Citizenship

[Geraldine]

Hi!

Has anyone applied for citizenship lately? How long does it take now to process it?

Thanks.

[darren-b]

My wife applied at the end of February and it took about 2 months to process.

Though the BIA are quoting that the average processing time is 7 months.

[joebloggs]

rumours are that citizenship will soon be 5yrs in the uk for a spouse, 8 years for everyone else.. and 2 yrs knocked off if you do volunteer work..

and who knows if there will be any transition arrangements ??

http://www.commonsleader.gov.uk/output/page2441.asp

[darren-b]

rumours are that citizenship will soon be 5yrs in the uk for a spouse, 8 years for everyone else.. and 2 yrs knocked off if you do volunteer work..

and who knows if there will be any transition arrangements ??

http://www.commonsleader.gov.uk/output/page2441.asp

It is a little bit more than a rumour - those figures are being specified in the draft bill that was published today.

[joebloggs]

well it still might not happen..

and if it does, and there are no transition changes, then i can see court cases coming up, and looking at the gov's past record they will lose.

i think its time i applied for the misses, b4 it cost more and takes longer and the community service

[vbkelly]

rumours are that citizenship will soon be 5yrs in the uk for a spouse, 8 years for everyone else.. and 2 yrs knocked off if you do volunteer work..

and who knows if there will be any transition arrangements ??

http://www.commonsleader.gov.uk/output/page2441.asp

im going back home to PI before its happen

[Geraldine]

My wife applied at the end of February and it took about 2 months to process.

Though the BIA are quoting that the average processing time is 7 months.

Cheers! That is fine, we are planning to go home on Dec and hope it wont take that long.

[darren-b]

Cheers! That is fine, we are planning to go home on Dec and hope it wont take that long.

If you don't want to take the risk you can always use a Nationality Checking Service (yet more money...) where they take a copy of your documents so you can keep the originals.

[flomike]

well it still might not happen..

and if it does, and there are no transition changes, then i can see court cases coming up, and looking at the gov's past record they will lose.

i think its time i applied for the misses, b4 it cost more and takes longer and the community service

hi joe, when this new immigration law will take effect? i mean like the community service for those whose going to apply for citizenship? many thanks

[joebloggs]

i don't know when or what the exact facts are, we will just have to wait and see ..

a while ago, rumours were it wouldn't effect spouses, but it seems it will now, as it looks like it will go from 3yrs in the uk to 5yrs before you can apply for citizenship as a spouse, or 3yrs with doing your bit for the community.

so it could be that you will have to be stuck with ILR for a min of 3yrs before you could apply for citizenship instead of 1yr at the mo, but then it doesn't make sense, as the gov wants to reduce the number of people who have ILR, by making them decide to either quit back to their own country or apply for citizenship, so making people wait longer on ILR just doesn't make sense at all.

well if the bill goes b4 parliament in Nov, could it be by April, i think somewhere it mentions 2011..., but i think it will def cost more by April as that's when the fund starts that people who apply for citizenship will have to pay money into

and i will not be paying , I've paid enough for visa's, must be more than £2500, and applying for citizenship for the misses will take it to more than £3k, so I'll apply for the misses in a few weeks

I'm sick of being forced to pay, when Europeans don't pay, asylum seekers don't pay, etc.. looks like the only ones paying are the Brits

[darren-b]

I might be wrong but I thought that the government were actually aiming to not issue ILR anymore and replace it with a period of probationary citizenship. Which if by the end of the period you haven’t applied for citizenship/permanent residence you should leave the country.

The BIA website is suggesting that if the new proposals are approved, the changes will start late next year.

Getting citizenship as soon as possible is the best idea as it is not ever going to get cheaper or easier. I applied for my wife‘s citizenship 3 years and 1 month after she arrived in the UK.