These posts are typed by my daughter,not by me...

So, back to the question, will I still get the pension if I have not got the citizenship?
and soemone replied that the citizenship can pass to the children in overseas, Is there any age limit for the children? Can I still pass the citizenship to my daughter who is over 25 years old?

Your pension has got nothing to do with your citizenship or immigration status. Whether or not you will receive your pension depends on the rules of your pension scheme not your citizenship.

If you become a British citizen you cannot pass it on to any children automatically who were born before you obtained it. Any children born after you become a citizen will be British automatically.

I'm still a bit confused about your inability to pass the Life in the UK test. How have you managed to live in the UK for more than 6 years and obtain ILR and yet still not have a good enough level of English to pass this test?

[sakura]

Coz my english is not good...I only can speak a little bit english.Doing the test is a difficult for me. And , These posts are typed by my daughter,not by me...

So, back to the question, will I still get the pension if I have not got the citizenship?
and soemone replied that the citizenship can pass to the children in overseas, Is there any age limit for the children? Can I still pass the citizenship to my daughter who is over 25 years old?

Pensions depend on your job...there is a government (public) pension which (almost) everyone pays into. There is also a private pension. Most people pay into both gov't and private pensions (private = set up by yourself and/or your employers) because the government pension is very small. Are you working?

Your 25 year old daughter cannot obtain anything from you. Only children under aged 18 can be considered to pass citizenship (I think).

I suggest you go and book yourself into the ESOL+citizenship classes. You really cannot live sufficiently/fully in the UK if your English is so limited. For one thing, you will NEVER be able to become a British citizen until you pass this test* (or the ESOL+citizenship classes), you might find it hard to find employment, go to your kids' parent-teacher meetings, etc etc etc.

Again, what is your first language? How did you enter the UK/obtain ILR, but did not apply for British citizenship?


* Yes, I'm aware of certain possibilities based on age or mental illness or other, but assuming she's a heathy under-65er, she has almost no chance, unless the gov't pardons the test requirement in future.

[Marco 72]

I'm still a bit confused about your inability to pass the Life in the UK test. How have you managed to live in the UK for more than 6 years and obtain ILR and yet still not have a good enough level of English to pass this test?

I have known people who lived in the US for 30+ years and still couldn't speak English.

[sakura]

I'm still a bit confused about your inability to pass the Life in the UK test. How have you managed to live in the UK for more than 6 years and obtain ILR and yet still not have a good enough level of English to pass this test?

I have known people who lived in the US for 30+ years and still couldn't speak English.

(No offence, but) are they Spanish speakers?

[Administrator]

.

I'm still a bit confused about your inability to pass the Life in the UK test. How have you managed to live in the UK for more than 6 years and obtain ILR and yet still not have a good enough level of English to pass this test?

I have known people who lived in the US for 30+ years and still couldn't speak English.

(No offence, but) are they Spanish speakers?

Many are, but you can also find Chinese and Russians and Italians (for examples). It's more age-dependent than nationality. Folks pushing 40 or older never really learn English fluently unless they really apply themselves. AND have the time. Teens & 20-30 year olds have more motivation and "take" to the culture and language better.

Hispanics tend to be more visible because there are so many more of them and so many have come recently.

I've known folks in the U.S. that had been there 10 years or more, but spoke only the most minimal English to get through basic, daily situations. Most (I'll even go with "all") of them worked long hours, often in two or three jobs, and took care of families.

Trying to go to school and get your brain functioning when you work ten+ hours a day/ seven days a week is not a reasonable expectation. Even if you can stay awake, you feel like the cottage cheese between your ears weighs like lead. Trust me .. I am very familiar with this situation.


I'm facing the same problem in Latvia ... I get along quite well with English (for over four years now), but learning enough Latvian to get long term residency or citizenship is a nightmare. My old brain is frozen pretty solidly in its language patterns. It's even more painful if you've never spoken more than one language .. the barrier to speak & think bilingually is very high and thick.

the Admin

[ashishashah]

I know lot of ppl. in US/UK , who cannot speak english...
Infact my last landord are in this country from 20 years,are citizens etc.but can hardly speak a word..
They always remain in their own community..They r just physically in this country, mentally they r still in their home country..

Kind of sad really, they cannot connect to locals, and even people in their home county have moved on..This guys remain in "time freeze",live their own life ,cannot talk to any one..But they have to take the blame also..Never tried to communicate outside their community...

No offence, just an observation ...

[chocodream]

I go to english class once a week.To be honest, learning english is not easy for the people as old as me, hard to deal with all the grammers and new words....It's so easy to forget what I have learned in the class. I can use some simple words to express what I wanna say and I rely on my daughter mainly....so far I don't have too much problems with the life in the UK. Additionally, when I came here, I used work permit which did not require me to have very good english level. Anyway, I will think about how to prepare the test, thank you for everyone helping me to answer my question!!

[bbdivo]

Back to the OPs issue, you don't have to do the test in order to apply for citizenship you can do a course in ESOL with Citizenship content. See page 7 of the guidance notes:

successfully completing a course of study in ESOL with citizenship. You will need to provide a certificate showing the level you have attained together with a letter from the college certifying that the course had the requisite citizenship content.

[Marco 72]

(No offence, but) are they Spanish speakers?

Yes, they are Mexican immigrants in California (my wife is of Mexican origin and used to live there). Some of them are in their 50's and have been in the US since their late teens. The ones who were born after their family moved to the US (or who were little kids at the time) now speak English as their first language and only use Spanish to communicate with their older relatives. They also consider themselves American and not Mexican. This difference is probably due to compulsory schooling and to the fact that immigrants to the US don't tend to live in ghettos where the ordinary rules of society don't apply. Regardless of your immigration status you have to send your kinds to school, where they are taught to speak English and to be 'proud Americans'. Something similar probably happens in the UK, at least for the language part.

