I think my solicitor was an idiot and I'll now lose the fee

[psot2]

I've lived in the UK for 16 years so far. I have two degrees from this country, interspersed in such a way that no 5 year period is continuously exercising citizenship rights.

I received settled status on 18th December 2018 through the EU settlement scheme.

I was under the impression that I need to wait a year to apply for naturalization. However, a solicitor told me it's only necessary that I lived here for at least 6 years. I've also seen successful applications on the naturalization timeline thread who've only held permanent residence for less than a year.

Anyone know whether that's true? If so, which laws make it possible?

[CR001]

I was under the impression that I need to wait a year to apply for naturalization. However, a solicitor told me it's only necessary that I lived here for at least 6 years. I've also seen successful applications on the naturalization timeline thread who've only held permanent residence for less than a year.

You need 1 year on Settled status under Appendix EU or PR. The difference is that PR can be backdated to a period in the past where a person has 5 years of being a qualified person exercising treaty rights. Settled Status is not back dated and starts counting from the date it was granted.

You would therefore need to wait the full 1 year on Settled status before you can apply for citizenship.

There are two requirements basically, you must have 5 years residence immediately preceding the date of application for citizenship and it must include one full year on PR or Settled status. Unless you are married to a British citizen, then you don't have to wait 12 months.

[psot2]

I was under the impression that I need to wait a year to apply for naturalization. However, a solicitor told me it's only necessary that I lived here for at least 6 years. I've also seen successful applications on the naturalization timeline thread who've only held permanent residence for less than a year.

You need 1 year on Settled status under Appendix EU or PR. The difference is that PR can be backdated to a period in the past where a person has 5 years of being a qualified person exercising treaty rights. Settled Status is not back dated and starts counting from the date it was granted.

You would therefore need to wait the full 1 year on Settled status before you can apply for citizenship.

There are two requirements basically, you must have 5 years residence immediately preceding the date of application for citizenship and it must include one full year on PR or Settled status. Unless you are married to a British citizen, then you don't have to wait 12 months.

Thanks, that clears it up!

They also say I have to have been here on a specific exact date before the application was made. I'm wondering if, for me, that date would be the date I received settled status (18/12/2018), or the precise date 5 years before the application will be made made (18/12/2014)?

[CR001]

They also say I have to have been here on a specific exact date before the application was made. I'm wondering if, for me, that date would be the date I received settled status (18/12/2018), or the precise date 5 years before the application will be made made (18/12/2014)?

A mandatory requirement for citizenship is that you must have been physically present in the UK at the start of the 5 year qualifying period, which is the 5 years immediately preceding the date of application. It has nothing to do with the date you got Settlement but the date in December 2014. By physically present, this mean not out of the UK at all for holiday, business etc.

[psot2]

He told me to apply for naturalisation even though 12 months have not passed since I got permanent residence under the EU settlement scheme. I applied yesterday, 11th November. I got my settled status last year on 18th December.

He said it's ok to do it because he found somewhere online that says that you must "usually" have had permanent residence for 12 months before making the application, but that that doesn't apply to me because I've been in the UK since 2003. He said he was 100% sure. I was very sceptical, but he was so sure of myself, I made the application against my better nature and ignored the nagging feeling that he was wrong.

However, I know I've never had a period of exercising EEA free movement or establishment rights for a continuous 5 years period because of the fact that I've always been in and out of university and I've always had student loans. I've also never successfully applied for a permanent residence card.

I'm now worried I'll lose the money I paid for the naturalisation, AND the time spent making the application. I really want to get citizenship as soon as possible!

Is it possible to cancel the application if it's only a day later and wait another month until I'm qualified? Do you think this might be overlooked because of the sheer amount of time I've been residing in the UK? If I'm rejected, could I appeal? Do you think it would make sense to make the application again on the 18th December even if I don't receive a response yet, so that I can have a fresh chance of applying successfully? I feel so stupid right now!

My UKVCAS appointment is next week on 20th November. Help!

[psot2]

Thank you so much for all the advice. I realise you advised me a certain way and then I went against it after my solicitor convinced me otherwise during an appointment yesterday.

My current aim is damage control.

I found a document called

Page 24 of that document states that discretion to disregard immigration time restrictions can be exercised if "the applicant had less than 12 months free of conditions when they applied, but meets the requirements by the time you consider their applications and all other requirements are met".

I have an idea to delay my UKVCAS appointment until 18th December, so my application will hopefully be considered then.

Do you think this might work/have you come across similar cases?

I have an email confirming my payment, but not confirming receipt of application.

[Djsuccess]

Thank you so much for all the advice. I realise you advised me a certain way and then I went against it after my solicitor convinced me otherwise during an appointment yesterday.

My current aim is damage control.

