New Forms for naturalisation

[JAJ]

It seems like there's a bit missing. Do you think it's ok to use this form even though the "declaration" doesn't make sense and it asks for the name of the first referee twice?

The Home Office will not want their foolishness to become even more widely known through refusing applications for unsound reasons, so I would think the answer is yes.

[AlexCh]

"I declare that I am qualified to act as referee and believe that the applicant, of whom the photgraph above is a true likeness."

It seems like there's a bit missing. Do you think it's ok to use this form even though the "declaration" doesn't make sense and it asks for the name of the first referee twice?

And they even do not ask to glue the picture - just to clip it.

[Marco 72]

I have another question about the referees. According to the guide (page 24), "One referee should be a person of professional standing such as [...]. The other must be the holder of a current British citizen passport." Now, the million dollar question is: does the 'professional' referee need to have a British citizen passport as well? If so, can they just leave that field blank? I called the HO helpline but they didn't seem too sure

[Dawie]

I have another question about the referees. According to the guide (page 24), "One referee should be a person of professional standing such as [...]. The other must be the holder of a current British citizen passport." Now, the million dollar question is: does the 'professional' referee need to have a British citizen passport as well? If so, can they just leave that field blank? I called the HO helpline but they didn't seem too sure

I think both referees still have to be British citizens. The form asks for the British passport numbers of BOTH referees. Also the general trend is for them becoming stricter with referees, not less strict. Clearly only requiring one referee to be a British citizen, while tightening up all the other requirements, is a little odd.

[John]

Earlier in this topic I mentioned the step-son of someone we know who was approaching their 18th birthday. To cut a long story short the form MN1 was received by IND in Liverpool literally the day before the 18th birthday, the referees section being incomplete, if only because the lad concerned had not been in the UK for 3 years (although he had been in the UK over 2 years).

A suitable covering letter was also enclosed explaining the problem, as was a copy of a helpful email I had received from someone working in the Policy section of IND in Liverpool.

The result? I am informed that the application for Registration has been accepted ..... and without the need to complete the referees section on the form. Because the lad is now 18 he will have to attend a Citizenship Ceremony to receive his Certificate of Registration, but it seems there is no fee levied for that ceremony.

As they say .... all's well that ends well .... and that is after a period of anxiety caused by an ill-thought-out redrafting of the form MN1.