Nationality and Record of Travel

[jr_citizen]

Hi all,

I've been looking over the forms for applying for British nationality, which I plan to do one year after I get my IRL. I noticed the requirement to list every trip out of the UK for the past five years - including departure and return dates... and though, oh ^&()(!

I do extensive travel for work, and mix in some personal travel as well. I'm realizing that there will be no way possible to comprehensively and accurately list a lot of travel - I often changed plans mid way through my trip (so my listed itinerary wouldn't be correct), and did not keep a detailed travel log. Frankly, the only accurate list of my travels is what HM Customs would have on record on my arrival.

How do I handle this? Obviously I can list out what I have the details of, but even with that - some of the dates I have on record may not match what the Customs/Immigrations computers would show.

Your thoughts please - and thanks in advance!

[brummel]

You have to do some detective work, dude!

I am sure someone who's legally qualified may give you a different advice (i.e. to put dates to the best of your knowledge, etc etc)

If you had nationality in mind, you should have kept records! It isn't "out of the blue" decision for you to apply, nicht var?

Here is my advice where to find info about your travels:
1. passport stamps (ILR now gets stamped on every entry to the UK)
2. statements from airlines, frequent flyer miles accounts, hotel membership points
3. expense reports from work - the company should keep records for 3 years. You can get the hotel dates from there
4. mobile phone bills (you can view your past year online)
5. credit card bills (transactions made abroad) - American Express can print you a yearly summary and you can order statements up to several years ago
6. your diaries, planners, filofax
7. ask the friends you visited if they remember the dates

Good luck!

Brum

P.S. I actually did the same for myself a while ago, it took me 3 hours to rummage through old statements and list 112 entry/exit occasions in their exact chronological order! Don't give up!

[jr_citizen]

Thanks for your tips brummel!

I've started making a list... and will consult some of the suggestions you made. I do think I can cover a lot of ground, but I'm still concerned some information I gather will be incomplete. That said, I think I will try to get some legal/professional advice on this.

That notwithstanding... has anyone had any experiences where the dates the supplied were either slightly incorrect, or they missed a trip or two? What happened - did this stall or make questionable your entire application? Were there any further implications?

Your experiences on a postcard, please!

Many thanks!

[Kayalami]

The burden of proof to demonstrate physical presence in the UK falls on the applicant. However the Home Office can exercise an element of discretion where there is a slight shortfall/ mismatch of dates. I understand from a reliable source that missing dates over the qualifying period of upto 30 days subject to all the other conditions being met tend to be ignored. Happy paper gathering - I hope the banks don't charge you a fee for resending various documentation .