Uk Passport Interview

[khundon]

The wife now has UK Citizenship and has applied for British passport in Uk.

She has to go for an interview soon, any idea what happens at the interview or what questions they ask.

[makavelli]

Hi,

My wife had her British passport interview a couple of weeks ago. She said they just asked her about some of the information she put down on her passport application form such as address, date entered uk, fathers birthday, postcode. 4 days after the interview she had her British passport delivered! happy days!

[Boo]

Here is a link to a recent post of mine regarding my husbands passport interview.

[khundon]

Here is a link to a recent post of mine regarding my husbands passport interview.

Thanks for the help Boo

The wife's interview is next week, so she is busy cribbing dates and phone numbers, I have no doubt she will sail through,(with 2 degrees she should do) then it's out for a meal to celebrate.

We were married in Thailand in 2001, whilst on a short holiday and had then come back to UK.

She had been studying in UK for a few years and had not attended college for the last month of her course (stupid in hindsight I know) and had gone back to Thailand for a months break in late 2001.

She then returned to UK with 1 week left on her visa and at HRR was stopped by IMM.

They kept her passport and she was told to report back to them the next day where she was "asked to leave" not deported.

A big line was drawn through her visa and she was put on a plane back to BKK.

I got all the supporting doc's, bank details, phone records, home details etc and she applied for visa interview in BKK a couple of months later and I flew out for a couple of days to support her.

1 week later she had her ILR stamp and she came back to UK.

The daft thing is, we were not going to apply for British Citizenship/passport after getting the ILR, but as we like to travel a lot, it is so much easier to do on a UK passport, rather than having to get a visa every time we visit EU countries and places like USA, Australia etc. So we went for it.

Hopefully all the hassle will end next week.

I know others in the same situation and they have been trying to get ILR for the UK in BKK for years and keep getting turned down.

Good luck to all those going through the same situation, keep at it, all will work out well in the end.

[Brigante7]

Hi,

My wife had her British passport interview a couple of weeks ago. She said they just asked her about some of the information she put down on her passport application form such as address, date entered uk, fathers birthday, postcode. 4 days after the interview she had her British passport delivered! happy days!

Hi Makavelli, how much did your wifes passport cost?

Thanks, Brigante7.

[FRM-BKK]

The wife now has UK Citizenship and has applied for British passport in Uk.

She has to go for an interview soon, any idea what happens at the interview or what questions they ask.

I am really surprised and sorry that someone who has been granted British Citizenship, through the Naturalisation process - and therefore has the official documentation to support this - has to be subjected to yet another interview.

Unless this is merely a process whereby verification is needed in case of fraud.

However, there shouldn't really be any need, having reached this stage, for the applicant to be able to recite the history of her/his life in significant detail.

The applicant is (by now) a British National after all and has been through this endless times in the process!!??

The process in the UK was the same (admittedly some years ago) as for any British National applying for a British passport. No interview, just complete the forms and provide the required documentation + fee.

I am very surprised, or am I missing the point?

Good Luck anyway......... and enjoy the freedom !

Frm-Bkk

[Boo]

The UK passport interview is required for ALL first time adult passport applicants. Not only for naturalised citizens.

Khundon, That's interesting about the ILR application from Bangkok, a very good friend of mine has been in BKK last week attempting to apply for ILR as he has been with his British wife for 10 years & for 9 years has been granted TV's for 3-6 months every year. He also took the Life in the UK test at the end of last year in UK & passed it so he meets all the criteria & I even printed off a thread from a couple of years ago where forum sponsor, Davis Khan(Scouse) listed the actual immigration rules numbers & text that states he is allowed to apply directly for ILR.

Guess what.....no one at the embassy will acknowledge the rule exists. Not sure what the outcome has been but they were talking about just applying for SV & then paying for the ILR as soon as he arrived in UK but you have to wonder why they would need to when he can just get ILR from BKK. !!!

Unfortunately it seems that since farming all the paperwork out to the thai run office his wife cannot even get to speak with a British embassy official to ensure they wont be wasting their money by applying for ILR only for it to be rejected due to no one knowing anything about the law!!!!

[7by7]

Boo,

To qualify for ILR one needs, among other reqirements, to have been resident in the UK for the required time, and still is. Applications must be made in the UK.

So your friend cannot apply for ILR outside the UK. He should apply for settlement in the usual way, using form VAF4.

He should show that he has been married for longer than 4 years, and say in the additional information box that he has satisfied the KOL requirement and provide evidence of this. He should then be issued not with a settlement visa but with Indefinite Leave to Enter; which to all intents and purposes is the same as ILR.

