Acknowledgement - URGENT

[IlrDependent]

Hello Friends,

I sent the application by next day delivery. I have lost the receipt and so am unable to check the delivery. I sent the application to this address.

UKVI
Department 1
The Capital
New Hall Place
Liverpool
L3 9PP

However I have not received any acknowledgement yet and am therefore concerned. Can you tell me if this is something I should be concerned about?

Thanks

[Casa]

How long ago did you send it?

[CR001]

The OP only posted his application a few of days ago. Should have used NCS!!

http://www.immigrationboards.com/britis ... l#p1261407

[CR001]

However I have not received any acknowledgement yet and am therefore concerned.

If you read through the timeline threads, you will see that some people wait a few weeks for an acknowledgement. You are being very hopeful to think you would receive one almost immediately.

[chocolateorange88]

Acknowledgement letters can take up to 8 weeks

[tripping]

Check on a regular basis and see when your account is debited. Up to 8 weeks wait is normal.

[IlrDependent]

I did read some of the time lines and for most of them the ack came just within a few days. However if you guys say that ack can take long, then I can feel comfortable.

Thanks for your responses. BTW, I did not use NCS as there were no appointments available within October time frame.

[CR001]

I did not use NCS as there were no appointments available within October time frame.

At none of the London borough councils or just outside London? I find that very hard to believe, coupled with the fact that you did not want to take a little bit of time off work for such an important application.

[IlrDependent]

Hey CR01, I did not try outside London but within London nothing was available until next two weeks. Also I thought the application was straight forward one. ILR + two years and no leaves ( 139 days in five years ), full time employed all the time and NARIC documents for English Language.

Nothing about taking time-off from work. Also I needed to do this asap. Basically I am taking citizenship so that my wife can be treated as Home Student for PhD position. She will complete three years on 01-March-2016. Just wishing that I get British Passport by 01-April-16 as PhD session starts on 01-April where she is currently volunteering as research associate.

[secret.simon]

She will complete three years on 01-March-2016.

What visa is your wife on?

If your wife is on a spouse dependant visa issued after July 2012, it is a five year path to ILR. Marriage to a British citizen will not speed up the ILR application.

Remember that your wife will need to get ILR before she can apply for citizenship. If she has ILR, she will be treated as a Home Student anyway.

[CR001]

What visa is your wife on?

@secret.simon, see link below. Wife is on a spouse visa and will only qualify for ILR in 2018.

http://www.immigrationboards.com/britis ... l#p1194572

[noajthan]

Basically I am taking citizenship so that my wife can be treated as Home Student for PhD position. She will complete three years on 01-March-2016. Just wishing that I get British Passport by 01-April-16 as PhD session starts on 01-April where she is currently volunteering as research associate.

afaik wife's status vis a vis her study depends on her immigration status - it is not inherited from anyone else's immigration status (or citizenship).

In a nutshell (& from memory), to be treated as a Home student she 'just' needs:
to have ILR* on the day of commencement of study;
plus
to have been 'ordinarily resident' in UK for past 3 years.

(*Or else be a BC)

UK CISA website is very clear & comprehensive & has the full low-down:
http://www.ukcisa.org.uk/International- ... Education/

[secret.simon]

afaik wife's status vis a vis her study depends on her immigration status - it is not inherited from anyone else's immigration status (or citizenship).

I think the OP has been confused by the statement that the spouse of a British citizen gets citizenship in three years, not realising that ILR remains a pre-requisite for citizenship for the spouse and that under the rules in place since 2012, ILR takes five years for spouses too.

To the OP;
Your wife will become eligible for ILR & Home Student status in 2018 at the earliest, irrespective of your citizenship status. If you have become a British Citizen by then, she can naturalise in her own right immediately after getting ILR, rather than waiting an additional year. So the earliest your wife can naturalise is also 2018.

[IlrDependent]

Hey All,

My wife will qualify as home student as per the rule for how one qualifies for Home Student. There is a rule that anyone who has been resident in UK for three years and is dependent on EU national qualifies as home student.

Thanks

[noajthan]

Hey All,

My wife will qualify as home student as per the rule for how one qualifies for Home Student. There is a rule that anyone who has been resident in UK for three years and is dependent on EU national qualifies as home student.

