Citizenship question - living outside the UK

[Satya80]

Hello,

I posted in the IRL forum with a concern about losing my IRL due to a lengthening period of living outside of the country. I'm a little confused regarding acceptable length of time absent. My absence is not entirely within my control, however. I apologize in advance for some personal feelings that will be in this post...

I would like to know what my chances are for a successful application for citizenship given my circumstances.

Here are the facts:

- I'm a US citizen and moved to England in 2003 on a fiancees visa. I married that year.

- Lived and worked happily in England (married) for a total of 7.5 years, obtained permanent IRL when I was able to (after 2 years).

- In April 2011 we separated due to unreasonable behaviour on my spouses' part. I will not go into details but the short of it is the marriage broke down irrevocably in a very short amount of time due to my husband's behaviour and I had no choice but to return to the US to fall back on family. I did not have the means to support myself alone and remain in the UK.

- I have been living in the US since April 2011, handling the divorce from a distance. My IRL is still stamped into an old US passport and I have been back in England for one or two short trips.

Here is my plea:

I have lost my ability to have a stable life in England due to my husband's behaviour and now that I have had time to process the anguish this whole thing has caused me, I feel cheated out of the opportunity to have obtained citizenship.

I understand that I would need to meet certain criteria to apply for citizenship but is this retroactive? If I lived in England for the full period of time whilst married (Is it 3 years or 5 years for me?) and can prove this with mortgage statements or other letters qualifying my residency for that period of time, can I still apply? Or would I need to be actively residing in the UK at the time of my application?

I hope no one takes offense to this questions and thinks I am trying to get something illegitimately. This divorce has literally broken my stable world apart and now that my head is in a better place and I can logically sift through the things I have lost, I would like to know if there would be any case for me.

Any thoughts, help, or advice would be appreciated.

Thank you very much in advance!

[Jambo]

The relevant residential period (3 years if married. 5 years once divorced) is the one prior to the application and can't be retroactive. You are also expect to keep your ties with the UK after becoming BC and not move abroad (although no one stops you doing so once you become a BC).

Do you intend to move back to the UK later in life? Why do you seek a British citizenship in addition to a US one?

Your ILR is still valid as you have not been away from the UK for more than 2 years and if you decide to come back, you can later apply for naturalisation once you meet the requirements.

[Backer]

Following Jambo - You can still return to live in the UK without any restrictions since you still have a valid ILR.
If you do not intend to come and live in the UK then is British citizenship important to you?

[osteophytes]

1) Unless your husband (if the divorce is still not official) is willing to sign in the AN1 form, you can not apply as a spouse (i.e the three year route)

2)if you want to apply as some one who is resident in UK for 5 years plus then it is ok

BUT

For either categories - you are not eligible now as you have been away from UK for nearly 8 months in the last 12 months.

I dont think you can apply now based on the fact that you were here continuously in the past.

One of the residential requirements is not to be away for more than 90 days in last 12 months (sometimes discretion applies but 8 months might be too much)

You will also have problem with future intention requirement if you want to apply independently

Finally

Your ILR is valid as long as you are not away for more than 2 years. Frequent trips for short duration only might make the immigration officer suspicious and they have the authority to cancel it during entry.


Your only option if you want to get BC is to come and stay here for long enough to satisfy the residential requirements - in your case a 12 month stay might be enough

[Satya80]

Thank you all very much for the replies - this clears up a lot of my confusion.

Just to address your questions, Jambo:

Do you intend to move back to the UK later in life? Why do you seek a British citizenship in addition to a US one?

I had thought to move back to the UK, yes. I was interested in dual-citizenship originally because my ex and I made a commitment only several months before the break up to remain in England long term. I was committed to the idea that we would live there for the rest of our lives and I wanted the chance to be able to contribute fully as a citizen. My personal reasons are still the same but I must admit that the breakdown of the marriage caused me to have to move back to the US so rapidly that it gave me pause for thought. This is why it has taken me some months to revisit this option.

Regarding IRL, I take it these little trips in-between are really just testing the water, aren't they? If so, I guess I will just keep holding onto it and if it means that much to me, find a way to move back to the country by way of employment.

One last question: If my ILR is ever revoked and I then find myself in a position to move back and gain leave to remain (say, for work), will my previous time residing there be ignored? Will I need to be living there for 5 more years before I can apply for citizenship?

[Jambo]

Any legal stay in the UK counts for the five years. However there are residential requirements one of them is less than 450 days absence from the UK during the period. If you are away for more than 2 years (and your ILR is revoked) effectively it means your clock starts from 0.

[tier1extension]

thanks jambo. when you say the ILR is revoked and the clock starts at 0 if the ILR holder is away for more than 2 years, then does that revocation mean the person needs to go through the same 5 yrs process under work permit again or does it simply mean the person still qualify for ILR but simply have to pay the application fee for ILR again?

[Jambo]

thanks jambo. when you say the ILR is revoked and the clock starts at 0 if the ILR holder is away for more than 2 years, then does that revocation mean the person needs to go through the same 5 yrs process under work permit again or does it simply mean the person still qualify for ILR but simply have to pay the application fee for ILR again?

It the ILR is revoked, then a you will need to apply for a new visa. You can't just apply directly for ILR.

[osteophytes]

thanks jambo. when you say the ILR is revoked and the clock starts at 0 if the ILR holder is away for more than 2 years, then does that revocation mean the person needs to go through the same 5 yrs process under work permit again or does it simply mean the person still qualify for ILR but simply have to pay the application fee for ILR again?

It the ILR is revoked, then a you will need to apply for a new visa. You can't just apply directly for ILR.

I agree with Jambo but there are some exceptions to the 2 year rule when applying as a returning resident

Check the sentence after the bullet points in this link

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas ... residents/