Life In The Uk Test

[djprescott]

can somebody help, my wife`s visa runs out next year and i belive she has to take a test (life in the uk) if she passes this what does it mean. can she apply for ilr or not.

[ubonjoe]

Moved to here.

[Brigante7]

can somebody help, my wife`s visa runs out next year and i belive she has to take a test (life in the uk) if she passes this what does it mean. can she apply for ilr or not.

Hi, if she wants she can apply for another 2 year extension or she can indeed go through the life in the UK test or she could go through an ESOL course. My wife is going through an ESOL course at the moment and when she passes the course in June, she can apply for her indefinite Leave to remain visa which she should get without going through the life in the UK test. The advantage of the ESOL course is that your wife will improve her reading, writing and speaking english. Hope this helps.

[DC1066]

Hi,

I'm presuming your wife is on a two year settlement visa?

Brigante is correct, you have two options, either the course or the test. Which is better depends on your circumstances. The Test is likely to be quicker and cheaper - if your wife's English is of a good enough standard to allow her to learn the test material and understand the written questions/answers.

If you can get on a 'good' course, then it will achieve the same end - and improve your wife's English.

Basically it's your choice to suit your circumstances.

You can as Brigante says apply for a 2 year FLR extension, but I'd advise against this if at all possible.

Whilst in some cases necessary, I think more often it is just the easy option for those who haven't taken quicker action to meet the ILR requirements.

It's a bad idea if you can avoid it because firstly, it means you paying for an extra visa - additional cost;

Secondly, it increases the total time taken to get through the whole visa process.

Also, as we have seen recently, the goal posts are continually moving. I can only see things getting more difficult to get visa's/citizenship for those who want it for our partners. For this reason more than any I'd suggest getting through the process as quickly as you can.

[7by7]

See also Knowledge of language and life in the United Kingdom and the links from that page.

[Brigante7]

Another thing, at the moment an ILR visa is £950 when applying in person or £700 when applying by post but it is going up by £1000 in April I think, robbing cu_nts.

[7by7]

It's actually £750 by post.

I agree that these fees are way to high.

£515 for a settlement visa.

£395 for FLR.

£750 for ILR.

Back in 2000, when my wife applied, the settlement visa was £260 and both FLR and ILR was free; yes free!

These ripp off charges charges can be laid squarely at the door of Blair and Brown.

Remember that when the next election comes.

it is going up by £1000 in April I think,

Where did you read/hear this?

[patklang]

not much difference if you have a multi 0,thats over 5,000 baht,then 5 X visa runs @ 2,500 = 17,500 baht.Same as farang living in foreign country so stop your moaning and get on with life if you choose to take your tirak to uk.

Things have to change in the uk and this is one way of doing it.

[Brigante7]

It's actually £750 by post.

I agree that these fees are way to high.

£515 for a settlement visa.

£395 for FLR.

£750 for ILR.

Back in 2000, when my wife applied, the settlement visa was £260 and both FLR and ILR was free; yes free!

These ripp off charges charges can be laid squarely at the door of Blair and Brown.

Remember that when the next election comes.

it is going up by £1000 in April I think,

Where did you read/hear this?

My wifes tutor on her college ESOL college course told my wife to get her ILR visa before April as the prices are going up by around £1000.

I've never voted labour in my life and never will.

[Brigante7]

Just wanted to let everybody living in the UK who has a Thai wife or husband know about my wifes efforts to get her indefinite leave to remain visa (ILR). She arrived in the Uk in October 2006 on a fiance visa which lasted for 6 months (March 2007) at which point she got a limited leave to remain visa which lasts for 2 years but what she really wanted was her ILR visa and in order to get this she had to either go through the life in the UK test which involved answering lots of questions on, yep you've guesed it Life in the UK, I looked through the book and tried to answer some of the questions myself, fu_ck they were hard, lol.

Another option was to do an ESOL college course which is 2 hours a morning and 4 mornings a week, and once you had reached the required level you get a certificate stating that you had achieved the required level in order to apply for your ILR visa, so the wife started the course last September and 2 weeks ago reached the required level an as such recieved her certificate in the post meaning she could apply for her visa.

