naturalisation

[verdi]

After having ILR for 16 years, I am thinking of trying for citizenship. My ILR is the old paper kind in an expired American passport, and I never had to get BRP as I own my house and I worked for the same employer for many years, and then retired and don't travel internationally anymore due to health. I'm married to a British citizen.

If I do apply, how do I report the following? In 1988 I had an out-of-state minor motoring offence in the USA, extended my stay and as I was a new driver, went to traffic school in that state (equivalent of speed awareness course), and the offence was then removed from my record. As my home state didn't record minor offenses from out of state, it never showed up on my driving record and didn't affect my car insurance.

In 1994, I was pulled over for speeding five miles over the limit in the USA. I think I was just given a warning and no ticket.

IN 1995?, I received a parking ticket for overstaying on a coin-operated meter in the USA. I think it was a ten dollar fine.

In 2002, I did get a speeding ticket for 9 miles over the limit in the USA. No court appearance, on the spot fine in a speed trap, so like a fixed penalty notice.

I don't drive here in the UK, and have lived here since 2004 on various visas legally with no offenses criminal or civil.

I passed the life in the UK text and still have the certificate, and I received two graduate degress from American universities so that should take care of the English requirement.

For absenses from the country for the past five years, I travelled to the Netherlands for five days in 2019, Germany for four days in October on business 2022, twice in Netherlands and Italy on business internationally in 2023 for a total of three weeks. I didn't travel at all in 2020 or 2021. I don't think this is a problem.

I have my marriage certificates, birth certificates, etc, and orignal passport with the ILR and the new passport. I can get references from a university lecturer for the professional one, and from a librarian for the other one.

[Ticktack]

After having ILR for 16 years, I am thinking of trying for citizenship. My ILR is the old paper kind in an expired American passport, and I never had to get BRP as I own my house and I worked for the same employer for many years, and then retired and don't travel internationally anymore due to health. I'm married to a British citizen.

If I do apply, how do I report the following? In 1988 I had an out-of-state minor motoring offence in the USA, extended my stay and as I was a new driver, went to traffic school in that state (equivalent of speed awareness course), and the offence was then removed from my record. As my home state didn't record minor offenses from out of state, it never showed up on my driving record and didn't affect my car insurance.

In 1994, I was pulled over for speeding five miles over the limit in the USA. I think I was just given a warning and no ticket.

IN 1995?, I received a parking ticket for overstaying on a coin-operated meter in the USA. I think it was a ten dollar fine.

In 2002, I did get a speeding ticket for 9 miles over the limit in the USA. No court appearance, on the spot fine in a speed trap, so like a fixed penalty notice.

I don't drive here in the UK, and have lived here since 2004 on various visas legally with no offenses criminal or civil. All offences above don't need to be declared.

I passed the life in the UK text and still have the certificate, and I received two graduate degress from American universities so that should take care of the English requirement. Your degrees are good, but just simply being American takes care of your language requirement. English speaking country.

For absenses from the country for the past five years, I travelled to the Netherlands for five days in 2019, Germany for four days in October on business 2022, twice in Netherlands and Italy on business internationally in 2023 for a total of three weeks. I didn't travel at all in 2020 or 2021. I don't think this is a problem. Provide what you have to prove residency in the UK since your ILR. I'm sure you should be fine as the HO also have your records of in and outs.

I have my marriage certificates good, birth certificates not required, etc, and orignal passport with the ILR paper sticker type one, good, required and the new passport. I can get references from a university lecturer for the professional one, and from a librarian for the other one. One has to be British, the other could be any nationality.

[verdi]

Thanks so much for your help and speedy reply. Both references are British, so I think that is OK. Should I put a spreadsheet in of all my absenses from the UK for sixteen years since I was granted ILR, or just let the Home Office total the days up? I had one period I was gone for two months in 2017 for work and one month in Ireland during 2021 for work, but other than that it has been about 2-3 weeks a year for holiday, except during COVID.