[Boo]

It is the same principle though right? Surely a British national should be able to speak with an actual British ECO to get advice on the right application & expect that person to be aware of the rules & law, esp when providing them with the relevant law & text.

I spoke to them just now & in the end they got so much bs from the thai staff & even the British staff member it took her 30 minutes of insistence to get to speak to that they have just gone ahead & applied for a 2 year SV & she is going to email her MP & the home office in the mean time to raise the issue.

I told her to make sure she does cause instead of one cost for ILR/ILE they have now had to pay for SV & will also then have to pay for ILR as soon as they get back to UK

[7by7]

I see what you are saying, Boo, and can understand your frustration.

However, he has not applied for a 2 year settlement visa, he has applied for settlement. As said above, he qualifies for and so should be granted ILE. If he is not and is given a 2 year spouse visa instead then I would advise using that and then sorting it out with the Home Office once in the UK.

There was a thread on this point on Thailand-UK a few weeks ago, so maybe a search on there will help you.

[Boo]

Very interesting, thanks 7by7, ... so as they included in the application form his pass certificate for Life in UK & also wrote in the covering letter the law & text regarding ILE & also copies from his passport showing the past 9 years worth of tourist visas (as well as the original), marriage certificate, photos etc then the eco should automatically process him as someone who has met the KOL requirements & grant ILE anyway?

It would be fantastic if it goes that way but if not & he ends up with a 2 year residency visa, do you think he would have grounds to get a refund on SV from the home office once he contacts them for ILR?

[7by7]

Yes, they should grant him ILE.

If not and they give him a 2 year spouse visa instead then he should be able to get that converted to ILE/ILR in the UK without charge.

[Boo]

well that will take a great weight of their mind, I will email them with that info now. She was getting very frustrated last week trying to find out the best application to submit & with the thought of the added cost for ILR when they are back in UK, they were both a bit po'd naturally. This will perk them both up

Thanks for your advice. Much appreciated. (and thank god Mr boo has his Brit passport & we don't have to go through this ourselves anymore!!)

[khundon]

Boo,

To qualify for ILR one needs, among other reqirements, to have been resident in the UK for the required time, and still is. Applications must be made in the UK.

So your friend cannot apply for ILR outside the UK. He should apply for settlement in the usual way, using form VAF4.

He should show that he has been married for longer than 4 years, and say in the additional information box that he has satisfied the KOL requirement and provide evidence of this. He should then be issued not with a settlement visa but with Indefinite Leave to Enter; which to all intents and purposes is the same as ILR.

7by7

I don't understand your statement that I have highlighted.

My wife was not a resident of the UK when she got her ILR but had been in UK off and on for several years studying.

She was given her ILR in British Embassy in BKK and I was there (in waiting room) while she had her interview.

The interviewee was British with a Thai interpreter in case she was needed.

The British IMM officer was very kind to her and asked many questions but she (my wife) was not required to be resident in UK to get ILR.

I feel the agency set up to handle these applications, is designed to stifle applicants trying to immigrate to the UK, not to help them.

Lets face it, IMM is trying it's best to slow down or refuse applications to the UK from Thailand, as they are doing from all over the Asian Sub continent.

Boo we wish your friends luck in their application, it seems to be a minefield out there now with all these new rules.

[khundon]

Hi,

My wife had her British passport interview a couple of weeks ago. She said they just asked her about some of the information she put down on her passport application form such as address, date entered uk, fathers birthday, postcode. 4 days after the interview she had her British passport delivered! happy days!

makavelli

Thanks for that info.

We spoke today to someone who did their interview yesterday, they said though they were told it would take 30 minutes it took only 6.

All they were asked was information that they had put on passport application, such as parents DOB and POB etc and it was all over.

So it seems to be more of a identity fraud thing, than any thing else.

Thanks everyone for your help and info.

[7by7]

Boo,

To qualify for ILR one needs, among other reqirements, to have been resident in the UK for the required time, and still is. Applications must be made in the UK.

So your friend cannot apply for ILR outside the UK. He should apply for settlement in the usual way, using form VAF4.

He should show that he has been married for longer than 4 years, and say in the additional information box that he has satisfied the KOL requirement and provide evidence of this. He should then be issued not with a settlement visa but with Indefinite Leave to Enter; which to all intents and purposes is the same as ILR.

7by7

I don't understand your statement that I have highlighted.

My wife was not a resident of the UK when she got her ILRrequirements but had been in UK off and on for several years studying.

