naturalisation - will "illegal" work in EU effect

[xeb]

hi there

I'm a nz citizen and have been living and working in the uk for 5 years, the last year on ILR. Officially I have 2 jobs here - one as an engineer and the other as a DJ. I travel to europe relatively regularly (20 trips in the last 3 years) to DJ but have never obtained work visas. Some have been EU, some non-EU. I get paid pretty much notionally if at all... I could quite easily spread what little money I've made (and declared to the UK tax man) from EU gigs to my UK based gigs. I'm about to apply for naturilisation... when they ask purpose of each visit out of the UK do I:
1. declare trips as work and risk having them question why i've never had work visas,
2. declare as un-paid work (although my flights, hotels etc are always paid for - does that count as payment?)
3. say the trips have been for personal reasons (most trips have been to poland so i could probably convincingly say I had a girl there or something...)

i would be very grateful to hear people's opinions on this....

[bbdivo]

hi there

I'm a nz citizen and have been living and working in the uk for 5 years, the last year on ILR. Officially I have 2 jobs here - one as an engineer and the other as a DJ. I travel to europe relatively regularly (20 trips in the last 3 years) to DJ but have never obtained work visas. Some have been EU, some non-EU. I get paid pretty much notionally if at all... I could quite easily spread what little money I've made (and declared to the UK tax man) from EU gigs to my UK based gigs. do I:
1. declare trips as work and risk having them question why i've never had work visas,
2. declare as un-paid work (although my flights, hotels etc are always paid for - does that count as payment?)
3. say the trips have been for personal reasons (most trips have been to poland so i could probably convincingly say I had a girl there or something...)

i would be very grateful to hear people's opinions on this....

On Question 1 who is going to ask that?

[xeb]

UK IND

i guess as far as they are concerned i haven't worked illegally in the UK so maybe they don't care, but perhaps it shows i am not "of good character"

[ppron747]

Seems most unlikely to me - the UK has its work cut out managing its own immigration rules, let alone those of other countries...

My own inclination would be to describe them as business visits - which they were - and leave it at that. I think the reason for asking the applicant to list trips in detail is just to get him/her to focus on it properly, so IND has a list which can be compared with date stamps in passports, to make sure that the absences don't exceed those permitted by the Act. I would certainly counsel against the idea of having an imaginary friend - far too complicated!

[lemess]

I agree with ppron.
"Business" visits should do it. As far as the IND is concerned the fact that you have lived within the immigration rules in the UK is what matters. Also the European countries in question clearly allowed you in so there is no question of being of less than "good" character. The reason they ask for the purpose of the visit I think is simply to get a feel for whether you have been actually living in the UK and making it your home. Long absences may raise the future intention issue but short business trips out of the UK are fairly normal for a lot of people these days. IND don't have the time or the resources to delive in detail about the nature of your trips abroad nor is it relevant to your naturalisation application.

[xeb]

thanks very much. that was my gut feeling but wanted some second opinions before putting it in black & white!

thanks again

[basis]

your post itself suggests your excellent character. Frnakly most people would not even blink their eye about it. Put those trips as business visits.

There are many who have actually worked in EU or non-EU countries for months at a stretch while on business visa and not bothered to take Work Visas or pay taxes etc. Yours a legitimate case of visits on business purpose.