British Citizenship for Spouse

[jayaram727]

Hi,

I will be qualified to apply for BC in the month of June 2012. My wife is here with me since Jan, 2010 with my daughter. We all got ILR in June 2011. I would like to apply for BC for all of us. Could some one point me where the immigration rules for applying BC for Spouse? Or Please point me if the similar question is answered in the forum.

Many thanks.

[Jambo]

See Q2 here.

[vinny]

Can I be naturalised as a British citizen?

[vinny]

See Q2 here.

Thanks, Jambo. I've made your FAQ a sticky.

[bebe2011]

i think your wife isn't eligible to apply for BC with you as she hasn't been here for 3 years....unless of course she visited the UK previously.

otherwise best if you apply for BC alone and then after u get your naturalisation cert then your wife can apply as a spouse of a BC....link to that is:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/briti ... ofcitizen/

or if you want to save money then wait and apply with them in Jan 2013.....

best wishes[/url]

[jayaram727]

Hi,

Thank you so much for your responses.

My wife has first came to UK in November 2007 and stayed till Mar 2008, and went to india and come back to UK in Jan 2010. Does she have to stay for a continuous period of 3 years before she apply for BC? or
Does she still have to wait till 2013 to apply BC?

Many thanks.

[bebe2011]

Hi Jaya,

Even after June when you become a BC, your wife cannot apply for her BC as a Spouse of a BC.

She will have to wait until January 2013 (it isn't far off ).

To apply as the spouse of a BC, one does not have to have lived here for a continuous period of 3 years ,but i am afraid that this doesn't apply in your case.

The requirement is that she has to have been in the UK 3 years from the date of application (hence June 2009) but from your post she wasn't. Also from your dates given, i.e. March 2008 - Jan 2010, she has been out of the country for over 270 days in the last 3 years.

She will have to meet these requirements after your BC in order to be eligible (specifically the residential requirements):

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/briti ... ofcitizen/

[jayaram727]

Hi,

I will be going on leave for 20 days to india and apply for british citizenship when i come back to UK. I understand there is a rule that we can go away 90 days on ILR before you apply for BC. Could you please suggest are there any hidden rules or precautions i may be aware of before i apply for BC?

I know there is a immigration document from the link below but it pretty confuses me.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... iew=Binary

Thanks in advance.

[Jambo]

There are no hidden rules you should be afraid of. If you meet the standard requirements you should be fine.