Thanks

I'm unclear what your nationality is & whether your or your wife is using your id (that seems to vary).

If you are an EEA national and not reliant on British citizenship after all (as it seems you initially suggested you were) then all well.

Or do you think you will become an 'EEA national' on naturalising in UK?
that is not the case

Suggest checking student finance rules do recognise dual citizenship (British & EEA);
ie if you are already an EEA national.

fyi - UK immigration rules 'as a rule' do not;
ie once naturalised as a BC you will not (except in special circumstances) be recognised as an EEA national exercising EU rights.

[CR001]

I'm unclear what your nationality is & whether your or your wife is using your id (that seems to vary).

The person applying for citizenship was a Tier 1 migrant to ILR to BC. So the assumption is that he/she is not an EU citizen. Which then means you are correct in that the spouse won't be a home student as partner is not an EU citizen in the sense that the OP thinks.

[IlrDependent]

Is British Citizen not an EEA national.

[Casa]

Is British Citizen not an EEA national.

No, but you may be OK;
3: EU nationals, and family
In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria
a) on the first day of an academic year of your course, you must be:
an EU national; or
the relevant family member of a non-UK EU national, and that non-UK EU national is in the UK as a self sufficient person or as a student; or
the relevant family member of a UK national;

[IlrDependent]

Is British Citizen not an EEA national.

No, but you may be OK;
3: EU nationals, and family
In order to qualify for 'home' fees under this category, you must meet all of the following criteria
a) on the first day of an academic year of your course, you must be:
an EU national; or
the relevant family member of a non-UK EU national, and that non-UK EU national is in the UK as a self sufficient person or as a student; or
the relevant family member of a UK national;

ah, Thanks for that. So she will be eligible for home fee as I will have become UK national by 01-April. Is this right?

[Casa]

Maybe not by 01 April. BC applications are taking 6 months or over on average at present.

[IlrDependent]

Thanks Casa,

If I know it right, the steps inl getting British Passport is a few steps like getting certificate, attending ceremony and applying for passport.

At what stage I officially become British Citizen? Once I attend the ceremony and get the certificate? And when do I forfeit the passport and citizenship of my home country.

Is there a provision expedite any of these other steps?

Thanks.

[cs95tdg]

At what stage I officially become British Citizen?

Once you attend the ceremony and get the certificate.

And when do I forfeit the passport and citizenship of my home country?

Whether or not you would lose your current nationality would depend on whether that country permits dual citizenship.

Is there a provision expedite any of these other steps?

You could request to attend a private ceremony by paying an additional fee, instead of waiting for the standard group ceremony once your application is approved. That's the only step that can be expedited, that I'm aware of.

[IlrDependent]

so when it is said that citizenship will take six months, do they mean to include upto passport or just the approval letter from UKVI

[cs95tdg]

so when it is said that citizenship will take six months, do they mean to include upto passport or just the approval letter from UKVI

They mean upto approval. Applying for a British passport is independent to the above and not mandatory.

[secret.simon]

so when it is said that citizenship will take six months, do they mean to include upto passport or just the approval letter from UKVI

The approval letter takes upto six months. In some cases, the Home Office (not the UKV&I) may write to you and advise you that it will take longer than six months.

Once you get the approval letter, you need to contact the local council that you nominated for the citizenship ceremony and get a slot for the actual ceremony. That can easily take a month or two. When I got my approval letter, the earliest that my council could give an appointment for the ceremony was two months away. Your council may (not all councils do) give you the choice to have a private citizenship ceremony. But that costs about (varies by council) a £100 extra.

It is when you get the naturalisation certificate that you become a British citizen.

Regarding the renunciation of your current citizenship, what is your current citizenship? The UK allows you to have multiple citizenships, but renunciation of your other citizenship will be governed by the laws of that country, not of the UK.

As a British citizen, you are also an EU/EEA citizen. However, you can not exercise EU Treaty rights against the country that you are a citizen of. Your rights within the UK as a British citizen are more proximate than your rights as an EU citizen. So, for the purpose of UK law, you are a British citizen, not an EEA citizen. It would be the same if you were a German citizen in Germany, etc.