From the moment she arrived in the UK we made sure that we kept every letter with either my name and address of my wifes name and address and after we were married she applied for and recieved a national insurance number and also she opened a bank account and so she kept every piece of paper that she recieved including utility bills, bank statements, letters from doctors, dentists, credit card statements, goverment, council and such.

last week, February 4th I phoned the UK immigration office to arrange an apointment, and we went on Wednesday 11the February in Glasgow toapply for my wifes ILR visa.

Our appointment was for 13:30 but we arrived at 12:30 and were taken straight away as it was very quiet, we were given a number and waited 30 minutes before we were called, we handed all our paper work along with the application form, our passports, photos, marriage certificate, basicly everything we had, better to have to much than not enough I always say, and were told to wait again another 30 minutes then called back to get the decision, she got her visa, then told to wait again while they put the visa into her passport, another 30 minutes, picked up the passport and we were out of there having been told that after 1 year my wife can apply for a UK passport.

Sorry for such a long post, just wanted to let others in the same situation know our experience, and if anybody has any questions then feel free to ask or PM me, take care all.

Brigante7

[steve187]

If a FLR is obtained due to not passing the citizenship test, would it not be possible to avoid a ILR and go straight to Citizenship,( 3 years resident in uk) therefore avoiding the £750.00 fee.

[Brigante7]

If a FLR is obtained due to not passing the citizenship test, would it not be possible to avoid a ILR and go straight to Citizenship,( 3 years resident in uk) therefore avoiding the £750.00 fee.

No because you have to have an ILR visa for 1 year before you can get a UK passport and you need to be in the UK for a minimum of 2 years before you can get an ILR visa but you must get the ILR before you can get a UK passport.

[DC1066]

If a FLR is obtained due to not passing the citizenship test, would it not be possible to avoid a ILR and go straight to Citizenship,( 3 years resident in uk) therefore avoiding the £750.00 fee.

No because you have to have an ILR visa for 1 year before you can get a UK passport and you need to be in the UK for a minimum of 2 years before you can get an ILR visa but you must get the ILR before you can get a UK passport.

Maybe I'm not reading this right, but are you sure about this?

Yes you need to be in the UK for three years and yes you do need to have the ILR, but you don't need to have the ILR for a minimum of one year.

For example, my wife applied for ILR just short of being here two years - as required. She then had to wait around four months for the ILR to be issued. She doesn't then have to wait one year from the date of issue (which would be 3 years 4 months from arrival in the UK), she has to wait until three years from arrival in the UK - which will be about 8 months after gaining ILR.

[steve187]

If a FLR is obtained due to not passing the citizenship test, would it not be possible to avoid a ILR and go straight to Citizenship,( 3 years resident in uk) therefore avoiding the £750.00 fee.

No because you have to have an ILR visa for 1 year before you can get a UK passport and you need to be in the UK for a minimum of 2 years before you can get an ILR visa but you must get the ILR before you can get a UK passport.

many thanks for that

[7by7]

If a FLR is obtained due to not passing the citizenship test, would it not be possible to avoid a ILR and go straight to Citizenship,( 3 years resident in uk) therefore avoiding the £750.00 fee.

No because you have to have an ILR visa for 1 year before you can get a UK passport and you need to be in the UK for a minimum of 2 years before you can get an ILR visa but you must get the ILR before you can get a UK passport.

Maybe I'm not reading this right, but are you sure about this?

Yes you need to be in the UK for three years and yes you do need to have the ILR, but you don't need to have the ILR for a minimum of one year.

To qualify for naturalisation as British the applicant, among other things, needs to be free of any time restriction on their leave to remain in the UK. This means that they need ILR or the equivalent.

However, there is no minimum time one must have held ILR (or the equivalent).

As long as one has satisfied the residential (3 years for the spouse or civil partner of a British citizen, 5 years for others) and other requirements then one can apply for naturalisation immediately ILR, or the equivalent, is granted.

