Applying from abroad (holiday)

[muraenidae]

Hi! My husband will apply for naturalisation soon (EEA national, PR since 10/2015), and our daughter (born in UK) will register as a British citizen.

We will go on holiday soon and return on 7th of April. We expect the fees for naturalisation to go up from 6th April, as they do every year, so we would really like to submit the applications before that date. We can't submit them before we go on holiday because my husband was abroad (also on holiday) exactly 5 years ago.

Can we submit the online application from abroad, and then send the documents when we're back? The plan would be to submit the online application on Thursday 5th April from abroad, and then attend a Nationality document return service appointment in the UK in the following week.

Is this possible or will we get in trouble? I know you have to have been in the country exactly 5 years before your application, but I see no guidelines on being in the country on the day of your application.

Thanks!

[CR001]

My understanding is that the date you submit online is the date of application.

Fees are going up by £48.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... _final.pdf

[muraenidae]

OK, but do you need to be inside the UK on that date? Or can we submit the online form while on holiday, and submit the documents a few days later from the UK?

Thanks for the document with the new fees! I see naturalisation is going up 48 pounds, registration of a child 39 pounds, so it would save us 87 pounds if we could submit from abroad before 6th April.

[Casa]

You MUST be present in the UK on the date that the application is submitted.

[muraenidae]

I see. Do you happen to have any source for this? I don't mean to be a pain, but I looked through guidelines for a long time and saw nothing saying this. I only saw that you need to be present on the day exactly 5 years before the date of your application.

I just don't want to pay 87 pounds extra unnecessarily, as all this is expensive enough as it is. Thanks!

[Casa]

I see. Do you happen to have any source for this? I don't mean to be a pain, but I looked through guidelines for a long time and saw nothing saying this. I only saw that you need to be present on the day exactly 5 years before the date of your application.

I just don't want to pay 87 pounds extra unnecessarily, as all this is expensive enough as it is. Thanks!

I've searched through the guidelines and admit that I can't find the requirement either. Wait for others to confirm.

[CR001]

Although bear in mind that your absences you list in the form will clearly indicate that the application was not made within the UK and it could/might cause a delay.

[muraenidae]

OK, I just had another look at the official booklet, and found nothing on being present on the day of the application. Moreover, I just found the following section:

A person who is outside the UK is, by definition, not subject to any restriction under the immigration laws on his or her maximum length of stay in the UK. However, the Home Secretary will normally refuse an application made outside the UK where it appears that the main reason for making the application in this way was to avoid the requirement about immigration restrictions. If you make your application overseas, but would have had only a conditional right to remain in the UK on the date of application if you had remained in the UK, your application is unlikely to succeed.

The way I understand this, it is indeeed possible to apply from overseas. This section does not say that your application fails in any case if you do (only if you do it to circumvent your conditional right to remain).

[secret.simon]

I've searched through the guidelines and admit that I can't find the requirement either. Wait for others to confirm.

I am inclined to agree that there is no stated requirement for the application to be made within the UK.

However, the fact that the application is made from abroad may cause greater scrutiny of the "future intentions" requirement, which may slow down the application process. And it is worth remembering that there is no upper limit on how long a naturalisation application can take to decide. You may save a few pounds and have months of uncertainty in return.

Nationality Guidance - Naturalisation at discretion

[Hstepper07]

Have you thought of how will you complete your absences from the UK section if you apply online from outside the UK? This means you will have to put a future date. This may prompt extra scrutiny from the caseworker which we all try to avoid.

[calavera99]

If I were you, I would not risk anything that might lead any complication for 48 pounds. You can just wait and apply few days after imo.