CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION
PART 1 – NATURALISATION
4 types of rules - 4 groups: Spouses and civil partner of British citizens, EEA nationals, family members of EEA nationals and 'Everyone else'.
SECTION 1: We start from the most common group – ‘Everybody else’.
ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS:
Condition 1: No ILR – No Citizenship! | Common mistake: ‘skipping’ an ILR | TIP -The main challenge on the way to Citizenship is to qualify and secure an ILR | Example: A client asks “I have an Entrepreneur visa, when can I apply for a British passport?” |
Condition 2:Having an ILR for at least 12 months | CASE STUDY: Canadian national holds and ILR and is married to another Canadian national who holds a Spouse visa | TIP - Spouses and civil partners of the UK citizens don’t need to wait for 12 months after an ILR.
Condition 3: Five years of continuous legal residency in the UK and being present in the UK on a day 5 years before receipt of application by the UKBA | 3.1) Legal residency | Exemption from immigration control | Being in any place of detention or prison | Illegal residency | 28 days of overstaying is not ‘overstaying’. | 3.2) Continuous residency | CASE STUDY – from Tier 1 General straight to Citizenship? | 3.3) Being present in the UK on a day 5 years before receipt of application by the UKBA
Condition 4: Good character | 4.1) Paying taxes | TIP – Unemployed clients | CASE STUDY – Chinese national who doesn’t have a job | 4.2) Criminal convictions, civil judgments, driving offences, fines, fixed penalty notices, cautions | Before 13 December 2012 - Spent and Unspent criminal convictions | From 13 December 2012 - Criminal convictions | TIP – applicant’s offence may have happened after he obtained an ILR | Table of offences and impact on applications | TIP – changes under 4. in the above table (non-custodial sentence) actually means ‘good’ news for many | Single conviction for a minor offence | Driving offences: drink-driving, driving without insurance, driving whilst using a mobile phone and similar | Fixed Penalty Notices | Fines | More than one sentence | TIP – It is the prison sentence that counts, not the time served | TIP - Suspended sentence | TIP – Admonished sentence (in Scotland) | Charged with offence and awaiting trial or sentencing | Terrorism | CASE STUDY – Russian national with a ‘spent’ drink-driving offence | 4.3) Bankruptcy.
Condition 5: English language and Knowledge of Life in the UK | Examples of applicants who still need to meet English and/or Life in the UK requirements, even though they did not need it for Settlement | And those who are exempt altogether | 2 ways of meting this condition | Life in the UK Test | TIP -Life in the UK Test does not have expiry date | On a humorous note | ESOL with Citizenship course.
Condition 6: Absences from the UK (rules are not the same as for an ILR!) | Date of Application (and how far back absences are counted) | Basic rules on absences | Differences from the ILR rules (and will be confusing for your clients) | Exceptions when more absences are allowed during the 5 years | Exceptions when more absences are allowed during the last 12 months | CASE STUDY – Indian executive with frequent global travel | TIP – last 5 years before Date of Application are assessed | Why is it important? Because you will have clients who get an ILR and then take up a lucrative job offer abroad | What’s the solution? | TIP – absences while application is being considered |
FLOWCHARTS: common paths to Citizenship, various examples - 9 scenarios
FOR ALL 4 GROUPS - MAKING AN APPLICATION:
Do we need to send original passports? | ID document used for a Life in The UK Test | Referees | Who can be a Referee? | TIP – Can a representative of the applicant act a Referee? | Common question – “I don’t have anyone who’ve known me for 3 years and who is British or a professional” | Full List of Acceptable Professional Persons | Processing time | CASE STUDY - a Greek doctor | CASE STUDY - Lithuanian national who was a worker and a student | Is same-day service available?
THE OUTCOME:
Citizenship ceremonies | TIP - Date of ceremony | TIP -This is where he/she becomes a British Citizen! Not when he/she gets a British passport
‘British by descent’ and ‘British otherwise than by descent’ – the difference | British ‘otherwise than by descent’ | Who is British otherwise than by descent? Common examples | ‘British by descent’ | Who is British by descent? Common examples.
SECTION 2: Spouses and Civil Partners of British citizens.
ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS, WHICH ARE THE SAME AS 'EVERYBODY ELSE' generally but some details are different.
Condition 1: No ILR – No Citizenship!
Condition 2: Good character.
Condition 3: English language and Knowledge of Life in the UK.
ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS, WHICH ARE UNIQUE TO SPOUSES AND CIVIL PARTNERS OF BRITISH CITIZENS:
Condition 4: Three (3) years of legal continuous residency in the UK| Anomaly in this requirement | Before 9 July 2012 |
Transitional arrangements | From 9 July 2012 | Even more common mistake – skipping an ILR or skipping extension application | The right route now is | Alternative right routes.
Condition 5:waiting 12 months after an ILR (not actually applicable).
Condition 6:Absences from the UK | Basic rules | Exceptions when more absences are allowed during the 3 years | Exceptions when more absences are allowed during the last 12 months.
