Tier 1->ILR->Naturalisation or Use spouses Work Permit

[moron]

Hi all,

I'm trying to figure out the most efficient way for naturalisation for me. Although I first became resident in UK on 11-02-2005 and been here since I've been told by Home Office (email query) that I've broken residence and my 5 year period starts 18-10-2006). Luckily my wife also came on her own work permit and has had continuous 5 year period on her work permit.

List of my Visas
------------------------
18-10-2006 To 18-10-2008 : HSMP (Approval in country but Visa applied from India)
15-10-2008 To 18-10-2011 : Tier-1

List of my spouses visas
----------------------------
28-02-2005 TO 28-02-2006 - Work Permit (Employer 1)
28-02-2006 TO 28-02-2007 - Work Permit renewed (Employer 1 and transferred by Employer 2 around October 2006)
15-02-2007 TO 15-02-2012 - Work Permit renewed (Employer 2)

We have both been in country for more or less 11 months every year (a month mostly on holiday or short breaks).

My wife seems to be definitely allowed to apply for ILR now and citizenship in April 2011. Are all the three options below possible for me:

1) Wait for my 5 year residence period, apply for ILR in 18-10-2011 and citizenship in October 2012.

2) ILR in 18-10-2011 and immediately apply for citizenship in October/November 2011 as my wife will already be a citizen.

3) Go back to India (where I come from) and switch over as a dependant to my wife. Lose my Tier 1 status. Come back to UK and apply for ILR with my wife. Both of us apply for citizenship together after a year. I read that this is possible from the forums.

Can anyone suggest the best most efficient route. (3) seems the most efficient, but is slightly risky and I'm not sure if there have been any cases who have successfully done this.

Can anyone see any any risk in my wifes ILR application?

Responses from the experienced people here will be appreciated.

[moron]

Hi all,

I'm trying to figure out the most efficient way for naturalisation for me. Although I first became resident in UK on 11-02-2005 and been here since I've been told by Home Office (email query) that I've broken residence and my 5 year period starts 18-10-2006). Luckily my wife also came on her own work permit and has had continuous 5 year period on her work permit.

List of my Visas
------------------------
18-10-2006 To 18-10-2008 : HSMP (Approval in country but Visa applied from India)
15-10-2008 To 18-10-2011 : Tier-1

List of my spouses visas
----------------------------
28-02-2005 TO 28-02-2006 - Work Permit (Employer 1)
28-02-2006 TO 28-02-2007 - Work Permit renewed (Employer 1 and transferred by Employer 2 around October 2006)
15-02-2007 TO 15-02-2012 - Work Permit renewed (Employer 2)

We have both been in country for more or less 11 months every year (a month mostly on holiday or short breaks).

My wife seems to be definitely allowed to apply for ILR now and citizenship in April 2011. Are all the three options below possible for me:

1) Wait for my 5 year residence period, apply for ILR in 18-10-2011 and citizenship in October 2012.

2) ILR in 18-10-2011 and immediately apply for citizenship in October/November 2011 as my wife will already be a citizen.

3) Go back to India (where I come from) and switch over as a dependant to my wife. Lose my Tier 1 status. Come back to UK and apply for ILR with my wife. Both of us apply for citizenship together after a year. I read that this is possible from the forums.

Can anyone suggest the best most efficient route. (3) seems the most efficient, but is slightly risky and I'm not sure if there have been any cases who have successfully done this.

Can anyone see any any risk in my wifes ILR application?

Responses from the experienced people here will be appreciated.

Can someone her or one of the admins please respond?

[diago_nelson]

I believe your wife has a WP and not Tier2 visa.
If this is the case, then option 3 is the quickest one to get ILR.
Can you also advise how did you break your residence in the first year? Were you out of the country for more than 90 days in the first or any year?

Hi all,

I'm trying to figure out the most efficient way for naturalisation for me. Although I first became resident in UK on 11-02-2005 and been here since I've been told by Home Office (email query) that I've broken residence and my 5 year period starts 18-10-2006). Luckily my wife also came on her own work permit and has had continuous 5 year period on her work permit.

List of my Visas
------------------------
18-10-2006 To 18-10-2008 : HSMP (Approval in country but Visa applied from India)
15-10-2008 To 18-10-2011 : Tier-1

List of my spouses visas
----------------------------
28-02-2005 TO 28-02-2006 - Work Permit (Employer 1)
28-02-2006 TO 28-02-2007 - Work Permit renewed (Employer 1 and transferred by Employer 2 around October 2006)
15-02-2007 TO 15-02-2012 - Work Permit renewed (Employer 2)

We have both been in country for more or less 11 months every year (a month mostly on holiday or short breaks).

My wife seems to be definitely allowed to apply for ILR now and citizenship in April 2011. Are all the three options below possible for me:

1) Wait for my 5 year residence period, apply for ILR in 18-10-2011 and citizenship in October 2012.

2) ILR in 18-10-2011 and immediately apply for citizenship in October/November 2011 as my wife will already be a citizen.

