Citizenship application no reply after 10 months

[namhar]

Dear Forum members,

I'd be very grateful for any advice you can give. I'm a British Citizen (I was granted citizenship in 1986), and my husband, an Iraqi national, applied for naturalisation as the spouse of a British Citizenship, on the 5-year route. We have two children, who are British by birth. He applied in March 2018, a few weeks after he was granted ILR. Now 10 months later, he hasn't had a response. He chased by email twice, and got the standard response.

We have been thinking about what could be causing the delay. It may be that when his FLR(M) expired, he had a 10-day overstay before posting his ILR application to the Home Office. So in effect, he could have been in breach of the immigration rules. He did include a letter with his ILR application, explaining that he had a newborn baby and had contracted a very bad bout of flu and included his GP's letter, and explained that this had caused the 10-day delay in him posting the application. He received ILR, so we thought that discretion had been exercised for the 10-day overstay, as per Paragraph 39E(1) of the Immigration Rules.

The problem is, he didn't mention that 10-day overstay on the Citizenship application form AN, which perhaps he should have done. Last month (9 months post-application), he wrote a letter and posted it to the Home Office, thinking this might be more effective than an email. He asked why the response was delayed, and mentioned that discretion had already been exercised for the 10-day overstay when he'd been awarded ILR. We thought that by raising it in a letter, that may get round the problem of him not having mentioned the overstay on the form AN.

My questions are:

- As he didn't mention the 10-day overstay on naturalisation form AN, will this lead to an automatic refusal? Because in effect he didn't disclose immigration breaches? (Even though we weren't sure it was a breach, as he was granted ILR without the 10-day overstay even being questioned).

- He has written by post to the Home Office regarding the 10-day overstay to mention that discretion was previously exercised. Would this be enough to cover him?

- Is there anything else he should do?

I have another question, separate from the one above. Is it correct that a spouse of a British Citizen is NOT required to show intention to live in the UK? Someone mentioned to me that, as per the Nationality Act, spouses of British Citizens do not have to meet this requirement. Is that correct? If so, why is the question of intention on the AN form for everyone, if it doesn't apply to spouses?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

[alterhase58]

Have you received any kind of communication from UKVI?
Without knowing what is actually holding up the decision there's very little to go by. Of course, advising them of omissions is always recommended.

I have another question, separate from the one above. Is it correct that a spouse of a British Citizen is NOT required to show intention to live in the UK? Someone mentioned to me that, as per the Nationality Act, spouses of British Citizens do not have to meet this requirement. Is that correct? If so, why is the question of intention on the AN form for everyone, if it doesn't apply to spouses?

Which section of the Act?

[namhar]

Have you received any kind of communication from UKVI?
Without knowing what is actually holding up the decision there's very little to go by. Of course, advising them of omissions is always recommended.

Which section of the Act?

No communication from UKVI yet, my husband posted his letter regarding the omission on 2nd December.

Regarding the intention to settle, Nationality Act Schedule 1 Paragraph 3, which applies to spouses of British citizens, does not include the intention to settle as a requirement from what I can see. See also https://www.freemovement.org.uk/natural ... ive-in-uk/ which I quote here: "Essentially, applicants are expected to make Britain their home if they are granted citizenship. An exception is made for applicants who are married to or in a civil partnership with a British citizen. They apply under section 6(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981, and the requirements for section 6(2) applications — set out in Schedule 1, paragraph 3 of the Act — do not include an intention to settle."

[namhar]

Does anyone else have comments or suggestions please? Was writing to the HO about the omission enough? Or would they view the omission as grounds for refusal, regardless?

[Longwaitn]

Hi All
I am in the same position! I been waiting for 10 months with no update. I involved my local MP but keep getting the same generic response. I thought my case was straight forward as I have no criminal offence neither in this country or any other countries. I also have clean immigration history. Please advise if you get any update!
Thanks