Also, it is possible to obtain ILR in less than two years. For example, if a married couple have been living in Thailand together for 4 years and then come to the UK with a spouse visa then the Thai partner can apply for ILR immediately they have satisfied the KOL requirement; there is no need to wait for 2 years in such cases. Indeed, if the Thai partner has already satisfied the KOL requirement, while in the UK on a visit for example, then they would not be granted a spouse visa at all but instead would be given Indefinite Leave to Enter, which is equivalent to ILR.

[yaketyak]

Hi,

i have been off this forum for so long (due to having so much else to do in life .. 24 hours a day is just not enough) that i have sort of lost the thread of latest developments.

Can i ask the learned ones here, 7by7 seems to know a fair bit (and bears a striking resemblance in his posts to my old sparring partner ) , to answer my query.

My civil partner came here in July 2006 , got married, and got FLR. Upon expiry of this in July 2008 he took , and failed , this absurd Life in the UK test. So he got another FLR. Now in July 2009 we will have lived here together for 3 years so, does that mean that if he re-takes and passes the test we can apply for and get the ILR and then immediately apply for naturalisation and thus the coveted British Passport?

I think it does but i just need someone else to say so.

Am i right in thinking that , in the unlikely event of him continuing to fail the test, that FLR will be issued again and again and that there is no point at which he will qualify for citizenship without passing it ? Even , to take an extreme example , if he were still here in 50 years?

Thanks for any light anyone can shed on this .

[7by7]

As said before, once someone has no time restriction on their leave to remain then provided they satisfy all the other requirements, such as residency, then they can apply for naturalisation.

Currently one can apply for FLR again and again without limit. However, one of the areas the government is looking at is limiting the number of times one can do so. If this happens then once someone has reached the limit if they still have not satisfied the KOL requirement and so do not qualify for ILR then they will have to leave the UK.

After 2 years in the UK I cannot see why your partner has not been able to pass the test or, if his English is not up to the test, complete an ESOL with citizenship course; neither are very hard to do.

You say that the test is absurd. I agree that some of the questions are somewhat irrelevent in this day and age, but saying that an immigrant to any country should be able to communicate in the language of that country is absurd is...well, absurd!

[makavelli]

On monday this week my wife received a letter from the Home Office saying that she has been successful in her application for British Citizenship. Ofcourse we are absolutely delighted and have to attend the Citizenship ceremony next week where she has to give the oath of allegiance and receive her certificate. Next stop British passport!

We should have'nt any problems getting a passport now she has British Citizenship should we?

Thanks

everyone

[7by7]

Once she has had the ceremony then she can apply for a British passport, the same as any other British citizen.

[Brigante7]

On monday this week my wife received a letter from the Home Office saying that she has been successful in her application for British Citizenship. Ofcourse we are absolutely delighted and have to attend the Citizenship ceremony next week where she has to give the oath of allegiance and receive her certificate. Next stop British passport!

We should have'nt any problems getting a passport now she has British Citizenship should we?

Thanks

everyone

I'm a bit confused now, my wife has been in the UK for 2 1/2 years, 6 months on fiance visa and 2 years on a limited leave to remain visa, 2 years after she arrived here she enrolled in her ESOL course and recieved her pass certificate at the end of January and we made an appointment to submit the paperwork for her indefinite leave to remain visa. We recieved the appointment for 6 days after we phoned and we got her visa there and then, and she can apply for her UK passport after 1 year, my question is, what's this citizenship test and why does she need to take it to get her UK passport when she's been told she'll get her UK passport in 1 year, or when people say citizen test do they mean the Life in the UK test, and what's this swearing an oath of allegiance?

[Brigante7]

On monday this week my wife received a letter from the Home Office saying that she has been successful in her application for British Citizenship. Ofcourse we are absolutely delighted and have to attend the Citizenship ceremony next week where she has to give the oath of allegiance and receive her certificate. Next stop British passport!

We should have'nt any problems getting a passport now she has British Citizenship should we?

