Flr Or Idl To Get To British Citizenship

[Marko2]

Dear All,

Sorry if this has already been covered, but I couldn't find the answer.

My Wife's spouse visa is about to expire in Dec. So I started preparing our Indefinite Leave to Remain application. However I realised that the end goal is for her to get citizenship and a UK passport. My understanding is you can apply for this after 3 years in the UK. Therefore in the worse case she will be able to apply in 12 months (at a current cost of £650!) for citizenship.

So my question is since FLR is only (!) £350, is it better to apply for that rather than apply for ILR (£750)- considering that in 6 to 12 months we will apply for citizenship. Is there any downsides to that?

(further, she was in the UK for 6 months on a visitor visa before we married, can we add this to her 2 year spouse visa?)

Any thoughts or advise would be much appreciated!

Thanks a lot

Mako

[Mahout Angrit]

One of the requiremens to apply for British Citizenship is that she must hold unrestricted leave to remain in UK. Applying for FLR wont give her that.

Time spent visiting UK does not count in the qualifying times.

[the scouser]

If your wife is to subsequently make her application for naturalisation from within the UK, then she will need to be free from time restrictions on her permission to stay in the UK; i.e. have indefinite leave. However, I have heard of another suggested way of applying for naturalisation which does not need the applicant to have indefinite leave. The person who devised this route claims to be aware of at least one individual who has successfully obtained naturalisation using his method. I have looked at the related legislation and policy and can't see any flaw, but whether you would wish to use it is your call.

The alternative method is to apply for naturalisation at a British embassy abroad. Such applications do not require the applicant to be free from immigration time restrictions. They need only demonstrate that they are married to a Brit. cit, that they are over 18, of sound mind, no criminal convictions, that they were physically present in the UK three years to the day before the date of application, and that they haven't spent more than 270 days outside the UK in the last 3 years (and no more than 90 in the last year). If you choose to follow this route, then your wife could now apply for leave to remain, although, don't forget, if she currently doesn't have the English/Citizenship qualification, she will need it when seeking naturalisation.

On a separate note, providing your wife still meets the 270-day absence rule, her time in the UK as a visitor will count towards the three years. The requirement is to have been lawfully physically present in the UK three years before the date of application: it does not stipulate what someone's immigration status must have then been at that time.

Scouse.

[Marko2]

Thanks alot for advise,

the above if tempting but if it goes wrong I would be in big trouble!

I think it's best to apply for ILR.......

My only concern is that she arrived in Dec 2005 but we do not have any joint biils (or even single name bill for her) untill March/ April 2006. We then have the required 20 from then 'till now.

Scouse, do you think that will be a problem? I'm quite nervous!

Also! we will apply at the end of theis week, but have a holiday booked for 7th Feb- do you think we will get our passports back in time?

Sorry for all the questions, but your opinion is valuable!

Cheers

Marko