Soon to apply for UK citizenship, (advice needed please) rules changed?

[alesypalsy]

Hi all !

Well its been a while since i been around, my missis has done the ILR a while back and now we are getting ready for the citizenship so she can apply for the uk passport,,

Her visa is dated 29th of october and is the same day she arrived in the uk which will be 3 years ago this october,
now my question is have the rules changed now or are we still under the old requirements, as my friend tells me that they have changed the rules from october 28th 2013 that there is yet another test needed, english language?...


But i am under the assumption that she could apply on the 28th oct 2013?

please could anyone advise and if you need more info please ask
thanks very much

[alesypalsy]

I am thinking that we should send the form a day early?

[stevewool]

we have just sent ours away, ems landed on the ground here july 29th 2010 so we applied after that date and its all going through right this moment, this new english test starting on oct 28th as you say i am not sure about sending it 1 day early

[alesypalsy]

Well dont we come under the old regulations? but i suppose not as maybe that was just the ILR for that part, this is most frustrating to have to have to face yet another hurdle

[stevewool]

its a tricky one , she would have to have been in the country 3 years from the date stamp on the passport, what time did she land

[alesypalsy]

I am now reading that if she has the life in the uk test that means she already has enough english knowledge to not need the other exam so it is contradicting stuff off the uk border site,
Start of the residential qualifying period

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/br...fe-in-uk-test/

im confused

[stevewool]

sometimes we read too much into the forms, but i would seek advice form others, its only a day but better be safe then sorry

[Terpe]

All applications from 28 October must include both life in uk pass certificate and a pass certificate in English at level B1

I'll post all details and links when I get back to my computer.
You would be well advised to review the application form and the guidance so that you understand what's required.
That 3 year timing is critical. Don't risk non compliance (even one day) UKBA are very strict about that as it's law. They may take a dim view if they feel you tried to circumvent immigration rules.

[Terpe]

All applications from 28 October must include both life in uk pass certificate and a pass certificate in English at level B1

The forum link with all details on this new requirement is here - New UKBA Requirements for Settlement and Naturalisation

That 3 year timing is critical. Don't risk non compliance (even one day) UKBA are very strict about that as it's law. They may take a dim view if they feel you tried to circumvent immigration rules.

Here are the UKBA rules for residential requirements:-

In order to demonstrate the residential requirements for naturalisation you need to:-

- have been resident in the United Kingdom for at least three years (this is known as the residential qualifying period) and
- have been present in the United Kingdom three years before the date of your application and
- have not spent more than 270 days outside the United Kingdom during the three-year period and
- have not spend more than 90 days outside the United Kingdom in the last 12 months of the three-year period and
- have not been in breach of the immigration rules at any stage during the three-year period.

Start of the residential qualifying period

The residential qualifying period will be worked out from the day we receive your application. Most unsuccessful applications fail because the applicant was not present in the United Kingdom at the beginning of the residential qualifying period. You must make sure you meet this requirement before you make your application. For example, if we received your application on 25 November 2005, you would have to show that you were in the United Kingdom on 26 November 2002.

You'll find this snippet of information helpful too:-

What is the date of your application? (Applying by post or courier from inside the UK)
If you send your application form and application fee by post, the date of application is the date of posting. This is decided by the postmark. If the postmark is illegible or missing, the date of postage is taken as being at least 1 day before it is received by us.

If you send your application form and application fee by courier, the date of application is the date when it is delivered to our payment handling service.

[alesypalsy]

Thanks Terpe,

Looks like we are buggered, as its the day we can apply is the day the rules change, this is terrible news,
her entry and visa date is october 29th 2010, so she could post the application on the 27th and they receive on the 28th of oct, but seems this is the day it changes,,

so another £110 and god knows where we be able to get her into the test as we are miles from anywhere on the east coast, and it says only London or Birmingham for these tests?

Just when we thought everything was looking good this

[Terpe]

.....and it says only London or Birmingham for these tests?

Where does it say that??
As far as I understand it the candidates may choose whichever test they want from the UKBA approved list. Additionally, many of those test providers have test centres all around the UK.