Thanks

everyone

I'm a bit confused now, my wife has been in the UK for 2 1/2 years, 6 months on fiance visa and 2 years on a limited leave to remain visa, 2 years after she arrived here she enrolled in her ESOL course and recieved her pass certificate at the end of January and we made an appointment to submit the paperwork for her indefinite leave to remain visa. We recieved the appointment for 6 days after we phoned and we got her visa there and then, and she can apply for her UK passport after 1 year, my question is, what's this citizenship test and why does she need to take it to get her UK passport when she's been told she'll get her UK passport in 1 year, or when people say citizen test do they mean the Life in the UK test, and what's this swearing an oath of allegiance?

OK ignore the above post, now I understand, according to my wife, and all her friends, the holy grail is a UK passport not citizenship, that's what confused me, I always thought that if you had a UK passport then you were all set, it seems not.

[yaketyak]

As said before, once someone has no time restriction on their leave to remain then provided they satisfy all the other requirements, such as residency, then they can apply for naturalisation.

Currently one can apply for FLR again and again without limit. However, one of the areas the government is looking at is limiting the number of times one can do so. If this happens then once someone has reached the limit if they still have not satisfied the KOL requirement and so do not qualify for ILR then they will have to leave the UK.

After 2 years in the UK I cannot see why your partner has not been able to pass the test or, if his English is not up to the test, complete an ESOL with citizenship course; neither are very hard to do.

You say that the test is absurd. I agree that some of the questions are somewhat irrelevent in this day and age, but saying that an immigrant to any country should be able to communicate in the language of that country is absurd is...well, absurd!

7by7 thank you for your swift reply and its nice to have confirmed by someone so knowledgeable what i already thought to be the case.

Regarding your other comments , he has only taken the test once and failed , so is not as stupid as you imply. Main reason is that the questions are irrellevant to life in the uk (oddly enough) and it IS actually quite hard to pass as many others have observed. I never said its absurd that an immigrant shouldn't be able to communicate in the language of the country he is living in ... quite how you construed that i don't know. I said the test is absurd which it is . Also it has nothing to do with that persons ability to converse in English. I believe that my partner is actually able to converse better in English than some English people , yet this absurd test is preventing him getting his ILR , not to mention the rip-off cost of it all. Not a problem for me , but would be for some who will be rightly indignant. Another reason he hasn't yet passed is he hasn't put enough effort in i guess. This is because we are not rushing to get citizenship so we can sponge off the state. No doubt this is an important factor for many ... not for us.

Not for the first time we will never entirely agree on anything to do with immigration. I thank you nonetheless for taking the trouble to reply.

[Mossfinn]

The comments regarding the LitUK test are long and varied, however Yak, if he can converse adequately in English the test shouldn't be that hard, a lot of the questions are potless and pointless and some were, maybe still are, plain wrong, but none of that is the point, it is about ensuring a certain amount of English understanding and integration into the country, something I believe you believe in.

If he failed I would suggest it was down to not doing the hard yards, the irrelevance of the above is all negated by reading and understanding the book.

Getting Citizenship is not always about sponging off the state, although I dare say, it may be at the forefront of some, but it has a number of advantages that have nothing to do with hand outs, like the exemption of visas for instance, however there are few social security safety nets available that you couldn't claim as the partner in any case.

Moss

[Brigante7]

The comments regarding the LitUK test are long and varied, however Yak, if he can converse adequately in English the test shouldn't be that hard, a lot of the questions are potless and pointless and some were, maybe still are, plain wrong, but none of that is the point, it is about ensuring a certain amount of English understanding and integration into the country, something I believe you believe in.

If he failed I would suggest it was down to not doing the hard yards, the irrelevance of the above is all negated by reading and understanding the book.

Getting Citizenship is not always about sponging off the state, although I dare say, it may be at the forefront of some, but it has a number of advantages that have nothing to do with hand outs, like the exemption of visas for instance, however there are few social security safety nets available that you couldn't claim as the partner in any case.

Moss

Just because somebody can read, write and speak english doesn't mean they can pass a test in english. My wife is taking driving lessons and I'm sure she'll have so much trouble with the written part of the test because while she can read and write english she doesn't understand what they mean, so unless she can memorise every question and every answer then she will struggle.