I found a document called

Page 24 of that document states that discretion to disregard immigration time restrictions can be exercised if "the applicant had less than 12 months free of conditions when they applied, but meets the requirements by the time you consider their applications and all other requirements are met".

I have an idea to delay my UKVCAS appointment until 18th December, so my application will hopefully be considered then.

Do you think this might work/have you come across similar cases?

I have an email confirming my payment, but not confirming receipt of application.

There have been a few cases here where people applied a couple of weeks too early and then delay their UKVCAS appointment. It has worked for at least 2 people in this forum because the case worker used discretion and asked them to redeclare the application date. It might work for you as well. Or you can just cancel the application and reapply when you are qualified.

[AnotherUUID]

I am not sure how delaying a UKVCAS appointment affects the application date, as the application date is the date of online submission. It will, however, postpone the time by which your application is eventually passed on to a caseworker.

It should also be pointed out that while many caseworkers do offer applicants to redeclare their application date if the residency requirements have been met by the time an application has reached a caseworker - and there have been quite a few such cases - this is purely out of goodwill and at their discretion. They are also perfectly well within their capacity to decline the application altogether and choose not to exercise such discretion.

If you do not want to risk it, you may be able to withdraw the application and get a fee refund.

Also bear in mind, if your solicitor advised you incorrectly and you end up losing the fee due to not having met the 12-month period, let alone time due to processing, you should be able to raise this with them and see if you can claim damages. At the end of the day, they will not have done their job properly by giving incorrect advice.

[aman90]

Page 24 of that document states that discretion to disregard immigration time restrictions can be exercised if "the applicant had less than 12 months free of conditions when they applied, but meets the requirements by the time you consider their applications and all other requirements are met".

You’ll be fine if you delay ur biometrics till the time you qualify.
Ur application will only be considered valid once biometrics are enrolled.
And on the day of decision if ur free from immigration control for 12 months you’ll be fine.

Re declaration is done if and when you were not in the country on the date 5 years (or 3 years in case of spouse of BC) preceding date of naturalisation application.

[psot2]

Thank you so much for all the advice. I realise you advised me a certain way and then I went against it after my solicitor convinced me otherwise during an appointment yesterday.

My current aim is damage control.

I found a document called

Page 24 of that document states that discretion to disregard immigration time restrictions can be exercised if "the applicant had less than 12 months free of conditions when they applied, but meets the requirements by the time you consider their applications and all other requirements are met".

I have an idea to delay my UKVCAS appointment until 18th December, so my application will hopefully be considered then.

Do you think this might work/have you come across similar cases?

I have an email confirming my payment, but not confirming receipt of application.

There have been a few cases here where people applied a couple of weeks too early and then delay their UKVCAS appointment. It has worked for at least 2 people in this forum because the case worker used discretion and asked them to redeclare the application date. It might work for you as well. Or you can just cancel the application and reapply when you are qualified.

This makes me feel a lot more at ease! How do I find out who my case worker is/how to contact them?

[psot2]

Page 24 of that document states that discretion to disregard immigration time restrictions can be exercised if "the applicant had less than 12 months free of conditions when they applied, but meets the requirements by the time you consider their applications and all other requirements are met".

You’ll be fine if you delay ur biometrics till the time you qualify.
Ur application will only be considered valid once biometrics are enrolled.
And on the day of decision if ur free from immigration control for 12 months you’ll be fine.

Re declaration is done if and when you were not in the country on the date 5 years (or 3 years in case of spouse of BC) preceding date of naturalisation application.

I'm not 100% clear on what biometrics are. Is it what I do when I go to the UKVCAS appointment to give them my evidence?

[CR001]

This makes me feel a lot more at ease! How do I find out who my case worker is/how to contact them?

You won't know who your caseworker is unless they specifically write to you or contact you. There is no way to find out who it is either.

I'm not 100% clear on what biometrics are. Is it what I do when I go to the UKVCAS appointment to give them my evidence?

Yes, UKCVAS do it. Biometrics is your digital photo and fingerprints.

[psot2]

This makes me feel a lot more at ease! How do I find out who my case worker is/how to contact them?

You won't know who your caseworker is unless they specifically write to you or contact you. There is no way to find out who it is either.

I'm not 100% clear on what biometrics are. Is it what I do when I go to the UKVCAS appointment to give them my evidence?

Yes, UKCVAS do it. Biometrics is your digital photo and fingerprints.

I have an unrelated question. I want to edit my comment on the naturalisation timeline thread because I don't want to spam the thread by quoting myself and making another comment every time there's an update/I want to fix something.

Is comment editing possible on this forum? I can't find the option to do it!

I want other future applicants to learn from my mistakes.

Edit: I see that I can edit my comment on this thread but not the timeline one! Also I forgot to thank you, you've been really brilliant!

[CR001]

You cannot edit posts. There is a timeframe of 15 minutes where you can edit and then the option is disabled.