After meeting my future wife in Thailand in 2006, and bringing her to England in 2007. My wife has finally become a brit with the ceremony to take place in October. Very happy man no more visas

A big thank you to all those people back in 2007 for there support and advice even those who thought I was a troll. My aim was to do it right and do it once

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Edited September 30, 201312 yr by fracair

Next stop, the British Passport,which is pretty straight forward, and the staff at the interview understand the applicant is nervous and will get a few questions wrong,the whole idea of a personal interview is only to ascertain your wife identity,and that your wife is who she says she is,so pretty straight forward.

Congratulations,and good luck with the First Passport Interview.

Yeah however I think this is more of a formality. Even a brit born in this country has to now have an interview for first passport. So plane sailing really.

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Yeah however I think this is more of a formality. Even a brit born in this country has to now have an interview for first passport. So plane sailing really.

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my wife has just applied for hers earlier this month can i ask how long yours has taken just for a rough guide please?

It took 5 weeks to get confirmation from the border agency. Then the invitation to attend a ceremony came the following week. So now booked for October for ceremony. Then off to Thailand for holiday, apply for her passport when we get back. So provided you submit all the relevant paperwork you should sail through

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fracair - who signed as a professional referee, if you don't mind me asking.

I have an American friend who is a pastor, although I am not religious. He stood for the professional person and the other was just a brit who we had known for some time. You mentioned that you submitted your application at the beginning of the month, so I would say that you will get it next week. Provided the border agency has not wrote to you asking for further information I expect all is well.

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wife and son applied 9th sept so posted on the 10th via checking agency, recieved letter this morning but date on it was 7th oct, so just short of a month for decision. next step ceremony and then passport.

Congratulations tigerjohn no more visas for other countries. We have changed our ceremony date to 4th December as we're off to Thailand in 2 weeks get back on the 2nd December. Then Canada in the summer to visit family on her British passport

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Wish I could do similar in LOS.

But glad all is happy your end.

Transam you in Los now! I am afraid you do have to be in the UK to apply. All change at the end of this month harder to get citizenship with a 5 year residency now before you can apply but provided you can tick all the right boxes citizenship is not as difficult as some might think it is. Went to a wedding yesterday British guy marry Thai woman in Felixstowe. Lots Thai girls there so spent quite a lot of time explaining the new rules regarding citizenship and procedure for applications. I am no expert but I do try to get a good understanding of what the procedure is and what I need to do in order to meet those requirements

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Transam you in Los now! I am afraid you do have to be in the UK to apply. All change at the end of this month harder to get citizenship with a 5 year residency now before you can apply but provided you can tick all the right boxes citizenship is not as difficult as some might think it is. Went to a wedding yesterday British guy marry Thai woman in Felixstowe. Lots Thai girls there so spent quite a lot of time explaining the new rules regarding citizenship and procedure for applications. I am no expert but I do try to get a good understanding of what the procedure is and what I need to do in order to meet those requirements

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Sorry, I meant me being accepted in LOS.

Oh see what you mean now, good luck with that one.

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Actually, fracair, the residential requirements for naturalisation have not changed at all, and there are no changes in the pipeline of which I am aware.

It is the residential qualifying period for ILR which was one of the changes which came into effect on 9th July 2012; changing from 2 years to 5.

The residential qualifying period for naturalisation remains the same as before; 3 years for the spouse or civil partner of a British citizen, 5 years for all others.

Of course, as one of the other requirements for naturalisation is that the applicant is free from immigration time restrictions, i.e. hold ILR or the equivalent, then even the spouses and partners of British citizens will need to have lived in the UK for at least 5 years before they can apply; unless they applied for their initial settlement visa before 9th July 2012.

The change coming into force on the 28th October 2013 is to the language requirement for both ILR and naturalisation. From that date applicants for both ILR and for naturalisation will need to have passed the LitUK test and achieved at least B1 of the CEFR, or equivalent, in English speaking and listening; see here.

Yes your correct, and I stand corrected, however it is my interpretation that it will also apply to a spouse, currently 3 years my interpretation is 5. I am also aware of the legislation regarding the requirements of citizenship as of the 28th of October. As stated I am no expert but having a Thai wife l need to be responsible enough to know what the requirements are and how to meet the border agency requirements.

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One of the residential requirements for naturalisation for the spouse or civil partner of a British citizen is that they were legally in the UK on the exact date three years prior to the application being received by the Home Office.

Another requirement is that they have ILR or the equivalent.

Those spouses and civil partners who applied for their initial settlement visa before 9th July 2012 come under the old settlement rules and will be able to apply for ILR after two years in the UK and so when the third anniversary of their arrival in the UK falls they will have ILR and so be able to apply for naturalisation; assuming all the other requirements are met.

But those who applied for their initial visa on or after the 9th July 2012 fall under the new settlement rules, and so will need to live in the UK for at least 5 years before they can apply for ILR.

Which does, effectively, increase the minimum residential qualifying period for naturalisation to 5 years plus the time it takes their ILR application to be processed, but the actual period itself will still be counted back three years from the date the Home Office receive the application.

All others must have been in the UK on the exact date 5 years prior to the application being received and must have held ILR, or the equivalent, for at least 12 months.

Which effectively increases the minimum time they need to live in the UK before they can apply for naturalisation from 5 years to 6.

Sorry if I'm coming across as a pedant; but this is an important subject and I feel we owe it to those still to apply to get the information we provide as correct as possible.

Like I said I am not an expert on citizenship nor am I an expert on visas. All I can confirm is what I have done and what is required. I do except your understanding. I will not direct anyone with the wrong information

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One of the residential requirements for naturalisation for the spouse or civil partner of a British citizen is that they were legally in the UK on the exact date three years prior to the application being received by the Home Office.

Another requirement is that they have ILR or the equivalent.

Those spouses and civil partners who applied for their initial settlement visa before 9th July 2012 come under the old settlement rules and will be able to apply for ILR after two years in the UK and so when the third anniversary of their arrival in the UK falls they will have ILR and so be able to apply for naturalisation; assuming all the other requirements are met.

But those who applied for their initial visa on or after the 9th July 2012 fall under the new settlement rules, and so will need to live in the UK for at least 5 years before they can apply for ILR.

Which does, effectively, increase the minimum residential qualifying period for naturalisation to 5 years plus the time it takes their ILR application to be processed, but the actual period itself will still be counted back three years from the date the Home Office receive the application.

All others must have been in the UK on the exact date 5 years prior to the application being received and must have held ILR, or the equivalent, for at least 12 months.

Which effectively increases the minimum time they need to live in the UK before they can apply for naturalisation from 5 years to 6.

Sorry if I'm coming across as a pedant; but this is an important subject and I feel we owe it to those still to apply to get the information we provide as correct as possible.

I'm in the unusual situation that my wife got her ILR in 2000, (back when it was FREE - I can feel the jealous rumblings...)

But we're moving back to the UK this year, (in fact she's already back with the kids - my company transfer finally happens next month so I get to join her then.)

So for my wife, she'll finally be able to apply in a little under 3 years. (almost 16 years after she got her ILR.) Hopefully it won't be a problem, although I'm not looking forward to her studying for the Life in the UK test.

wife and son applied 9th sept so posted on the 10th via checking agency, recieved letter this morning but date on it was 7th oct, so just short of a month for decision. next step ceremony and then passport.

had ceremony on the 18th oct, passports sent off off on the 19th oct, sons passport arrived 24th oct, wife had interview 26th oct and reieved passport today 30th oct, thank god that is everything done now, we can go where we want now and best of all is no more bleeding forking out money lol

Congratulations tigerjohn

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