Just as a couple of quick examples take a Look here for Cambridge English
or take a Look here for IELTS test centres (it says 62 test centres in UK)

There's plenty more tests and providers on the UKBA approved listing.
Just check out by following the links for tests at B1 level

Hope that helps

[Terpe]

I'm not 100% sure but I think the BULATS test can be taken online.
Might be worth checking out. There's a link on the UKBA listing

I've no knowledge of that particlar test and don't know anyone who's taken it but it does sound worth checking out.

[alesypalsy]

thank you so much for your assistance here terpe! that BULATS sounds great i am going to look it up now.

[alesypalsy]

Looks like the Bluats test is out of the picture as still need to attend a test centre,

thanks again though Terpe

[alesypalsy]

The forum link with all details on this new requirement is here - New UKBA Requirements for Settlement and Naturalisation



Here are the UKBA rules for residential requirements:-



You'll find this snippet of information helpful too:-

Hi Again Terpe,

I am really trying to see if there is a way without having to pay another £150 odd out here over 1 day!


Ok so i have now seen that by the dates that my misses arrived in the uk oct 29th 2010, so in order to have her application in on time for that i would have send the application off on thurs 24th of oct 2013 this year, as the 28th of october is a monday ,,,
so legailly i am in the thinking that if we send her application off on the thursday 24th of oct we have applied before the 28th which is when the new rule comes in but her application will not be processed until the 28th,,
we may just skim it,,, any thoughts on this,,,,

i have gone through the tests and the easiest for her i believe would be the Trinity as they only have speaking and listening to go through, the others seem to have a lot of other things to go with them and are lot longer,,, the problem is trinity is a 4 hour drive from us, we have 2 young children, so this is just another pain the bottom for us here now, we were already geared up as having already met the requirements, the government have now (again ) moved the goal posts.

input most invited

[stevewool]

3 years is 3 years, its a lot of money to lose for the sake of a few hundred quid

[Terpe]

...so legailly i am in the thinking that if we send her application off on the thursday 24th of oct we have applied before the 28th which is when the new rule comes in but her application will not be processed until the 28th,,
we may just skim it,,, any thoughts on this,,,,

Well my first thought is that she's just so unlucky with the timing.
Every factor in the equation is against her.
I do feel the frustrations. I've had my share on my wife's own immigration journey.

Concerning your above idea. You need to read the regulation very carefully.
The rule states:-

If you send your application form and application fee by post, the date of application is the date of posting. This is decided by the postmark. If the postmark is illegible or missing, the date of postage is taken as being at least 1 day before it is received by us.

Means if you post it on the 24th, 25th, 26th or 27th then the postmark is the date of application and her passport will show she was not physically present in UK on the needed day. Yes, it's a real so-and-so but I can't advise you do that. As UKBA themselves warn, that is the major cause of refusal. So they WILL do it.

Because the 28th is on a Monday (the day of new rules implementation) it's not even possible to use a special hand delivery courier service.

I'm sorry to be the bearer of this but you're going to need to resolve the issue of which English Test and which Test Centre and when to do it.
Personally I think if your wife has been in UK for 3 years she will absolutely sail through the required tests without any problem.
Despite the fact that many test providers do insist on all 4 elements (Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening) the UKBA are only concerned with Speaking and Listening.
(read the UKBA news iten again)
Even your wife will fail writing and reading elements will make no difference just as long as she makes the pass mark at Speaking and Listening.

Please do take a look at the IELTS test centre link I provided in post #11 and check out those 62 UK centres. Maybe there's one within reasonable access.

Keep us informed on how you and your wife will proceed. It may well help many others who will follow you.

[lordna]

Hi all !

Well its been a while since i been around, my missis has done the ILR a while back and now we are getting ready for the citizenship so she can apply for the uk passport,,

Her visa is dated 29th of october and is the same day she arrived in the uk which will be 3 years ago this october,
now my question is have the rules changed now or are we still under the old requirements, as my friend tells me that they have changed the rules from october 28th 2013 that there is yet another test needed, english language?...


But i am under the assumption that she could apply on the 28th oct 2013?

please could anyone advise and if you need more info please ask
thanks very much

Just missed by one day!...even more frustrating that one of the years was infact a leap year so thats an extra day? Is the residence counted in complete years or days? if its days then maybe she just qualifies?

[alesypalsy]

3 years is 3 years, its a lot of money to lose for the sake of a few hundred quid

Wish it was as simple as that honestly, I would happily pay 300 quid for the paper needed!

