1963British wrote:I am going to respectfully "disagree" with SYH. In my own experience with the BIA, I always go back to the actual caseworking instructions that are available for download at the BIA website. Everything else, I will toss as rubish. In fact, the guides themselves given to the public at large ultimately refer back to the caseworking instructions.
Chapter 6 would appear to be the section that would govern what would apply for your friend, in particular 6.3.6. There is no reference what so ever that a referee have "some connection to the UK." While the spirit of the guidelines may imply some connection the actual language in the caseworking instructions say nothing of the kind.
A complete reading of the caseworking sections indicates that you could have a referee who is a doctor located in and a citizen of "tim buk too" and the second referee is a 26 year old British Citizen by descent living in
Columbia, who has never set foot in the UK but happens to carry a British Passport!!
In my opinion, any application for Naturalisation or Registration should probably avoid anything that would appear "odd" to a caseworker simply from the viewpoint that an oddity, though permissable, may greatly extend the time to approve an application.
All that being said, if your friend followed the "letter of the guidelines," I would highly encourage a cover letter that explains in detail how those chosen referees follow the guidleines as stated by The Home Secretary.
Lastly, I say all this in deference to the exemplery planning which created the PPRON method which followed the guidelines perfectly until they shut it down in a rewrite of the guidelines.
I am all for constructive debate of what the requirement means. While I have no problem with your interpretation, it seems to me that you are begging for a rejection if there is no logical nexus to the UK. I think the HO can appreciate that you may not know a lot of people in the last 3-5 years of your residence in the UK and you may need to find referees outside of the UK. However, a referee is to make a recommendation of your ability to be a citizen. On what basis would someone who is not connected to the UK be able to make recommendation of your qualifications to be a citizen of the UK?
Again, a lawyer can state you are lawabiding which is a good start whether or not he is connected to the UK but honestly, it is not smart to use a lawyer who is not connected to the UK in some way. This connection can be that he is a citizen of the UK or he is licensed to practice law in the UK but not a UK citizen or resident. I don't think its wrong to use a professional person with no UK connection as referee. I do think its not a smart move to do so.
