residential requirements for naturalisation

[vinoth7007]

Dear forum

Can you please help me understand "Residential requirements"

To demonstrate the residential requirements for naturalisation, you must have:

been resident in the UK for at least five years (this is known as the residential qualifying period); and
been present in the UK five years before the date of your application; and
not spent more than 450 days outside the UK during the five-year period; and
not spent more than 90 days outside the UK in the last 12 months of the five-year period; and
not been in breach of the Immigration Rules at any stage during the five-year period.

We (me, my wife and daughter) got ILR in august 2010 (eligible from 17 may 2010 - via HSMP ).

My wife came to UK in may 2005. She was away from UK between 1 st May 2006 to November 17 2006 - was in India for my daughters delivery.

So do I have to wait till november 17 2011 before applying for citizenship for her? Am I right in thinking that I will not be able to apply now together with her as she was not here on the DATE 5 years before I am applying.

When we got our ILR we received a letter from home office stating that we can apply for citizenship in MAy 2011 (as we became free of immigration restriction from that date)

One reason I want to apply now is because my daughters passport expires this month and wondered if I could save money by applying for citizenship directly.

Many thanks for your help

Regards

Vinoth

[Jambo]

So do I have to wait till november 17 2011 before applying for citizenship for her? Am I right in thinking that I will not be able to apply now together with her as she was not here on the DATE 5 years before I am applying.

Correct.

When we got our ILR we received a letter from home office stating that we can apply for citizenship in MAy 2011 (as we became free of immigration restriction from that date)

this just means you can apply any time from May as long as you meet the other requirements.

One reason I want to apply now is because my daughters passport expires this month and wondered if I could save money by applying for citizenship directly.

You can still apply for citizenship directly. A one month expired passport for your children should be OK to apply with. The passport doesn't need to be valid.

[vinoth7007]

A one month expired passport for your children should be OK to apply with. The passport doesn't need to be valid.

Hi Jambo

Thanks for your reply.

My child s passport expires on 10 october and my wife becomes eligible only on 19 november. I agree UKBA asks only for a passport and birth certificate.

I am unable to see the one month cutoff in Indian high commission or UKBA website. I presume it is not illegal to stay here with an expired passport with a valid visa (not very explicitly mentioned in Indian high commission website).

I have decided to apply directly for citizenship , wondering if any other forum members were in similar situation and the results.

Many thanks again for your help

Regards
Vinoth

[vinoth7007]

I have gone through previous posts on this topic and I think having an expired passport is NOT a problem as long as you fulfill other criteria.

Thanks a lot Jambo and the other forum members who contributed on this topic.

V