Hi, I've taken browse around and must say what a fantastic site/community you have here and many thanks for allowing me to join. I married my wife in Santa Rosa, Laguna in 2013 and set about the visa application, we did it all ourselves and she arrived in the UK in January 2014. Since then she has been granted the FLR/Residence Permit and later this year we will be applying for ILR. However, her Filipino passport will expire in May this year and we're not sure if it is compulsory to renew it before receiving her UK passport around 8 months later? She doesn't intend to travel outside of the UK before the ILR is granted so does anyone know if she can simply rely on her residence permit without a valid passport until then? Any advice would be much appreciated! Shaun
Passport submission is part of the ILR application as well as BRP. You could submit an old one but you may need to provide further documentation in lieu of a currently valid passport. I don’t know anyone who has personally done a visa application without a valid passport. Your time frame for her attaining a British passport seems a little bit out to me. Non-EU nationals have to wait 12 months after gaining ILR before applying for citizenship.
You need a valid passport with the application. Both of you. ILR is not citizenship and does not qualify anyone for a British passport. You need citizenship for that.
Ah, thanks for all your input, I didn't realise that ILR is different to citizenship. We'll just renew the passport and continue with the natural flow of the process as it comes. Many thanks!
Ahh wasn’t aware of that. Within the requirements it specifically states:- had settlement (‘indefinite leave to remain’) in the UK for the last 12 months if you’re from outside the European Economic Area (EEA)
Just looked at this again and see that the requirement is slightly different if married to a British citizen:- you’ve been granted indefinite leave to stay in the UK (this means there’s no specific date that you have to leave) or permanent residence if you’re an EEA national (and you have a permanent residence card or document that shows you have permanent residence) So it seems you can apply as soon as you have ILR or PR card https://www.gov.uk/becoming-a-british-citizen/if-your-spouse-is-a-british-citizen
