'in a relationship akin to marriarge' and naturalization

[gro]

I am a British born man and have been with my Brazilian born girlfriend for over 5 years now. We managed to get her a 'leave to remain' visa on the basis of being in 'a relationship akin to marriage' (after a probationary 2 years this was made perminent a year ago). We have been living in the uk for over 3.5 years as a resident, 8 months absence from the UK before that and 1 year before that in the UK with her on a mix of holiday and student visas. She has been under the impression that she can apply for naturalization (eg. british citizenship) after 3 years on residency permits and has her Life In The UK exam booked for a couple of weeks time but I read today that being in a realationship akin to marriage would require her to wait for 6 years before making an application. Could any of you helpful folk out there be of assistence in advising whether she needs to wait 3 or 6 years before making her application.

Thank you in advance for any replies.

[vinny]

is married to/in a civil partnership with a British citizen (see Annex F to Chapter 6 and the entries "MARRIAGE" and "CIVIL PARTNERSHIP" in Volume 2); and

Legal marriage or civil partnership is required.

The fact that unmarried partnerships are acceptable under the Immigration Act does not automatically mean they are given the same allowance in the British Nationality Act.

However, the period of marriage does not have to be 3 years. It is marital status on date of application that counts.

If not married/civil partnership with a British citizen, then she would have to satisfy the standard requirements.

[gro]

thank you for your very prompt reply.
This does cause quite a big issue that we were not expecting... I will have to have a very long discussion with my partner...

[John]

I read today that being in a realationship akin to marriage would require her to wait for 6 years before making an application

Not sure where you read that, but do not think it is correct. On the facts as outlined by you, the 5 year test applies.

But do give more detail, because it is possible she might be eligible to apply now. Can you post the dates of her entering and leaving the UK, and that includes not just the last 3.5 years but also the time before.

[gro]

I will need to check the exact dates but if i remember correctly she had stayed for an entire holiday visa in 2002 before i met her, she left the country for a month or-so when we met and she returned on a second holiday visa around Sept 2002. In March 2003 we both left the country for 8 months and she returned with me again when she was granted another visa at the airport after a very lengthly interview. We were told by customs at the airport that she had been granted a special sponsored visa on this occasion but on asking the Home Office to confirm her status at a later date it does appear that she was simply granted an additional holiday visa. Within weeks we were able to change this visa for a student visa for the length of her course after which she was given a temporary leave to remain on the basis of 'being in a relationship akin to marriage' followed two years later in late 2006 by a permanent leave to remain. She has now held this permanent status for over a year.

If you need more precise details to better advise please let me know but the above dates should be fairly accurate.

Thank you very much for your time.

[sakura]

So she was given an unmarried partner's visa - when?
And when you state "permanent leave to remain", do you mean Indefinite Leave to remain? Is this written in her passport?

[gro]

So she was given an unmarried partner's visa - when?

This was granted in late 2004

And when you state "permanent leave to remain", do you mean Indefinite Leave to remain? Is this written in her passport?

Yes, 'indefinite leave to remain' is the visa she currently holds and has done since late 2006.

[RobinLondon]

Okay, gro, this is a bit more complicated with regard to dates than you may realise...but there is the possibility of a good result at the end!

You actually need to go and fetch your partner's passport and list/calculate all the days in the last five years that she has been out of the UK. The reason for that is there is some leeway in terms of absences for naturalisation. If she is below a certain threshold and was present in the UK on the day five years hence on the receipt of the application by the Home Office, then an application will likely be successful. Provided of course that she meets the other requirements (e.g., Life in the UK test, good character, ILR on the date of application, etc.)

So please do what John has asked you. I'd say from 1 March 2003 to the present, please provide a detailed list of all her UK absences. And tally up the number, excluding each day of departure and return to the UK; only full non-UK days count as absences. Then it's more likely that you'll get a definitive answer.

Happy tallying!

[John]

If you need more precise details to better advise please let me know but the above dates should be fairly accurate.

Yes, at least for calendar year 2003, it would be useful to have precise dates.

[vinny]

Read carefully the standard requirements for naturalisation (link given previously).

[gro]

-phew- my head hurts after all that counting but I now have the precise dates and absences indicated in her passport, they are as follows:

From Nov 2002 until Mar 2003 : In UK on tourist visa
13/03/2003 - 29/10/2003 : Away from UK
30/10/2003 - 29/10/2004 : In UK on tourist visa
29/04/2004 - 09/12/2004 : In UK on student visa
10/12/2004 - 2/12/2006 : In UK on 1st residency permit
2/12/2006 - Present : In UK on Indefinete leave to remain

Total number of absences from UK (including March-Oct 2003):
271 full days

[vinny]

Unfortunately, one of the conditions is that she needs to be present in the UK at the start of her qualifying period - 5 years prior to when they receive her application (under the standard requirements). So, it looks like the earliest that she may apply is after 30/10/08, provided that she doesn't spend more that 90 days outside the UK during her last year of her qualifying period (i.e. this year).

