Journey to Citizenship

Now that my wife has ticked all of the boxes in terms of requirements for British Citizenship, including a retake of the English Language test as the TOEIC test result was no longer valid, we are just starting to proceed through the process of her British Citizenship application. She is keen to get Citizenship asap. As things stand she is a few months later than need be, owing to the English Test retake.

So I walked the 100 or so yards up the hill from my office to the Immigration Office and collected a copy of the application form and guidance notes, which to my surprise were identical to the UK mainland version (surprised as the ILR forms were a bit different).

We noted the fee at around £900 and also the requirements which seem pretty much a formality. So hopefully it wont be long before she is singing God Save the Queen and swearing allegiance to her too.

No more Schengen Shenanigins! We hope.

It certainly makes life easier that's for sure. The ironic thing is we've now had 15 months over and I wanted to get the wife her dual nationality sorted but time is running so short now I don't want to risk them taking her passport away for whatever reason before we leave. So it looks like we will have to go to London at some point to complete the process!!! Time management - none!!!

I take it from what you say that your wife has not renewed her Philippine Citizenship? If so how has she dealt with being in the Philippines right now? Simply by taking out an extended visa?

She entered on a 1 year balikbayon that was stamped in the passport at the immigration desk at the airport. No questions asked. This lasts for a year and is renewed on entry every time. We went to Honkers last april and her new visa runs out this april. Technically she is no longer a Philippines citizen so can't own property etc which is why I wanted her to get the dual nationality but time has run out for us and we'll do this via the embassy in London later in the year maybe

Good luck with that, John. We've got our second stretch of FLR coming up this year. Time has come round quickly again.

Thanks.

It isnt, of course, as pressing as ILR / FLR or a Spouse / Fiancee Visa. No deadline to have to work to. But nevertheless it will be good to get done.

Yep time has flown by.

Just getting ready for the submission of the application.

£834.00. I think the price goes up in a week or so.

To be delivered by hand on a walkin basis. No checking service for us. They say they will check it but there is no charge. I plan to go in the day before, for a quick check anyway. They do that sort of thing here.

Have just read this from the UKVI website:


5. After you’ve applied
"You’ll get a letter confirming your application. It can take up to 4 weeks for you to get the confirmation.

A decision about your application will usually be made within 6 months - some applications can take longer."

Application submitted.

Not quite so helpful as I was expecting. They pointed out that it could take 6 months or more, even though for some that I have seen in the last few years, it has taken just 3 weeks. Having said that, it is 3 months since a friend of my wife's submitted her citizenship application.

At the moment they have my passpport aswell as my wifes. Good job we are not planning on going anywhere.

They also said that if my wifes tax affairs were not fully paid up then they would suspend the issueing of citizenship until they are. (She earns no income and has no tax liability).

So we will probably forget about the application as the decision is so far away, potentially.

I think we narrowly escaped the next fee rise.

We received our passports after about 6 weeks!
Prepare for the wait.

How long before citizenship was granted?

Between two and three months if I remember correctly.

They seemed to go out of their way to say it will easily be 6 months. Maybe they are tightening up, these days.

I think they quote the worse case scenario so people won't moan too much if it comes earlier.

Hope so.

We had to go in to Immigration today to sign a consent form giving them access to our joint tax arrangement. ( Check the wife doesnt owe any tax! )

They gave us our passports and documents back. The application then goes to the Home Office in the UK.

Again, they said 6 months. And explained that there are a lot of citizenship applications just now, in the UK.

hello guys! im now processing my citizenship at the moment.i applied thru NCS last April 1st 2015.. 4 days before they will implement the new AN forms (old 18 new 28 pages to to be filled up ) i paid for 906.00 now gone up to 1000+....

i rec'd my confirmation letter UKBA 26 april 2015
all i can do now is to wait and pray .... what will happen next ....hopefully not for 6 months please...

i find this site very useful in giving me answer to some of my questions!! thank you guys !

Hehe. Yes, we hope not for 6 months. But we have put it to the back of our minds for a few months, at least.

Just got word that a friend of Mrs Ash has got her British Citizenship. It took 6 months from the point of submission.