FLOWCHARTS: common paths to Citizenship for Spouses and Civil Partners of British citizens - 8 scenarios
SECTION 3: European (EEA) nationals
Rules are the same as for ‘everybody else’ but applied differently | Who are EEA nationals? | TIP - EEA is not the same as Schengen area | How to count residency | Most EEA nationals – from 30 April 2006 | You can count residency of the following nationals from 1 May 2004 | You can count residency of the following nationals from 1 January 2007 | European citizens often don’t have visa stamps in their passports (they don’t have to) | A growing number of Greeks and Italians are applying for British Citizenship.
General rules:
Condition 1: 5 years of residency in the UK
Condition 2: Good character and criminality | ‘Criminality’ rarely prevents from Permanent Residency under the EU law… | … but does apply under the British Nationality law.
Condition 3: English language and Knowledge of Life in the UK | EU/EEA citizens don’t have to meet this rule for Permanent Residency… | … but have to meet for Citizenship:
Condition 4: Absences from the UK | Absences are not the same as for Permanent Residency | Exceptions.
Condition 5: No permanent residency status – No citizenship! | Same condition but with a difference | So, how does one get an ILR if one doesn’t get any visa stamps? | Examples of exercising Treaty rights | Worker | Self-employed person | Student | Self-sufficient | Jobseeker | Worker or Self-employed person who has ceased activity due to Retirement | Worker or Self-employed person who has ceased activity due to a work accident | Exercising Treaty rights in the UK continuously qualifies an EU citizen for Permanent Residency (with a ‘visa stamp’ or without) | Not ‘continuous residency’ but ‘continuous exercising of Treaty rights’ | Date when this point has been reached | TIP - Date of issue on the visa document is not relevant.
BULGARIAN AND ROMANIAN (A2) NATIONALS
TIP - Romanian/ Bulgarian nationals do have restrictions on working in UK but not on qualifying for an ILR | A2 nationals who had UK visas before Bulgaria/Romania joined the EU in 2007 | CASE STUDY - Romanian national who has been working since 2004 | Summary of restrictions and documents for A2 nationals | Restrictions in place from 1 January 2007 – 31 December 2013 | What about when restrictions on workers are lifted?
EASTERN EUROPEAN (A8) NATIONALS
Again the same rights but again with a difference | Unique rule for the A8 nationals - Workers Registration Scheme | WRS was relevant for an A8 national for the first 12 months of working in the UK | What counted as ‘continuous 12 months’? | WRS was stopped in May 2011 but is still important for your applications | What if an A8 applicant didn’t register under WRS? | CASE STUDY – Hungarian national who has never registered under WRS.
Condition 6: waiting for 12 months after permanent residency | If your client does not have a Permanent Residency document | If your client has a Permanent Residency document
EUROPEAN NATIONALS WHO ARE ALSO MARRIED OR CIVIL PARTNERS OF BRITISH CITIZENS
CASE STUDY – dual Dutch/Brazilian national who is a civil partner of a UK national
SECTION 4: FAMILY MEMBERS OF EUROPEAN (EEA) NATIONALS.
European family members of European nationals, such as ‘Polish married Polish’ | Non-EEA family members of EEA nationals, such as ‘Canadian married to German’ | TIP - Direct and extended family members, why does it matter?
DIRECT non-EEA family members of EEA nationals | This is what most non-EU nationals have | And this is what the law allows | Date on a 'visa stamp' does not matter | Example 1: a Canadian meets a German while both are in the UK and a German is working | Example 2: German national is working in the UK and he meets his partner in Canada | Example 3: German national and his Canadian spouse are both living in Canada | CASE STUDY – Russian national married to a Belgian | But bear in mind those who retained residency rights | And bear in mind Surinder Singh route | Spouses and civil partners of the UK citizens under Surinder Singh route | Other family members of the UK citizens under Surinder Singh route.
EXTENDED non-EEA family members of EEA nationals | Here dates on ‘visa stamps’ matter!
PART 2: REGISTRATION OF CHILDREN UNDER 18 y.o.
SECTION 1: IMPORTANT DATES AND ACTS TO REMEMBER.
British Nationality Act 1981 | From 1 July 2006.
SECTION 2: CHILDREN BORN IN THE UK.
1) If child's mother is British | 2) If child’s father is British | 3) If child's parent (one or both) is not British but has permanent residency in the UK | 4) If the child's parents hold a limited leave to remain, ie Tier 1, Tier 2, Work Permit, Ancestral visas etc | 5) If the child's parents are European citizens | 6) Children who spent the first 10 years of their life in the UK.
7) Difference between 'British by birth' and 'not British but can be registered as British'?
SECTION 3: CHILD BORN OUTSIDE THE UK TO NON-BRITISH PARENTS AND WHOSE PARENTS IMMIGRATED TO THE UK.
Example 1: Indian family who came to the UK together | Example 2: Indian national came to work while his family joined much later | Example 3: Russian step-child of a UK citizen.
SECTION 4: CHILD BORN OUTSIDE THE UK TO BRITISH PARENT(S)
Example 1: British parent was born in the UK but his child was born outside the UK | It is possible that both parents are British but only one can pass nationality | Example 2 | Example 3.
PART 3: REGISTRATION FOR ADULTS
SECTION 1: People born before 1983 to British mothers
Those born before 1983 to a British mother can now register as British.... | ... but only if all other requirements have been met also | CASE STUDY – South African national on Ancestral visa but who is eligible for a UKM application.
