Post
by Laguna1234 » Fri Jan 22, 2016 9:55 am
Hello everyone,
I would be grateful if someone could help me with my situation.
I entered the UK in February 2013 fulfilling the language criteria by passing IELTS Academic. It has now expired. My ILR was granted the same year (before 28th Oct) as I came as a dependant of a work permit holder. I took the LIUK test and it alone was deemed sufficient at the time for KoLL. My IELTS was not taken into consideration for settlement.
And now as a spouse of a British Citizen I'm eligible to apply for citizenship/naturalisation after being resident in the UK for 3 years (in February). So the burning question is, will my expired IELTS suffice given the fact that it was taken into consideration when I first entered the UK but NOT when I applied for settlement? The UK gov website states the following on the expired qualification issue but I fit in somewhere in between.
If your qualification has run out
Some recognised test qualifications only last for 2 years. You can still use a B1 level qualification that you took more than 2 years ago in 2 situations.
Applying for citizenship
You can use a B1 level qualification that’s run out if you’re applying for citizenship and it was accepted when you settled in the UK.
Applying to settle in the UK
You can use a B1 level qualification that’s run out if you’re applying to settle in the UK and it was accepted for another UK immigration application, eg when you got permission to enter.
I read somewhere that for naturalisation the home office only looks at or verifies documents that were submitted for settlement and not when you entered the UK. Documents that were submitted when entering the UK are verified at settlement, hence the above statement by the UK gov. Can anyone confirm this? Does this mean that I have to take a pointless exam I passed with an 8.5/9.0 (and waste time, effort and £150) again? Or submitting it would be fine? Has anyone (or anyone you know) been in this situation? Please let me know.
Would really appreciate some commentary and thoughts on this! I'm very confused.
Many thanks.
