British Citizenship after bankruptcy?

[chevchelios]

Good morning everyone,
I’m looking for advice on how (or if) my partner can apply for British Citizenship. My own application was sent a few days ago and hopefully I will be naturalised soon. We are both Polish nationals, we’ve lived in the UK for 12 (me) and 8 (her) years. She has two children from her previous marriage, one born in the UK the other in Poland.

The problem is, that in 2014 she had been left by her husband, applied for a council flat and started receiving benefits as a single mother. Due to this, she had to apply for bankruptcy (discharged a year later). We’ve met a few months later. We’ve moved in together after a few months, she started working and slowly rebuilding her life, we are due to marry in a few weeks time.

I’ve read the FAQ’s about the good character requirements and I understand that this may be a deal breaker, however the phrase “unless; the bankruptcy was annulled or it was through little or no fault of your own”. Is it possible to apply? Does divorce count as “little or no fault” or are we set for a 10 year wait?

The aim is to get British Nationality for the whole family (fiancé and the children), but what route is the best to take? At the moment, given that her application may fail, we’re thinking of waiting until I get naturalised and we’re married, then try to apply for her only (we only loose her fee in worst case scenario) as having a British spouse. Otherwise, we’d apply for the three of them as soon as we are married and my application is successful.

Cheers

[chevchelios]

Forgot to add that she stayed in the council flat and was receiving benefits for approx 12 months then moved in with me at my place and started working full time.
All 3 of them were issued permanent residence cards last year.

[chevchelios]

Anyone?

Alternatively, where/who else can I ask?

Cheers

[astonished]

You should probably seek legal advice given the sensitive nature of your case and given what could be at stake i.e. a ten year ban. Legal advice will be expensive but try not to go for the cheapest, it could be a costly mistake...

Good luck!

[JAJ]

Perhaps take a look at Section 6 of Annex D to Chapter 18 of the Nationality Instructions:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... _D_v02.pdf

It is not clear from your post why marriage breakdown led to bankruptcy. Although marriage breakdown is a financial strain, it does not invariably lead to bankruptcy.

The U.K. born child has a parent with permanent residence (PR), so can be registered as British immediately under section 1(3) of the British Nationality Act.

[chevchelios]

Thanks, in short, they had loans and outstanding bills in her name as his credit rating was already fubard. Basically he was the type of person of buy now worry later, and she saw no other option other than to go bankrupt after the breakup.
I know this is only one side of the story, but we've been together for 2.5 years and are doing absolutely fine personally and financially.

[CR001]

There are many options available other than bankruptcy and many charity organisations that help people.

Bankruptcy can unfortunately result in a citizenship application refusal.

[chevchelios]

Thank you, unfortunately we're talking about events that took place 3 years ago, before we've even met.

Will look to get legal advice.

[JAJ]

Whether or not bankruptcy was the right option at the time, what's done is done. However you should take a look carefully at what the Nationality Instructions say. Bankruptcy can cause a refusal, but it depends on circumstances. For example:

- scale of the bankruptcy;
- whether a disqualification order (related to being a director or manager of a limited company) was issued;
- the economic circumstances that led to bankruptcy.

Your short term plan should be to complete your own naturalisation, get married (assuming that's the plan regardless) and get the U.K. born child British citizenship.

Then assemble a file of evidence to persuade a Home Office caseworker who knows nothing about your wife's circumstances that her case falls within those that should be granted naturalisation vs. those that should not. For example:

- court/official documents detailing the bankruptcy, including amounts involved and proof of discharge without issues
- documents related to her previous separation/divorce, including any economic duress issues (lack of receipt of maintenance/child support, if applicable) and why she acquired debts on behalf of husband.

Legal advice? Unless you can find a practitioner who has actually handled a significant number of similar cases, you're unlikely to find out any more than what you can read for free in the Nationality Instructions. The only issue you might wish to get some advice on is whether a refusal of naturalisation would have any impact on her immigration status. I see no evidence of that- bankruptcy is not normally a criminal matter- but may have missed something.