Will I leave my Natrualised UK Citizenship if I leave the UK to live in another country?

[Robstin2014]

I am aware that when applying for British Citizenship, the applicant must satisfy the 'future intentions' requirement, thus not showing the desire to leave the UK within the foreseeable future.

But, lets say if you were to leave the UK after natrualising, and therefore becoming a dual citizen of the UK and another country. Could your UK citizenship be revoked?

I have read numerous threads discussing this topic and have seen a variety of answers, hence why I am bringing this up; however most suggest that as long as you satisfy the 'future intentions' requirements at the time of the application (& providing all else checks out), you will be granted UK citizenship and at that point you are free to decide whether you stay or leave (within reason).

If this is the case, can you leave a few months later? Or is it better to leave it a couple of years?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[magicsign]

In my opinion it would be totally up to Home Office discretion, leaving soon after being naturalised goes definitely against the future intentions requirements but I am not aware of any "timeline" to adhere to after your acquired citizenship.

Take also into account that Home Office need also to be aware that you left indefinitely the country and that takes time and a explicit investigation

[Robstin2014]

In our situation, we would ideally like to both become dual nationals of each others home countries so that we can live wherever we want and have the freedom to change our minds as the years go by.

If we did leave the UK, we would likely leave for a few years (maybe a decade at most) but the plan would always be to come back here at some point and likely stay indefinitely after that.

Obviously by the point of natrualisation, we would have spent years in the UK along with a lot of money in order to earn that status, and understandably wouldn't want to throw it all away.

I would imagine that this scenario must be somewhat common - has anyone had experience with this? Can any admins or moderators confirm?

Thanks in advance.

[Robstin2014]

Please could anyone confirm?

[prs]

I have a few friends who are dual nationals and they've moved out of UK permanently and they never faced any issues.

They still come back here for holiday but they don't live here anymore.

One of them moved a year after he's got his BC and Passport.

[Robstin2014]

Thanks for your response - its good to know its not completely out of the ordinary.

[Robstin2014]

If a natrualised UK citizen was to leave the UK for several years to reside in a different country, and hypothetically (and cynically), if their citizenship was to be revoked due to them no longer living in the UK, would they be able to apply for a Returning Resident Visa?

I am aware that usually the Returning Resident Visa is for those who have previously lived in the UK on ILR and can show strong ties to the UK and that they intend to live there permanently; but would this apply to a British Citizen who loses their citizenship due to leaving?

I query this as there seems to be a bit of ambiguity regarding the HO's stance on natrualised BC's leaving for years/decades and later returning. There also appears to have been recent changes to the law which now means that British Citizens will not be notified prior to their citizenship being revoked, in the instance that the UK gov believes this to be necessary.

[secret.simon]

I doubt it.

You lose your ILR status as soon as you become a Brtish citizen, because a British citizen can't hold any immigration status in the UK.

If you then lose or renounce British citizenship, you do not fall back to ILR (which you already lost), but you lose all immigration status in the UK and start from scratch.

[Robstin2014]

Thanks, and that makes sense.

Based on your response I have the following questions if I may:

1. Can the Home Office revoke your British Citizenship for leaving the UK live abroad in the hopes to later return?
2. If so, wouldn't it be safer to stay ILR rather than apply for BC and therefore you would be eligible to apply for a RRV? I am aware of the 2 year rule.

[vinny]

If you then lose or renounce British citizenship, you do not fall back to ILR (which you already lost), but you lose all immigration status in the UK and start from scratch.

If you have/had spent at least 10 continuous years lawfully in the UK, then perhaps not all is lost nor will you start from scratch. You may be able to apply for ILR under Long residence.

Time spent in the UK as a British citizen

Time spent in the UK as a British citizen must be counted as lawful residence. People may have spent time in the UK as a British citizen and since renounced their British citizenship. This time spent as a British citizen in the UK would still count as lawful residence for 10 year long residence applications.

[Robstin2014]

Thanks for this.

I have had a read through and it appears that time spent on Student Visa's can be used towards the 10 years permanent residence, which is useful.

It seems like the safest thing to do would be to apply for British Citizenship, but ensure that 10 years of continuous residence has been completed before leaving the UK.

