British naturalization for family

[tpuk1]

Hi

We are three members (myself, wife and a daughter). We all got ILR last year and in next few days we will be eligible for applying citizenship.

I completed 5 years + 1 year as ILR. My wife completed 3 year + 1 year ILR. and my child completed 2 year + 1 year ILR.

Can I apply for citizenship for all three together? Do I have to fill 3 forms or one form can cover all of us? What will be the total fees?

Can someone who might have the same kind of situation, please clarify my doubt.

[John]

You can apply for Naturalisation, having been in the UK for over 5 years, but your wife cannot, not yet. As regards your child, yes, you can apply for Registration as British for her.

Your wife? Once you are British then your wife will be able to apply. The reason for that is that she will be married to a British Citizen .... you! Thus it will be the case that her qualifying period will be 3 years, not 5 years.

Do make sure that when you apply for Naturalisation that you were physically in the UK exactly 5 years before UKBA will receive the Naturalisation application. And for your wife, assuming she will be applying once you are British, make sure that she was physically in the UK exactly 3 years before UKBA will receive her application.

Alternatively .... if you all want to apply at the same time .... you will need to wait until your wife can pass the test that she was in the UK exactly 5 years earlier.

Can you post the exact date your wife arrived in the UK about 4 years ago? Also, prior to that, did she visit the UK in the year before that? If yes, the exact dates of such visits to the UK?

[Sekkappan]

Just like the previous post my situation is very similar.

I landed at UK on 22nd May 2005 and my wife on 7th July 2005 and my daughter joined us in 2007.

I understand I can apply on 23rd May 2010 and my wife on 8th July 2010 and my daughter whenever either of us apply.

My question now is when are the changes to British Nationality being brought about - i mean all the talk about earned nationality / temporary nationality etc. is this going to be before August this year?

If you think there is a chance of this coming into effect pretty soon I might as well apply for me & my daughter first and my wife later. Any comment / suggestion will be much appreciated.

[John]

Sekkappan, so you will all get your ILRs soon? If so, no problem, you will all be allowed to apply under the existing rules .... as soon as the ILRs held for one year.

[Sekkappan]

John Sorry I should have mentioned I was subject to HSMP JR and got my ILR last year with a letter that says considered to have had ILR from 22nd May 2009 which means I can apply for citizenship this year.

But good to know that the old rules will apply for me. If you were me would you apply for the entire family together on 8th July 2010 or later?

[John]

Sorry I should have mentioned I was subject to HSMP JR and got my ILR last year with a letter that says considered to have had ILR from 22nd May 2009 which means I can apply for citizenship this year.

Indeed that is rather relevant.

If you were me would you apply for the entire family together on 8th July 2010 or later?

Indeed, yes! For me it would make no sense for you to apply earlier. Apply together in July and get the benefit of the joint application fee for you and your wife.

[tpuk1]

I came here on Feb-2004, My wife came first to this country in March 2006 .. and my child came to this country in July 2007.

Do I have to wait until March 2011 if I want to apply together to save some money?

[John]

Do I have to wait until March 2011 if I want to apply together to save some money?

Indeed you do. It is imperative, if you are going to apply at the same time, that both you and your wife pass the "applicant was physically present in the UK exactly 5 years before UKBA receive the Naturalisation application" test. UKBA have no discretion as regards this particular rule.

tpuk1, your wife did not even come to the UK as a visitor before March 2006?

The child? No problem there. Except, given you don't give us the age of the child, presumably they will still be a child next March? That is, still under 18?

[tpuk1]

Noop, my wife visited first time in march 2006. and my child is 3 year old .. so I think I have to apply for myself and for my child. once I get the citizenship, I will apply for my wife. Only thing is, I will be spending lot of money ...

Do you know what will be the fees for me + my child (together).

Thanks John for your replies.

Tapan

[John]

Here is a link to the Fees Table. So you will see that for you it will be £655 + £80 = £735, and for your a further £470. Then a further £735 when your wife applies.

Or if you delay the applications until next March, For you and your wife £770 + £80 + £80 = £930, and £470 for your child.

Waiting until March to make all the applications will save you £540.

[Peformant]

John or Moderators

Would request your validation pls on my situation and advise the right time for applying for naturalisation:

Me - Date of Entry 16-09-2004
Wife - Date of entry 31-10-2004
Daughter - Date of entry 31-10-2004 ( she is now about 10 yrs old)

Wife and daughter had a break outside UK between 27th Mar-2005 to 29th Oct- 2006

During that period i had my second child (Son) and who entered into UK on 29th Oct-2006 ( now he is about 4 yrs old)

ILR obtained - 18 - Nov - 2009 ( i am WP + Tier 1, so 5 years completion for ILR)can I apply in 19th Nov-2010 for the naturalisation , does it affect my son's case as he would only be completing 4 years stay in UK

Request you to advise the time line i need to consider for the naturalisation application as a Family or there are any other options pls highlight the same ?.

Thanks

[John]

Peformant, firstly thank you, you have clearly been reading relevant posts and have posted all relevant information, well nearly, more about that later.

So can you all apply for Citizenship on 19.11.10? Regretfully no .... you can all apply on that date, apart from your wife. Why can't she apply with the rest of you? Because on that date she will be failing the "applicant must be physically present in the UK exactly 5 years before UKBA receive the Naturalisation application" test. As she was out of the UK from 27th Mar-2005 to 29th Oct- 2006, clearly she was out of the UK on 19.10.05 .... exactly 5 years before 19.10.10.