3) Go back to India (where I come from) and switch over as a dependant to my wife. Lose my Tier 1 status. Come back to UK and apply for ILR with my wife. Both of us apply for citizenship together after a year. I read that this is possible from the forums.

Can anyone suggest the best most efficient route. (3) seems the most efficient, but is slightly risky and I'm not sure if there have been any cases who have successfully done this.

Can anyone see any any risk in my wifes ILR application?

Responses from the experienced people here will be appreciated.

Can someone her or one of the admins please respond?

[moron]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, wife's visa is definitely a work permit as it was last renewed Feb 07, before the Tier-2 stuff kicked in. The "Type of permit" on her visa says "Limited leave to remain".

My "broken residence" case is a bit complex, so I was having a difficult time figuring out if I am elligible to apply for permanent residency in February 2010.

List of my Visas
------------------------
11-02-2005 To 11-02-2006 : Work permit (entered UK on20th February)
18-01-2006 To 18-01-2007 : Work permit renewed by employer

18-10-2006 To 18-10-2008 : HSMP (Applied in country, but got EC from India)
15-10-2008 To 18-10-2011 : Tier-1

As you can see, I would have been working in the UK for 5 years in February 2010.
The complexity is that on 31-08-2006 my assignment under my work permit ended (I had meanwhile applied for an HSMP in country). On 31-08-2006, I left UK as I wanted to sort out my contract etc. before coming back to the UK. I came to the UK on 13-10-2006 for an interview and decided to get a Visitor Visa for that (as I wasn't sure that my work permit was still officially valid). I then finally came back to the UK in my new Job on the 24-10-2006 (on my HSMP) and have been here since.

It might the Visitor Visa (which I believe was a good decision) that might have been the deal breaker. Some people on the forum use a SAR request to find out eligibility... do you think the information on there would help me?

[diago_nelson]

Yes. You have broken the rules of continuous stay between 31-08-2006 to 24-10-2006. You did not have a valid work visa during that time.

If you would not have gone out of UK during this period, you could had some remote chances.

Now the best option is as stated earlier. option 3.

I personally dont think a SAR might help here.

Thanks for the reply. Yes, wife's visa is definitely a work permit as it was last renewed Feb 07, before the Tier-2 stuff kicked in. The "Type of permit" on her visa says "Limited leave to remain".

My "broken residence" case is a bit complex, so I was having a difficult time figuring out if I am elligible to apply for permanent residency in February 2010.

List of my Visas
------------------------
11-02-2005 To 11-02-2006 : Work permit (entered UK on20th February)
18-01-2006 To 18-01-2007 : Work permit renewed by employer

18-10-2006 To 18-10-2008 : HSMP (Applied in country, but got EC from India)
15-10-2008 To 18-10-2011 : Tier-1

As you can see, I would have been working in the UK for 5 years in February 2010.
The complexity is that on 31-08-2006 my assignment under my work permit ended (I had meanwhile applied for an HSMP in country). On 31-08-2006, I left UK as I wanted to sort out my contract etc. before coming back to the UK. I came to the UK on 13-10-2006 for an interview and decided to get a Visitor Visa for that (as I wasn't sure that my work permit was still officially valid). I then finally came back to the UK in my new Job on the 24-10-2006 (on my HSMP) and have been here since.

It might the Visitor Visa (which I believe was a good decision) that might have been the deal breaker. Some people on the forum use a SAR request to find out eligibility... do you think the information on there would help me?

[moron]

Hi again Diago!

Was just trying to assess the risk of choosing between 3 (Tier1->WP Dependant) and 2(HSMPOctober2006->Tier1->ILR).
(3) is risky if my wifes ILR (with me as dependant) gets rejected for some reason (I can't see any, but still there is always a probability!) I can maybe ask for some information via SAR to de risk it further. The most risky seems the number of days out of UK as I'm unsure how I can count all the long weekend holidays as well as leaves we have been out on and what proof I'll have to provide for these.

Is (2) risky for me? Will I be affected by the July 2011 rules considering my HSMP was approved on 18-10-2006 ?
In case of (2), my wife will be citizen in May 2011, so can I directly apply for naturalisation in may 2011 (instead of ILR and then Citizenship) considering UKBA doesn't say I need to be on a spousal visa before applying (http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/briti ... ofcitizen/).

[moron]

Anyone?

Hi again Diago!

Was just trying to assess the risk of choosing between 3 (Tier1->WP Dependant) and 2(HSMPOctober2006->Tier1->ILR).
(3) is risky if my wifes ILR (with me as dependant) gets rejected for some reason (I can't see any, but still there is always a probability!) I can maybe ask for some information via SAR to de risk it further. The most risky seems the number of days out of UK as I'm unsure how I can count all the long weekend holidays as well as leaves we have been out on and what proof I'll have to provide for these.

Is (2) risky for me? Will I be affected by the July 2011 rules considering my HSMP was approved on 18-10-2006 ?
In case of (2), my wife will be citizen in May 2011, so can I directly apply for naturalisation in may 2011 (instead of ILR and then Citizenship) considering UKBA doesn't say I need to be on a spousal visa before applying (http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/briti ... ofcitizen/).