ILR and Citizenship Eligibility Criteria

[amonty]

I have arrived in the UK on a work permit (by my company) in September 2006. Since then I have switched from work permit based visa to Tier 1. I would like to know if I am eligible to apply for the ILR in the original 4 years from date of first entry to UK or will it be different case? Does the eligibility criteria to apply for ILR and citizenship change for imigrants like me who have a entered before the changes were applied?

[John]

To get to the 5-year mark for ILR you can add together your time on a WP and your time on Tier 1 (General).

Naturalisation can be applied for when you have had your ILR for at least one year, as long as of course all the other conditions are met.

[Backer]

5 years in your case means Sep 2011 which is when the new rules might already apply and you will not be able to apply for ILR and will have to apply for probational citizenship instead. You will have to wait and see

[amonty]

Thank you John and Backer. One further question I have, is there a date when the new probational citizenship rule is supposed to be firemed up by? I suppose the terms and requirements for ILR and Probatinary citizenship are similar arent they?

5 years in your case means Sep 2011 which is when the new rules might already apply and you will not be able to apply for ILR and will have to apply for probational citizenship instead. You will have to wait and see

[Backer]

Under the new legeslation, in most cases you will not be able to apply for ILR. anymore and instead will have to appy for probationary citizenhip which is more or less another form of FLR .

Under the old government, the transitional arrangments stated below were planned (they used to be on the UKBIA website). I guess with the new government you will just have to watch he developments in due: course

The Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act received Royal Assent on 21 July 2009.

Sections 39-41 and 47-49 of Part 2 of the Act give effect to earned citizenship, which is planned for introduction in July 2011.

As the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill progressed through Parliament, the government listened to the views of both the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

The government subsequently agreed the following transitional arrangements:

•If a migrant has already been given indefinite leave to remain (ILR – also known as settlement) on the date when earned citizenship is introduced, they will automatically be considered to be a ‘permanent resident’. They will not need to pay or apply for this to occur. They will be eligible to apply for British citizenship under the current rules during the first two years after earned citizenship is introduced.
•If a migrant has applied for indefinite leave to remain before the date when earned citizenship is introduced, and is subsequently granted indefinite leave to remain, they will be eligible to apply for British citizenship under the current rules during the first two years after earned citizenship is introduced.
•The government will continue to meet its obligations to migrants who entered the United Kingdom on the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP) and had a legitimate expectation that they would be able to apply for and be granted indefinite leave to remain, in accordance with the Immigration Rules that were in place when they applied to the HSMP.
•The introduction of earned citizenship has been postponed by six months, to give people time to adjust to the new system and to allow more applicants who are already in the United Kingdom to apply under the current rules. Earned citizenship will now be introduced in July 2011.
All applications for indefinite leave to remain and British citizenship received before earned citizenship is introduced will be dealt with under the current system.

[amonty]

Thank you Backer for the clarification..... I have one more question on this, my wife's passport stamp has a later date than mine as she migrated to the UK a couple of months later. Does this mean I should apply for Probationary Citizenship / ILR after she completed her five years in UK or as I am the primary applicant the dates are calculated based on my passport stamp?

KR,
Monty

[cmc_686]

Thank you Backer for the clarification..... I have one more question on this, my wife's passport stamp has a later date than mine as she migrated to the UK a couple of months later. Does this mean I should apply for Probationary Citizenship / ILR after she completed her five years in UK or as I am the primary applicant the dates are calculated based on my passport stamp?

KR,
Monty

No. If she is a dependent visa on your work permit, then she can apply the ILR at the same time with you.

[Backer]

We don't know what the rules are going to be on July 2011 so just have to wait for official announcments and information from the UKBA and HO in the coming months. All other information at this stage would be speculation.

[amonty]

Thank you CMC_686.... now clear.... the calculate the time period based on the primary applicant.... crystal clear....

No. If she is a dependent visa on your work permit, then she can apply the ILR at the same time with you.

[amonty]

We don't know what the rules are going to be on July 2011 so just have to wait for official announcments and information from the UKBA and HO in the coming months. All other information at this stage would be speculation.

Hello Backer,

Do you know of any news of the July 2011 change of rulings.

Cheers,
Monty

[genorp]

Old thread revived!
The new government opted to not pursue the probationary citizenship route. It's still ILR but with tougher rules. You cannot have any unspent convictions and various other rules that differ between Tier 1 and Tier 2. Download the latest SET(O) application and look through it then if you have any questions look through the forum because every aspect has been discussed at some point.