[Ticktack]

Thanks so much for your help and speedy reply. Both references are British, so I think that is OK Even better.. Should I put a spreadsheet in of all my absenses from the UK for sixteen years since I was granted ILR Yeah you could. But the form would guide you on what you need., or just let the Home Office total the days up?The system would total the last 3 years over 2 weeks. I had one period I was gone for two months in 2017 You're fine on that. for work and one month in Ireland during 2021 for work Ireland doesn't count as an exit, as you're within the CTA (common travel area), but you should still add it to the form., but other than that it has been about 2-3 weeks a year for holiday, except during COVID.

If you haven't had lump exits for over 2 years at a time, you're perfectly fine. Please make sure that you're in the country exactly 3 years to the day you plan to apply.
The form would only ask you to populate when you've been outside the UK for over 2 weeks in the last 3 years.

You "might" be asked for an item of document for every year since you obtained ILR just to prove that you've been in country and not lost your ILR by frequently visiting the UK to attempt to keep it alive.

[verdi]

Ok, that's helpful and thank you. So, I've been checking the stamps on my passport, and everything is OK, save one thing

I went on a trip to Italy from 20 May until 2 June 2023, I went to Italy from Humberside UK routed through Amsterdam Schipol to Venice. My return flight was from Florence Peretola to Amsterdam on 1 June. There was a delay due to winds at Peretola, so I flew out of Italy on 1 June, spent the night in Amsterdam, and flew back on 2 June to Humberside. I've looked at the stamps in my passport, and my return stamp to Humberside is stamped 2 *May* 2023, I think it should be 2 *June* 2023. The stamps showing I flew out of Amsterdam are correct. Humberside is a very small airport, all Brits, and I don't think they stamp passports much. What do I do here? Do I put this in the application as an explanation. I also can provide a letter from my employer that I was employed at that time to show I was in the UK. I haven't left the country since I returned on 2 June 2023.

[contorted_svy]

Explain in a cover letter and perhaps attach the boarding pass or flight confirmation to explain the discrepancy. They have their own records to check your claims, so I wouldn't worry too much.

[verdi]

Thank you. I can do that. I've also written the airport and explained what happened, and they got back to me straight away. It is a small airport with two gates, so not like Heathrow!

[verdi]

An update. A very kind border control person read my email, did some checks, and I am going to the airport tomorrow with my passport/visa, and they are correcting the wrong stamp. I received an apology too. So all’s well that end’s well. Let’s hope the naturalisation application goes well too. I am so, so grateful for everyone’s help. Thank you and have a good weekend.

[verdi]

So, the border control officer kindly fixed the passport stamp, so that is sorted out.

Apologies for being a pain, but I was reading the latest guidance for naturalisation today, and it says

*Fixed penalty notices such as those issued under the coronavirus Regulations, or for traffic offences such as speeding or parking tickets must also be disclosed, although will not normally be taken into account unless you have failed to pay and there were criminal proceedings as a result, or you have received multiple fixed penalty notices in a short space of time.*

So, if I don’t remember details about the speeding ticket from 22 years ago and the parking ticket for the overdue meter in the States in the 1990s…other that the state it was in and hopefully the year (but that is also a bit doubtful, as this happened a really long time ago), what do I do? How do I indicate this? I don’t want to be accused of deception. I mean America doesn’t have something equivalent to fixed penalty notices (maybe our on the spot fines?!), and the rules on speeding can be very different than here. I don’t have my driving license numbers anymore so I’m not sure if I can pull up the driving record as each state keeps its own record in America.

Thank you for your help.

[Ticktack]

You're completely overthinking it. No one is going to send an email to US government to check if you parked on the equivalent of a double yellow line, dropped a cigarette butt on the floor or did a 55 on a 45 mile zone many decades ago.
More serious crimes would be a better start, no petty stuff.

[verdi]

Okey dokey, and thank you. I suppose as I’ve been vetted four times (two academic visas, further leave to remain, and ILR) and haven’t done anything wrong when here in the UK for the past 20 years, it should be OK.

[contorted_svy]

You'll be fine, it was only minor infractions and a long time ago.