She was given her ILR in British Embassy in BKK and I was there (in waiting room) while she had her interview.

The interviewee was British with a Thai interpreter in case she was needed.

The British IMM officer was very kind to her and asked many questions but she (my wife) was not required to be resident in UK to get ILR.

With respect, I am sure that she was not granted ILR but was granted ILE; which as outlined previously is to all intents and purposes the same thing except ILR is granted inside the UK and ILE outside.

From 13.16 - Entry clearance endorsements

ILE can be granted in situations where:

• the sponsor has a right of abode/indefinite leave to enter and;
  
• the couple have been married/in a civil partnership for at least 4 years and have been living together outside the United Kingdom during that time and;
  
• the applicant has demonstrated 'knowledge of language and life in the UK' (KOL)
  

The following endorsement should be used:

D: SETTLEMENT: SPOUSE/CP: ILE

Where an applicant has satisfied all of the requirements for ILE, except the KOL requirement, they should be granted two years leave to enter. During this time they can, at any point, satisfy the KOL requirement and then apply for indefinite leave to remain in the UK. The following endorsement should be used:

D: SETTLEMENT: SPOUSE/CP (KOL REQ): 27 months: Code 1

However, the important thing is that your wife has an entry clearance which allows her to reside indefinitely in the UK

So it seems to be more of a identity fraud thing, than any thing else.

It is exactly that, and all first time applicants for a British passport are subject to this interview, not only the newly naturalised but also those who are British by birth.

[khundon]

7by7

I don't understand your statement that I have highlighted.

My wife was not a resident of the UK when she got her ILRrequirements but had been in UK off and on for several years studying.

She was given her ILR in British Embassy in BKK and I was there (in waiting room) while she had her interview.

The interviewee was British with a Thai interpreter in case she was needed.

The British IMM officer was very kind to her and asked many questions but she (my wife) was not required to be resident in UK to get ILR

7by7 said

"With respect, I am sure that she was not granted ILR but was granted ILE; which as outlined previously is to all intents and purposes the same thing except ILR is granted inside the UK and ILE outside".

7by7

Just double checked with wife's passport it says and I quote. "Given leave to remain in the United Kingdom for an Indefinite Period"

That to me is ILR Not ILE.

I repeat this was given in BKK and the Imm officer told us it was Indefinite Leave to Remain and not ILE.

She took her Life in the UK test after she came here, last year in fact.

If you want, I can scan in ILR stamp to prove it.

Edited March 25, 2009 by khundon

[7by7]

Khundon.

The immigration rules, procedures etc have been considerably modified by this government over the last 6 to 7 years. I have no knowledge of what the situation was regarding ILR Vs ILE in 2001/02 as I took less interest in such matters then as I do now.

My wife was granted her settlement visa in 2000 and applied for and was granted her ILR after living in the UK for 12 months. The ILR application was free and there was no KOL requirement. There was also no KOL requirement for her British citizenship application in 2003 and the fee was, if memory serves, £150. She did not need to attend an interview before obtaining her first British passport.

See how things change?

As far as I am aware, the current situation is that it is impossible to obtain ILR outside the UK and that the procedure for obtaining ILE is as I have outlined here.

Though I stand to be corrected if necessary by a professional such as the Scouse.

I apologise for inflaming your ire; and please be assured that I did not doubt your word. I simply assumed that you had misunderstood what can be a complex situation.

In my defence I would like to say that you had not said that your wife obtained her indefinite leave in 2002 (or if you did, I seem to have missed it) and so I had assumed that we were talking about more recent events.

As the saying goes; assume means making an ass of u and me!

Edited to tidy up spelling.

Edited March 25, 2009 by 7by7

[the scouser]

Sect. 4(1) of the Immigration Act 1971 states, amongst other things:-

The power under this Act to give or refuse leave to enter the United Kingdom shall be exercised by immigration officers, and the power to give leave to remain in the United Kingdom... shall be exercised by the Secretary of State...

For the purposes of deciding whether a visa is issued, visa officers act as immigration officers and they grant leave to enter. The caseworkers who consider applications made in-country act on behalf of the Secretary of State and confer leave to remain.

Legally speaking, it is impossible for a visa officer to issue a visa that grants indefinite leave to remain. I would suggest that in Don's wife's case it was either an incorrect endorsement or an application has since been made to the Home Office for the ILE to be transferred to a new passport. However, even if the latter, the endorsement would still be incorrect as it should have been a "no time limit" stamp rather than ILR.

Scouse.