[judy7007]

Learning another languge is extremely difficult. I'm just writing to make sure that you are aware that the the "Life in UK Test" is for those who speak English at or above ESOL Entry Level 3.

If you are not at that standard you need to gain an approved ESOL qualification by going to a course.

Details (from Home Office Website) are below:


<Applicants for naturalisation must demonstrate that they can satisfy the requirements to have knowledge of English, Welsh or Scottish Gaelic and knowledge of life in the UK. There will be two ways in which they can do this.

Those who speak English at or above ESOL (English for Speakers of other languages) Entry Level 3 standard will be able to sit a "Life in the UK Test".

Or

those who do not have English skills at ESOL Entry Level 3 will need to gain an approved English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) qualification through attendance at an ESOL course which includes citizenship materials.>


I really do wish you all the best and would encourage you to enrol in the course and become a citizen. It is hard work to learn English (or any language, especially as an adult) but you will meet others who are doing the same thing and I'm sure you will enourage each other. The teachers will really help you I'm sure.

[stedman]

I'm still a bit confused about your inability to pass the Life in the UK test. How have you managed to live in the UK for more than 6 years and obtain ILR and yet still not have a good enough level of English to pass this test?

I have known people who lived in the US for 30+ years and still couldn't speak English.

One of my patients has lived here since 1973 and only speaks/understands Urdu and Hindi. She had no incentive to learn English as she hardly came across people who couldn't speak her languages in her everyday life. I'm sure it's the same with many older generation spanish speaking central/south Americans in the US.

[pantaiema]

It is shocking me, That there are still people like this.

They need limited english:

- If they need to visit GP how do they explain to the doctor so the GP could priscribethe right medicine.
- How could they read the letter that receive from untility companies, council taxes, etc ?
- How could they communicate with people in the supermarket, post office ?

I'm still a bit confused about your inability to pass the Life in the UK test. How have you managed to live in the UK for more than 6 years and obtain ILR and yet still not have a good enough level of English to pass this test?

I have known people who lived in the US for 30+ years and still couldn't speak English.

[Marco 72]

- If they need to visit GP how do they explain to the doctor so the GP could priscribethe right medicine.
- How could they read the letter that receive from untility companies, council taxes, etc ?
- How could they communicate with people in the supermarket, post office ?

Many surgeries have staff who can speak foreign languages. One of the doctors at my local surgery in London speaks Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi. Speaking no English makes things more difficult, but not impossible.

[Christophe]

...Regardless of your immigration status you have to send your kinds to school, where they are taught to speak English and to be 'proud Americans'. Something similar probably happens in the UK, at least for the language part.

That's true. And of course, as Judy implies above, it is generally very much easier for children to learn a language than it is for adults, and for many older adults it can be particularly difficult. Children's brains are "wired" in such a way that they are natural learners of language, without really needing to "study" if they are young enough, whereas most adults' are not. (This is natural enough, really, since it is usually as children that we need to learn to speak.)

To the original poster, I can only suggest that one lesson a week may not be enough, as Judy suggest above. And of course, with all language learning, practice is what is needed, so expose yourself at every opportunity to English (shopping where you need to talk to the sales assistant; watching television (easier than radio because you have the pictures to guide you) to practise listening skills; making enquiries at the local library - anything really to expose yourself to a lot of English and also to make yourself try to talk it).

A word of encouragement, perhaps: I was talking once to someone from Germany who had made a point of travelling and taking work in as many countries in Europe as possible. He made the comment that although he had found the English by far the worst at speaking other languages, he had also noticed that they were the most accepting of the efforts of non-native speakers. So pick the right occasion and the right people, and they will be helpful! Good luck!

[urizax]

I am an ILR holder, basically, I have lived in the UK for more than 6 years already. I am having a problem with the UK life test, I found it's very difficult to pass.

Anyway, my question is ,if I don't apply the naturalisation , can I still get all types of benefits , especially the pension ?

Apart from the nationality, what are the main differences between ILR and citizenship?

Thank you very much for your help^^

You have free medical care all over Europe, plus wouldn't need a visa to work in other European countries etc. No shooting at Universities or schools here in Europe, no junk food you head back to the states on holiday nice and slim. lol

[ismangil]

- you cant be deported

Ah, not too sure about this! I believe with the oath etc, if we "break the vow" like becoming a ter---ist, they can strip the citizenship away...

[JAJ]

- you cant be deported

Ah, not too sure about this! I believe with the oath etc, if we "break the vow" like becoming a ter---ist, they can strip the citizenship away...

Yes, but that is only in the most exceptional cases. Criminal convictions would not normally cause revocation of citizenship, although you'd still have to do the jail time.

[remontado]

I am an ILR holder, basically, I have lived in the UK for more than 6 years already. I am having a problem with the UK life test, I found it's very difficult to pass.

Anyway, my question is ,if I don't apply the naturalisation , can I still get all types of benefits , especially the pension ?

Apart from the nationality, what are the main differences between ILR and citizenship?

Thank you very much for your help^^

The difference between holding an ILR and Citizenship is:
1. British passport
2. Right of election
If you like, give this British Citizenship Test website http://uklifetest.com a try, it is free and gives you the relevant text from the book which is handy if you don't want to read the whole book as such.

[Christophe]

2. Right of election

Although, if you are a Commonwealth citizen living in the UK (not necessarily one with ILR, either), you can vote in all elections. You can also be called to serve on a jury.