Am I Eligible?

[gabysls]

Hi all:

I read the guidance and got confused with the residential requirements. Here's my timeline and hope someone could explain to me whether I would qualify or not:

- Arrived in September 2004 under student visa
- Completed degree in Summer 2007.
- Went back to my country from September 2007 - January 2008.
- Applied for International Graduate Scheme (IGS) visa in December 2007, approved in January 2008, came to the UK to work in February 2008 onwards.
- Applied for Tier 1 Post Study Work (Transitional Arrangements) for a year's extension in December 2008 since IGS is only one year.
- Application rejected in January 2009. Appealed straightaway.
- Appeal took place from January 2009 - January 2011. Won appeal at the Court of Appeal in February 2011.
- Got the Tier 1 visa stamped in May 2011. The visa runs out next month.

So in summary, I have been here from September 2004 until now. Am I eligible for the citizenship/PR? If not, what should I do or prepare in advance?

Thank you kindly.

Gaby

[boloney]

Hi all:

I read the guidance and got confused with the residential requirements. Here's my timeline and hope someone could explain to me whether I would qualify or not:

- Arrived in September 2004 under student visa
- Completed degree in Summer 2007.
- Went back to my country from September 2007 - January 2008.
- Applied for International Graduate Scheme (IGS) visa in December 2007, approved in January 2008, came to the UK to work in February 2008 onwards.
- Applied for Tier 1 Post Study Work (Transitional Arrangements) for a year's extension in December 2008 since IGS is only one year.
- Application rejected in January 2009. Appealed straightaway.
- Appeal took place from January 2009 - January 2011. Won appeal at the Court of Appeal in February 2011.
- Got the Tier 1 visa stamped in May 2011. The visa runs out next month.

So in summary, I have been here from September 2004 until now. Am I eligible for the citizenship/PR? If not, what should I do or prepare in advance?

Thank you kindly.

Gaby

you need to get ILR first.

[gabysls]

Hi all:

I read the guidance and got confused with the residential requirements. Here's my timeline and hope someone could explain to me whether I would qualify or not:

- Arrived in September 2004 under student visa
- Completed degree in Summer 2007.
- Went back to my country from September 2007 - January 2008.
- Applied for International Graduate Scheme (IGS) visa in December 2007, approved in January 2008, came to the UK to work in February 2008 onwards.
- Applied for Tier 1 Post Study Work (Transitional Arrangements) for a year's extension in December 2008 since IGS is only one year.
- Application rejected in January 2009. Appealed straightaway.
- Appeal took place from January 2009 - January 2011. Won appeal at the Court of Appeal in February 2011.
- Got the Tier 1 visa stamped in May 2011. The visa runs out next month.

So in summary, I have been here from September 2004 until now. Am I eligible for the citizenship/PR? If not, what should I do or prepare in advance?

Thank you kindly.

Gaby

you need to get ILR first.

Thank you, but could you let me know how could I get the ILR please? Any help is appreciated.

[Greenie]

You don't qualify for ilr. Psw is not a route to settlement other then under the 10/14 year long residence rules.

[genorp]

You don't yet qualify for ILR but depending on certain factors you may eventually. If when you left the UK in 2007 your leave was still valid, then when you returned with the new leave in February 2008 then you will not have had a break in continuous residence since it was less than 6 months. Then the issue is what happened next.
Where were you during the 2-year appeal process? Were you in the UK?
If so, then you might qualify for ILR under 10 years long residence in September 2014.
If not and your present leave is Tier 1 - PSW then your qualifying period under the 5-year rule hasn't begun yet.
In any event, you will need to extend beyond next month to hope to qualify for ILR in any category some time in the future.
Until you have ILR for 12 months you will not be able to apply for citizenship.

In a nutshell, you do not qualify for naturalisation because you don't have ILR and you don't yet qualify for ILR.