[RobinLondon]

I think you're going to find what I'm about to write a little irritating...

Firstly, I'm going to assume that you meant to write the following:

From Nov 2002 until Mar 2003 : In UK on tourist visa
13/03/2003 - 29/10/2003 : Away from UK
30/10/2003 - 29/04/2004 : In UK on tourist visa (you wrote 29/10/04, and I don't believe you can have a year-long tourist visa!)
29/04/2004 - 09/12/2004 : In UK on student visa
10/12/2004 - 2/12/2006 : In UK on 1st residency permit
2/12/2006 - Present : In UK on Indefinite leave to remain

Based on all that, you could have applied for naturalisation for your partner (assuming she had no other absences and had passed the Life in the UK exam) up until the 13th of March 2008. In other words, yesterday. Now you will have to wait until the 30th of October of this year at the earliest to apply.

But that's only seven months away. If she hasn't passed the exam, it just means that she has more time to study. Fees won't go up by then, but it just means you could have had it sorted sooner rather than later.

[gro]

Firstly, I'm going to assume that you meant to write the following:

Sorry, the visa dates overlap so I'd got myself in a bit of a pickle with some of the dates. I have double checked and the following should now be correct:

From Nov 2002 until Mar 2003 : In UK on tourist visa
13/03/2003 - 29/10/2003 : Away from UK
30/10/2003 - 29/04/2004 : In UK on tourist visa
29/04/2004 - 09/12/2004 : In UK on student visa
09/12/2004 - 02/12/2006 : In UK on 1st residency permit
02/12/2006 - Present : In UK on Indefinite leave to remain

Based on all that, you could have applied for naturalisation for your partner (assuming she had no other absences and had passed the Life in the UK exam) up until the 13th of March 2008. In other words, yesterday. Now you will have to wait until the 30th of October of this year at the earliest to apply.

Oh dear, in hind sight maybe we should have cut the holiday short... Could I confirm that what you are saying is that she is perfectly entitled to apply from 30th October this year even though she was here on a standard holiday visa in 2003?

By the way, thank you to everyone for the advice, it has been very helpful.

[John]

Could I confirm that what you are saying is that she is perfectly entitled to apply from 30th October this year even though she was here on a standard holiday visa in 2003?

That is confirmed. She is entitled to make the application when she is able to pass the "applicant was physically in the UK exactly 5 years before BIA receive the Naturalisation application" test. She is clearly able to pass that test from say 30.10.08.

Shame about the dates. She could have made the application up to say Tuesday this week, had she pass the Citizenship test in time.

[vinny]

Could I confirm that what you are saying is that she is perfectly entitled to apply from 30th October this year even though she was here on a standard holiday visa in 2003?

2.3 Physical presence here is normally sufficient for the purpose of the Act.

[gro]

OK, thank you for the advice. 30th October is not so bad, it's a shame she was away 5 years ago but I'm just glad that time as a tourist counts.
Could I take advantage of your knowledge for just one last question if you don't mind; if she takes the 'life in the uk' test in 2 weeks time will it still be valid to be put forward with the application 30th October or does this expire after a time?

[vinny]

1.2.2.4 There is no ‘expiry date’ on a pass in the Life in the UK Test. In other words, evidence of a pass at any time can be used to demonstrate satisfaction of the requirements, for naturalisation purposes, to have a sufficient knowledge of English and of life in the UK.

However, note that

Your Results Notification Letter is an important document. Please keep it safe as no replacement will be issued if you lose or damage it.

[JAJ]

However, note that

Your Results Notification Letter is an important document. Please keep it safe as no replacement will be issued if you lose or damage it.

Wouldn't they have to respond to a request under the Data Protection Act? Or are they exempt?

[vinny]

Interesting question. You may have to ask the Home Office:

The Home Office is the Data Controller of any personal data you provide during the course of registering for taking the Test. Ufi processes the data on the Home Office's behalf.

....

This data will be held securely by Ufi and transferred to the Home Office. For information on how the Home Office uses this information and how long it is kept, please contact the Home Office.

Ufi will keep your data for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, or as required by law or to enforce or defend legal claims.