I may be wrong but I've never heard of anyone's British Citizenship being revoked due to them leaving after natrualising - so the 10 years residence application may not even be necessary but would be great to have as a plan b.

[secret.simon]

Very useful to know. Thank you, @vinny.

[prs]

Surely this is happening all the time!

By definition, when you are Naturalised, you are a British citizen and have all the basic and complex rights as a British citizen.

Naturalisation is the legal process by which a person changes their nationality. ... The criteria and process have changed over the years but for successful applicants the end result has been the same: that person is granted the same legal rights and status of a natural-born British citizen.



Therefore, you are allowed to live in another country if you choose to (as long as your migration to another country is not 'conducive to the public good' or you don't commit crimes such as terrorism, fraud, Espionage, organised crime, unacceptable behaviours).

People always change their mind and would want to go and stay/live somewhere else for different reasons.

There's clearly a grey area here though and I suspect that the HO have left this grey area for obvious reasons.

[Robstin2014]

Does anyone have any experience with leaving the UK to live in another country after receiving their Natrualised UK Citizenship?

I am conscious that the UK Gov has the right to revoke Citizenship given that the 'future intentions' requirement has not been met.

Note: I have posted a similar thread regarding this before. I could not respond to it as it had been locked. Admins - please merge the posts if necessary.

[meself2]

What part are you worried about? UK taking your citizenship away?

There were cases on this forum, like post1815485.html#p1815485 , but most people don't need to worry about it.

[Robstin2014]

Thanks for your response. I have just read the thread you have linked. Seems like this person only got into this mess because they forgot to apply for their UK Passport...? If they had sorted their passport prior to travelling surely they'd still have their UK Citizenship now?

[AmazonianX]

Thanks for your response. I have just read the thread you have linked. Seems like this person only got into this mess because they forgot to apply for their UK Passport...? If they had sorted their passport prior to travelling surely they'd still have their UK Citizenship now? Most probably

However such team can still reach out seeking to clarify things if travel history appears to be in contravention of what was declared as future intentions to be in UK.

[lolo2]

I don't see any reason to worry about this. People are not static entities, so things can change in their lives at any stage of the immigration path, including after acquiring British citizenship.

What if the person gets a job abroad right after getting citizenship & a British passport? or have a family member abroad who needs of their care and decide to move out the UK? and many other situations.

I don't think moving elsewhere - alone - would be enough to stripe someone from citizenship, because the person said that their intention was to live permanently in the UK and that changed afterwards.

The information available online of cases of citizenship deprivation suggests so.

[Frontier Mole]

There is only one learning point from all posts - make sure you have a U.K. passport. It is incredibly difficult to remove citizenship once you have that passport.
Nothing short of serious criminality or terrorism is going to get your citizenship revoked.

[Ticktack]

There's no problems per se, firstly make sure you get your passport before you leave the UK.

The only problem I foresee hypothetically is one leaves the UK for 20 years. Then the individual tries to renew their passport for a British Embassy in another country. It might not go smoothly, and one might be called in for an interview. Jump through extra hoops to get the renewal. But i don't think it would be refused.

[alterhase58]

There's no problems per se, firstly make sure you get your passport before you leave the UK.

The only problem I foresee hypothetically is one leaves the UK for 20 years. Then the individual tries to renew their passport for a British Embassy in another country. It might not go smoothly, and one might be called in for an interview. Jump through extra hoops to get the renewal. But i don't think it would be refused.

Correct me if I'm wrong I thought that British Embassies only issue emergency passports, for any other applications it's HMPO online or postal application. I think introduce quite a few years ago due to cost saving measures.

[Ticktack]

There's no problems per se, firstly make sure you get your passport before you leave the UK.

The only problem I foresee hypothetically is one leaves the UK for 20 years. Then the individual tries to renew their passport for a British Embassy in another country. It might not go smoothly, and one might be called in for an interview. Jump through extra hoops to get the renewal. But i don't think it would be refused.

Correct me if I'm wrong I thought that British Embassies only issue emergency passports, for any other applications it's HMPO online or postal application. I think introduce quite a few years ago due to cost saving measures.

You're not wrong. The interviews is what I meant happens at the Embassies, if one is required. I didn't phrase my words correctly and probably gave the wrong understanding