wife on her own WP of a british citizen, how to get ILR/ctzn

[blackpurple]

I'm a british citizen and my wife is working in the UK on her own Work Permit processed by her company. We are married since last 3.5 years and we are living together in the UK for almost the same period. At the time when she came to UK she could have came on the dependent visa but her company processed her work permit instead of dependent visa. What is the way forward to get her a long term visa (ILR or Natualisation)? Can we get her visa status changed while living in te UK or does she need to travel back to her root country to get the long term dependent visa?

thanks in advance for your comments !
Cheers

[sakura]

Hi,

You have a few options, think carefully about these;
1. If she has been on a WP for the 3.5 years you mentioned, she can apply for ILR in 1.5 years' time, namely end of 2008/early 2009. However, the risky thing about this is that if the BIA decide to change things again, she might have to wait another year or so...this is if they change things, not when, as nothing has been said. If she applies for ILR after 5 years' WP, she would need to wait 12 months before applying for naturalisation.

2. She cannot apply for ILR/naturalisation as the spouse of a British Citizen now because she has not had a spouse visa! So, you can make an in-country application for a spouse visa, but that means she needs to do the 2-year qualifying period before applying for ILR (meaning an ILR application in 2009). After tests, etc, however, (I think) she can immediately apply for naturalisation (because the appilcation can be made 3 years to the date of entry for settlement, and since she was in the UK in another category, she doesn't need to do the 12-month ILR period...double check with a senior member/moderator, though). But, maybe the BIA will change things in this category, who knows....

Note that she doesn't apply for a dependent visa, be very careful about that. She applies for a spouse visa (in-country).

It's a shame you didn't immediately change her status (you could have done, regardless of the WP), because by now she might have been a British Citizen and not have to take all these tests, not to mention the costs of applying after the 2nd April '07 changes.

[JAJ]

If she applies for ILR after 5 years' WP, she would need to wait 12 months before applying for naturalisation.

No 12 month wait if she is married to a British citizen.

[Wanderer]

Was she actually working on this WP?

[sakura]

jaj wrote:

No 12 month wait if she is married to a British citizen.

Ahh..even if she applied for ILR on a WP? I thought it was only possible if she applied for ILR as the spouse of a BC? So you do learn something new everyday...

[John]

It matters not what route she takes to get the ILR. The fact is that once she has ILR then she is entitled to apply immediately for Naturalisation, given that she is married to a British Citizen, and has been in the UK for over 3 years.

[Wanderer]

It matters not what route she takes to get the ILR. The fact is that once she has ILR then she is entitled to apply immediately for Naturalisation, given that she is married to a British Citizen, and has been in the UK for over 3 years.

But what happens if she's been here on an erroneously issued WP, and not actually worked?

We don't know if this is the case here but I would be interested to know the answer if it was.

[John]

But what happens if she's been here on an erroneously issued WP, and not actually worked?

That is a very different question, but we have been told :-

.... but her company processed her work permit instead of dependent visa ....

-: which suggests to me she has been working. But confirmation of that would be good.

[blackpurple]

Thnaks for all your responses !
And answer to your question whether my wife works or not is , She is working for the company that has processed her WP.

[sakura]

So I guess the best thing for her is, if her WP is still valid, to stick to the WP as it is a faster route, and, as JAJ and John pointed out, apply for naturalisation immediately after ILR, incl. tests, etc.

[jes2jes]

John, JAJ & the experts on Naturalisation please clarify.

I came from a meeting tonight and after the meeting, my lady friend announced to me that she was granted ILR today from the PEO. She is married to a BC. She has been living in the UK for almost 6 years and was previously on WP and switched to spousal visa.

She is very sad that she cannot apply for naturalisation now because she was informed by the CW that the rules have been changed since 2nd April, 07 and she would have to wait one year before applying although she is married to a BC.

Can someone clarify if this is so and where the policy document relating this is located. I have downloaded the guide for naturalisation and if I spot it I will inform the board but please if you have any info concerning the changes please share with the whole board so that members would be aware.

Thank you.

[JAJ]

John, JAJ & the experts on Naturalisation please clarify.

I came from a meeting tonight and after the meeting, my lady friend announced to me that she was granted ILR today from the PEO. She is married to a BC. She has been living in the UK for almost 6 years and was previously on WP and switched to spousal visa.

She is very sad that she cannot apply for naturalisation now because she was informed by the CW that the rules have been changed since 2nd April, 07 and she would have to wait one year before applying although she is married to a BC.

Can someone clarify if this is so and where the policy document relating this is located. I have downloaded the guide for naturalisation and if I spot it I will inform the board but please if you have any info concerning the changes please share with the whole board so that members would be aware.

The nationality rules have not been changed and the "CW" is absolutely, utterly wrong.

If she is married to a British citizen she does not have to wait the one year, if she already has 3 years residence. Irrespective of how she obtained ILR. Simple as that.

[jes2jes]

JAJ:

Thank you for your response. I thrawled through the OP Manuals and also found nothing to this effect. My friend is going to set up an appointment with the NCS to sort it out.

Thanks again.

[JAJ]

JAJ:

Thank you for your response. I thrawled through the OP Manuals and also found nothing to this effect. My friend is going to set up an appointment with the NCS to sort it out.

A quick perusal of leaflet BN7 should convince you that I am correct:
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/applyi ... w=Standard

There is no equivalent of the 12 month rule (section 3d) in section 5 where the requirements for spouses are outlined.