British Citizenship - English Test and other ?'s

[Hawk269]

She could have applied as soon as she got ILR earlier in the year. You are correct, a spouse of British citizen does not have to wait 12 months on ILR.

However, she needs to understand that their are two additional steps, with costs, involved if she wishes to retain her SA citizenship. This is separate and must be BEFORE she applies for British citizenship. If she does not wish to retain her SA citizenship, she can apply directly for naturalisation as BC.

I am in the same situation, a South african applying for my UK Citizenship. I litterally found out this morning good & thing I checked (i was going ot submit my application this afternoon) that I need to take an english test (I never needed this 12 months ago when I applied & was granted my my IRL) is this something new? (I am a native english speaker) I've completed my schooling, Bacholars and Masters degrees in english (not in the UK however)and published an academic paperback in english (Lambert Publishing) do i still need to take the test? If so which one ? (I had a look and there are 2 versions of the B1 test, 'B1 - GESE grade 5' & 'B1- ISE 1')

Furthermore with reference to above quote, I would like to retain my South African citizenship what route do i take ? I've had ILR for 13 months now.

[CR001]

She could have applied as soon as she got ILR earlier in the year. You are correct, a spouse of British citizen does not have to wait 12 months on ILR.

However, she needs to understand that their are two additional steps, with costs, involved if she wishes to retain her SA citizenship. This is separate and must be BEFORE she applies for British citizenship. If she does not wish to retain her SA citizenship, she can apply directly for naturalisation as BC.

I am in the same situation, a South african applying for my UK Citizenship. I litterally found out this morning good & thing I checked (i was going ot submit my application this afternoon) that I need to take an english test (I never needed this 12 months ago when I applied & was granted my my IRL) is this something new? (I am a native english speaker) I've completed my schooling, Bacholars and Masters degrees in english (not in the UK however)and published an academic paperback in english (Lambert Publishing) do i still need to take the test? If so which one ? (I had a look and there are 2 versions of the B1 test, 'B1 - GESE grade 5' & 'B1- ISE 1')

Furthermore with reference to above quote, I would like to retain my South African citizenship what route do i take ? I've had ILR for 13 months now.

You would have had to meet the English requirement for ILR (UK immigration route). What was your visa status before ILR? Have you done LIUK?

To retain your SA citizenship, you have to apply to Home Office for confirmation that you are NOT British. This costs £198. Once you have this letter (it takes a few weeks), then you have to go to Home Affairs in Whitehall, London and apply for permission to take another nationality. This costs £25 I think and takes a couple of hours. Only once you have the letter from Home Affairs, then you are good to apply for BC without losing your SA citizenship.

If you choose not to do these two steps, you can go to HA once you have your British citizenship certificate and get a letter, free of charge, advising you of the loss of SA citizenship and your right to still have permanent residence in SA (if born there) and how you can resume SA citizenship after 12 months of living in RSA. This is what I did and just travel in and out of SA on my British passport with the letter.

[CR001]

You do not have ILR, which is issued under the UK Immigration rules.

From your previous posts, you appear to be and EEA FM. Do you hold a document confirming your permanent residence? This would be why you did not require LIUK or English.

So to answer your questions again, YES you need B1 English or UK NARIC ELA assessment on your degree if not UK degree to be able to apply for British Citizenship. South Africa is not a majority English speaking country that would exempt you from the test.

[noajthan]

She could have applied as soon as she got ILR earlier in the year. You are correct, a spouse of British citizen does not have to wait 12 months on ILR.

However, she needs to understand that their are two additional steps, with costs, involved if she wishes to retain her SA citizenship. This is separate and must be BEFORE she applies for British citizenship. If she does not wish to retain her SA citizenship, she can apply directly for naturalisation as BC.

I am in the same situation, a South african applying for my UK Citizenship. I litterally found out this morning good & thing I checked (i was going ot submit my application this afternoon) that I need to take an english test
...

It is not possible to prepare and submit a realistic application within half a day with any measue of confidence.

First rule of UK immigration is check and work towards requirements well ahead of time to avoid those little gotachas, such as the need to speak the Queen's English.
After all, the devil is in the detail.

And no, being a published author does not exempt one from proof of English test.

[Hawk269]

I've been here on a 5 year 'Residence Card of a family memmber of an EEA National' visa (spouse of an EEA citizen). I've actually been preping and gathering supporting docs from the the date I got my IRL last august (to avoid the 'little gotcha' rule changes) and I got that without a language test but I did require a 'life in the UK' test which I have taken and passed but I've been asked for an english language test (the equivilant to the old TOEFL tests).

So my question, is it now (since 24/04/2015 to date) a requirement for South Africans to take a language test to apply for UK citizenship and do they fall under that change of law even though I received my IRL valid from 24/08/2015 - 24/08/2025 even though I received the afore mentioned IRL without a language test 12 months ago?

