Naturalisation - Break in continuous stay

[tier1_to_ilr]

Hi,
I got my ILR in Nov 2013. I came to UK in Sept 2006 and had break in stay for 13-14 months around 2010 (Nov 2009 to Jan 2011). I was granted ILR on compassionate reasons. Will that affect my application now for naturalisation. At present I am in UK from Jan 2011. And my wife and 2 children came to UK March in 2012. They have a bigger break in stay of 28 months. Is there any rule which says that I have to be in UK exactly 5 years or 3 years in past from date of application. Do you see any hurdles for getting citizenship for my family as well.

Another question - Both my children are born abroad. First in 2004 and second in 2011. Do I need to apply for naturalisation for them or for registration? Any previous experiences will help.

Also - I am planning to skip Nationality checking service from council to save cost. Is there any real benefit in going through them?

[ryan1512lon]

First question :

And you must usually have:

lived in the UK for at least the 5 years before the date of your application
spent no more than 450 days outside the UK during those 5 years
spent no more than 90 days outside the UK in the last 12 months
been granted indefinite leave to stay in the UK (or permanent residence if you’re an EEA national) - this means there’s no specific date that you have to leave
had indefinite leave to stay in the UK for the last 12 months (or permanent residence if you’re an EEA national)
not broken any immigration laws while in the UK

If your wife is british :

lived in the UK for at least the 3 years before your application is received
spent no more than 270 days outside the UK in those 3 years
spent no more than 90 days outside the UK in the last 12 months
not broken any immigration laws while in the UK

Second question :

Registration.

Third question :

You keep the original documents and check your eligibility...

[tier1_to_ilr]

First question :

And you must usually have:

lived in the UK for at least the 5 years before the date of your application
spent no more than 450 days outside the UK during those 5 years
spent no more than 90 days outside the UK in the last 12 months
been granted indefinite leave to stay in the UK (or permanent residence if you’re an EEA national) - this means there’s no specific date that you have to leave
had indefinite leave to stay in the UK for the last 12 months (or permanent residence if you’re an EEA national)
not broken any immigration laws while in the UK

If your wife is british :

lived in the UK for at least the 3 years before your application is received
spent no more than 270 days outside the UK in those 3 years
spent no more than 90 days outside the UK in the last 12 months
not broken any immigration laws while in the UK

Second question :

Registration.

Third question :

You keep the original documents and check your eligibility...

But since break was already considered while granting ILR, shouldn't same reasons it be considered again for granting citizenship?

[ryan1512lon]

ILR and British citizenship are different, and therefore have different requirements, as stated above.

[secret.simon]

Is there any rule which says that I have to be in UK exactly 5 years or 3 years in past from date of application.

Yes.

It is a requirement of the British Nationality Act 1981 (Schedule 1, Section 1 (2)(a)) http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/61/schedule/1

So, if you were to apply today, you should have been in the country on 10th February 2010. Given that you were out of the country during that period and returned in January 2011, the earliest you can apply is January 2016, providing you meet the other requirements (450 days in 5 years, 90 days in last year, etc).

Once you are naturalised, your children can be registered under Section 3(1) of the Act mentioned above, as there are no time restrictions for registration (not absolutely certain about this, though). The form to be used is Form MN.

Does your wife already have ILR?

NCS helps in ensuring that the paperwork is in order and you can keep your passport in case you need to travel during the six months that it can take for a citizenship application to be decided. IMHO, better spend £60 on NCS than lose £900 on an incorrect citizenship application.

Leave to remain is granted under rules and regulations made under the Immigration Act 1971. Naturalisation and registration take place under the British Nationality Act 1981. Both are administered by different parts of the Home Office and given their basis and internal rules are different, the explanation that worked at leave to remain stage may not work at naturalisation stage.