Different rules apply for Registration applications for the children, so no problem as regards your daughter, now aged 10. And not a problem about your 4yo son.

So applications from 3 of you totally OK on 19.11.10 ..... as long as you were physically in the UK exactly 5 years earlier .... the little piece of information you omitted. After all you might have been out of the UK, on holiday or on business, on 19.11.05.

Your wife? After you are British, surprise surprise, she will be married to a British Citizen ... you! Accordingly a 3-year test will then apply for her. Therefore she can apply for Naturalisation as soon as you are British, as long as she was physically present in the UK exactly 3 years earlier.

Alternatively, if you all want to apply at the same time .... and possibly save a few pounds ..... you will need to wait until after 29.10.11 ...... 5 years after your wife returned to the UK. I say possibly, because we don't yet know the fees that will apply in 2011-12.

[Peformant]

John ,

My Sincere Thanks for the detail and precise reply.

To clarify your queries -

Me - was present physically in UK from Sep 2005 and employed consistently - which is inline to the critieria of 5 years before date for the presence during naturalisation application as on Oct / Nov 2010.

Wife along with my daughter - was away between 27th mar-2005 to 29th Oct 2006 due to her health issues and need of family support .

Request the clarification as per your statement > so no problem as regards your daughter, now aged 10. And not a problem about your 4yo son. < - is that mean children even though they are not physically present exactly 5 years before but they are eligble due to different rules for registration applications - could you pls brief here on the eligibility


Also one more clarification - I got my ILR application stamped on 18th Nov2009 but my application date was recived by HO was 1st Sep 2009 , does the dates needs to be after 18th Nov 2010 for the naturalisation applcation date ? as i guess one of the requirement for naturalisation application is that you should have completed 1 year on ILR .

Or i can still appy in Sep-2010 as my total year of stay is > 6 years considering my ILR application date is during 1st Sep 2009.


Yes - I will go with your advice to apply for my wife after my application is completed on the basis of partner of British citizen - probably it would fork me out more money but need to think as we dont know what will be the fee changes in coming years

Regards

[John]

Me - was present physically in UK from Sep 2005 and employed consistently - which is inline to the critieria of 5 years before date for the presence during naturalisation application as on Oct / Nov 2010.

What, you entered the UK in September 2005 and you have not left since? If that is actually the case, OK, but if not you must ensure you you were physically in the UK exactly 5 years before UKBA receive your Naturalisation application.

Request the clarification as per your statement > so no problem as regards your daughter, now aged 10. And not a problem about your 4yo son

The difference is that your children will not be applying for Naturalisation. Instead they will be applying for Registration as British. Different qualification conditions apply. So again, no problem your children applying for Registration at the same time as you apply for Naturalisation.

The difference between Naturalisation and Registration? Once granted, effectively no difference, but as already said there are differences in the application conditions.

I got my ILR application stamped on 18th Nov2009 but my application date was recived by HO was 1st Sep 2009

You need to wait until you have actually had ILR for 1 year. The ILR date of application is irrelevant.

[Peformant]

Great, Thanks John for the clarifications

Have a Warm and Good Weekend

Cheers

[vjhunt]

Hi there,

Thank you all for providing valuable information.

Can someone please help me regarding my situation.

came to the UK on 11/04/2005
Wife Came on : 26/06/2006
Son born in the UK on : 22/05/2007
Got HSMP (JR) ILR on 24/07/2009
I am eligible for Citizenship now. I know my wife can not apply with me becuase she hasn't completed her 5 years. She can apply once I become the British National. My son can apply with me.

My query is what is this child registration business?
Under what circumstances child needs to be registered?
Do I need to register my child before applying for citizenship or we can apply citizenship straitaway?

Please help me.

Many thanks

[John]

Under what circumstances child needs to be registered?

The circumstance of wanting your child to be British, because without Registration he will not be British!

But it is not compulsory!

Do I need to register my child before applying for citizenship or we can apply citizenship straight away?

Think of them as separate applications, not dependant on one another. So OK for the form MN1 to be submitted first, or the form AN submitted first, but to me it makes perfect sense to submit the applications together.

And yes, as soon as you are British your wife will be able to submit her form AN, under the 3-year rule.

[vjhunt]

Thanks for your prompt reply John. Much appreciated.

Actually I have contact Nationality contact center and they has suggested that I can apply with my son not with wife because of time constraint. I spoke to the officer about If I apply via NCS, then I don't have to submit my passport however, if I submit my application on my own, I have to submit my passport during the whole process.

However, the lady reply even if you apply through NCS and you do not submit your passport, your application will be delayed. So, it is recommended to submit the passport even if applying via NCS.

Now I am confused, should I apply myself or via NCS. I think there is nothing special NCS can do apart from just checking the form and all necessary documents.

What you suggest?

Looking for reply.

[John]

vjhunt, I think you are slightly misunderstanding about NCS and the passport. When you attend at the NCS office, yes you must take relevant passports with you, but the NCS office photocopy them, and hand them straight back to you. So the passport(s) are not actually out of your possession at all, apart from a few minutes while NCS photocopy them.