[noajthan]

There's been no law change.
Citizenship is not a type of visa.
Proof of English has always been required.
Even for settlement on domestic route its been required.

Only those blessed to be on EU route have no need to prove English - as its not mandated in EU law.
But for privilege of citizenship all come under UK domestic law.

All your other posts are about EU, FP and RC so how did you get ILR (IRL as you call it)?

I suspect you acquired PR instead of getting 'IRL'.
What format does this proof take?

If you were on EU route and actually acquired PR there was no English requirement.
But to naturalise there is and SAs are not
exempt.

My wife speaks 5 languages, English is quasi-official 3rd language in her country; she was not exempt either.

[Hawk269]

There's been no law change.
Citizenship is not a type of visa.
Proof of English has always been required.
Even for settlement on domestic route its been required.

Only those blessed to be on EU route have no need to prove English - as its not mandated in EU law.
But for privilege of citizenship all come under UK domestic law.

All your other posts are about EU, FP and RC so how did you get ILR (IRL as you call it)?

I suspect you acquired PR instead of getting 'IRL'.
What format does this proof take?

If you were on EU route and actually acquired PR there was no English requirement.
But to naturalise there is and SAs are not
exempt.

My wife speaks 5 languages, English is quasi-official 3rd language in her country; she was not exempt either.

Sorry ‘IRL’ was a typo and yes I know the difference between a visa and neutralisation let’s not dwell on semantics ,
I've been in the UK for 5 years under an EEA spousal visa (my wife is Danish), 12+ months ago (24/08/2015) I applied for permanent residence which I received. The REMARKS on my visa are: ‘No restriction on the holder’s activity in the United Kingdom’ and the TYPE of document is ‘Permanent Residence Card’ and is VALID for 10 years. To my understanding this in fact ‘INDEFINITE LEAVE TO REMAIN’ or (‘ILR’).
I acquired this on the 24th August 2015, (accompanying my application form of course) was proof of accommodation and co-habitation (5 years), proof of EEA spouse exercising her treaty rights whilst in the Uk for 5 years, proof of marriage (11 years), proof of employment for 5 years and proof of passing the life in the UK test and that all.
When I completed my previous application for the afore mentioned Visa (18 months ago) it did ask if I had taken an English test or studied at a UK university or resident of a majority English speaking country the exact same question that’s asked in the AN application form I ticked 'from s majority english speaking country' and got the visa.
But if the test is a bonfire requirement for citizenship then I will all means take it I just wanted to make sure before I shell out £150 to take the test on a whim.

[noajthan]

Sorry ‘IRL’ was a typo and yes I know the difference between a visa and neutralisation let’s not dwell on semantics ,
I've been in the UK for 5 years under an EEA spousal visa (my wife is Danish), 12+ months ago (24/08/2015) I applied for permanent residence which I received. The REMARKS on my visa are: ‘No restriction on the holder’s activity in the United Kingdom’ and the TYPE of document is ‘Permanent Residence Card’ and is VALID for 10 years. To my understanding this in fact ‘INDEFINITE LEAVE TO REMAIN’ or (‘ILR’).
I acquired this on the 24th August 2015, (accompanying my application form of course) was proof of accommodation and co-habitation (5 years), proof of EEA spouse exercising her treaty rights whilst in the Uk for 5 years, proof of marriage (11 years), proof of employment for 5 years and proof of passing the life in the UK test and that all.
When I completed my previous application for the afore mentioned Visa (18 months ago) it did ask if I had taken an English test or studied at a UK university or resident of a majority English speaking country the exact same question that’s asked in the AN application form I ticked 'from s majority english speaking country' and got the visa.
But if the test is a bonfire requirement for citizenship then I will all means take it I just wanted to make sure before I shell out £150 to take the test on a whim.

Semantics is your friend. How else could you possibly glubble pibble drob ...

You do not have ILR (or 'IRL');
by calling what you actually have, (ie your PR status), "ILR" you are confusing (almost) everyone by intimating you came in on a domestic UK trajectory whereas it appears you actually took the EU migration route.

PR is not a visa. Get out of that visa mindset.

The reason you do not submit proof of English for confirmation of PR is because it is not required under EU law.
There is no such question on the form for confirmation of PR, or if there is (on some random form you filled in - the current PR form is not mandatory) then its totally irrelevant to obtaining PR status.
(Did I mention EU law).

A glance through the forum is testament that proof of English is not necessary for those enjoying free movement. Although many Union citizens put Brits to shame.
And to be fair many Brits could not string 3 or 4 words together in another Euro language let alone operate outside an Anglophile comfort zone.

It sounds like you are mis-remembering reading the AN form that you may have taken a sneaky preview of some time ago.

All your other posts seem to have been about EU stuff.
However, if you somehow were issued with a BRP for ILR (despite submitting a PR form) then HO must have experienced some major malfunction.

Anyway, all you need to do now is read the AN requirements and meet them.
And yes, it includes proof of English as a mandatory requirement.