This has now causing stress and emotions are again running high, we had plans for travel next year and this is now worrying that maybe we won't be able to so we cannot book anything right now,

Thanks again to you terpe, I have emailed ilets exam people to see what they can offer, but even though she has been here 3 years she is busy with 2 young kids and looking after me, now she worried sick she wont make the grade,

We now need to hear back from exam people do we can find out what she should study up on as right now we have no clue what is expected here, and I am not sure if they can actually pass you on just the talking and listening part of the test? It maybe overall performance that gives the grade,

Our house is right now an unhappy one, and yes one blooming day out is making it all the worse to digest .............

Really appreciate your help and advice though, thanks once again

[marksroomspain]

Wish it was as simple as that honestly, I would happily pay 300 quid for the paper needed!

This has now causing stress and emotions are again running high, we had plans for travel next year and this is now worrying that maybe we won't be able to so we cannot book anything right now,

Thanks again to you terpe, I have emailed ilets exam people to see what they can offer, but even though she has been here 3 years she is busy with 2 young kids and looking after me, now she worried sick she wont make the grade,

We now need to hear back from exam people do we can find out what she should study up on as right now we have no clue what is expected here, and I am not sure if they can actually pass you on just the talking and listening part of the test? It maybe overall performance that gives the grade,

Our house is right now an unhappy one, and yes one blooming day out is making it all the worse to digest .............

Really appreciate your help and advice though, thanks once again

Hi there I just want to reassure you regarding the Ielts testing and totally agree with my friend Terpe as in your wife has been here 3 years so there should not be a problem attaining the grades she needs.

My wife actually has just done Ielts testing and got an average of 6.5 across the board for her nursing career here in the UK but has to resit because she needs a 7 overall and she got these grades only been in UK for 7 months.

Your wife just requires Ielts level 4 in speaking and listening to pass this and these 2 elements are easier than reading and writing as my wife confirms to me ie: her results were speaking 7.5, listening 7 it was the latter 2 that let her down as now she resits.

I hope this can bring you hope that even though its stressing she should have no problems.

Wishing you all the best...

PS: She will take all 4 elements on Ielts even if she doesn't get level 4 in reading and writing as long as she gets that level in speaking and listening then thats fine UKBA will disregard the reading and writing part...

[alesypalsy]

Thanks for the positive input , appreciate it

[stevewool]

its alright saying dont get stressed but we all do,
There is always a way to do it and thats the right way, just think its another few forms to fill in, and they do get easy too, i was amazed when Ems was filling in the form A4 how easy it was

[alesypalsy]

Hi there I just want to reassure you regarding the Ielts testing and totally agree with my friend Terpe as in your wife has been here 3 years so there should not be a problem attaining the grades she needs.

My wife actually has just done Ielts testing and got an average of 6.5 across the board for her nursing career here in the UK but has to resit because she needs a 7 overall and she got these grades only been in UK for 7 months.

Your wife just requires Ielts level 4 in speaking and listening to pass this and these 2 elements are easier than reading and writing as my wife confirms to me ie: her results were speaking 7.5, listening 7 it was the latter 2 that let her down as now she resits.

I hope this can bring you hope that even though its stressing she should have no problems.

Wishing you all the best...

PS: She will take all 4 elements on Ielts even if she doesn't get level 4 in reading and writing as long as she gets that level in speaking and listening then thats fine UKBA will disregard the reading and writing part...

Well we today printed off the test exam , and to be honest didnt find it easy,different stroks for different folks and that, also the exam is a whole day, adding to that they give you the listening and talking test for 10 mins plus the paperwork, looked like an awful day,

so we booked the trinity which is 10 mins complete, but a 4 hour drive each way,,, at least the kids should sleep in the car,
i am nothing but annoyed with all this, just when i thought we were on the home run, a damn hurdle with another cost and no guarantee we are at the end....
will update when its all over , not much i can do except moan
cheers

[stevewool]

best bet is to make a holiday of it for you the wife and the kids, may take your mind of it

[stevewool]

thanks for the rep who ever you are, i do try to see all sides to everything on here whether its what the person is wanting to hear or not, just like if i was asking a question

[Terpe]

thanks for the rep who ever you are, i do try to see all sides to everything on here whether its what the person is wanting to hear or not, just like if i was asking a question

[stevewool]

thankyou Peter