Citizenship Application Clarification Questions

[newjoiner123]

Hi,

Hope you're all well. Back in this forum for my citizenship application assistance. Helpful if someone can answers the below questions.

My family and I were granted ILR earlier this year (2024). I received my ILR in February 2024, and my wife and son obtained theirs in May 2024. I have a few questions regarding our eligibility for citizenship:

Citizenship Application Timing for My Family:
I plan to apply for British citizenship by February 2025. If I receive a decision by late March, could you confirm when my wife and son would be eligible to apply? Do they need to wait until they’ve held ILR for 12 months, or could they apply based on my citizenship status as soon as my application is approved?. My understanding is that they should be able to apply after i get my decision. Is that right?

Oath Ceremony Timing:
If my wife and son are able to apply based on my citizenship status, would they need to wait until I complete my oath ceremony, or could they proceed immediately after the decision on my application?

Application Forms:
I believe my wife would apply for naturalisation using Form AN, and my son (if under 18) would apply for registration using Form MN1. Could you confirm if this is correct?

Travel Restrictions:
Unlike the ILR application process, I understand that I can travel outside the UK after submitting my citizenship application. However, it’s my understanding that travel is restricted between the oath ceremony and the point at which I apply for a British passport. Could you please confirm if this is correct?

English language test
We cleared the english language test during ILR. Hope we don't have to take the exam again.

Thank you for your assistance.

[contorted_svy]

Hi,

Hope you're all well. Back in this forum for my citizenship application assistance. Helpful if someone can answers the below questions.

My family and I were granted ILR earlier this year (2024). I received my ILR in February 2024, and my wife and son obtained theirs in May 2024. I have a few questions regarding our eligibility for citizenship:

Citizenship Application Timing for My Family:
I plan to apply for British citizenship by February 2025. If I receive a decision by late March, could you confirm when my wife and son would be eligible to apply? Do they need to wait until they’ve held ILR for 12 months, or could they apply based on my citizenship status as soon as my application is approved?. My understanding is that they should be able to apply after i get my decision. Is that right? I think so. However, considering you will apply no earlier than Feb 2025, it is likely that your application won't be approved (and you attended the ceremony) before May 2025, so your wife can prepare the application in her own right while you wait for an outcome. If your son is less than 18 waiting for a year on IL may not be necessary but you need to say something more about his situation: where was he born? How long did he live in the UK?

Oath Ceremony Timing:
If my wife and son are able to apply based on my citizenship status, would they need to wait until I complete my oath ceremony, or could they proceed immediately after the decision on my application? You need to attend the ceremony. Only then you become British.

Application Forms:
I believe my wife would apply for naturalisation using Form AN, and my son (if under 18) would apply for registration using Form MN1. Could you confirm if this is correct? Yes

Travel Restrictions:
Unlike the ILR application process, I understand that I can travel outside the UK after submitting my citizenship application. However, it’s my understanding that travel is restricted between the oath ceremony and the point at which I apply for a British passport. Could you please confirm if this is correct? Travel is not technically restricted. However it is strongly advised that you apply for and obtain a British passport to travel to/from the UK as your immigration status will no longer be valid.

English language test
We cleared the english language test during ILR. Hope we don't have to take the exam again. You won't have to. Keep the certificate and corresponding reference numbers as you will need to use them again.

Thank you for your assistance.

[newjoiner123]

Thanks for your response. I received my ILR on Feb 2nd 2024 and I am planning to apply for my citizenship on Feb 05th 2025. My son is less than 18 years and he was born outside UK. He has received his ILR based on 10 continuous years stay.

[contorted_svy]

Here is something that relates to your case that can be found in the MN1 guidance https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... le-version (which you should review)

Children applying in line with parents
Children will come within this category if:

one parent is a British citizen or about to become one through registration or naturalisation

the other parent (if involved in the child’s life) is a British citizen or settled in the UK (“settled” usually means that the parent has indefinite leave to remain in the UK)

the child has been resident in the UK for the last 2 years - (if the child is under the age of 2 we can accept a shorter residence period, taking into account the age of the child)

the child is settled in the UK

both parents give their consent to registration (unless good reasons are provided)

there is no reason to refuse on character grounds.

Children with settlement and residence
Children will come within this category if:

the child has completed a period of lawful residence in the UK of more than 5 years

the child has been granted settled status in the UK, and held that status for at least 12 months

the child’s parents have completed a period of 5 years residence and are settled in the UK (“settled” usually means that the parent has indefinite leave to remain in the UK)

both parents give their consent to registration (unless good reasons are provided)

there is no reason to refuse on character grounds.

Children who have lived in the UK for more than 10 years
Children will come within this category if:

the child is in the UK lawfully

the parents are in the UK lawfully

both parents give their consent to registration (unless good reasons are provided)

there is no reason to refuse on character grounds.

Given the third instance I think your child can already apply as parents and him have ILR, and he has lived in the UK for more than 10 years. You and wife still need to wait as I said above. If you apply in Feb 2025, it is highly unlikely that you will get the outcome and attend the ceremony before May 2025, when your wife is eligible to apply in her own right. If you choose to apply now for your son, he may have become British by then already.

[newjoiner123]

Hi Contorted_svy, Thanks for your response. I am bit confused.

My understanding is that if i spend 12 months in my ILR I should be eligible to apply for citizenship. Any specific reason why application won't be successful if I apply for my citizenship in Feb 2025 after 12 months in ILR and not spending more than 90 days outside UK in the last 12 months. Could you please clarify.

[CR001]

Where was it advised your application won't be successful???

It was advised that you are unlikely to be British by end of March 2025, ie approved and attended yhe ceremony, as you have indicated.

[newjoiner123]

Apologies, I misunderstood Contorted_svy statement. Its clear now that I am eligible to apply for British citizenship by Feb 2025 and as soon as i complete the oath ceremony will initiate my wife's application and will have a read through the link shared for my son's application.

Thanks all for your inputs.

[CR001]

Citizenship applications can take up to 6 months to process, sometimes longer. You indicating you will have it done by end of March 2025 is very unrealistic. So manage your expectations appropriately.

Your wife will likely qualify in her own right before you attend the ceremony or become British.

[contorted_svy]

Your son should already be eligible to apply, as I stated above. You should apply in your own right and not make plans for your wife to apply before May 2025 - as I explained it is very unlikely you'd be able to get approved and attend the ceremony in only 3 months, so she wouldn't have much time to gain from that! You can still put together the documents for her application and submit as soon as the right time comes.

[newjoiner123]

Many thanks contorted_svy. Thank you for taking the time to patiently answer all my questions, even the ones that might have seemed a bit silly.

I had checked the application processing timelines thread in the forum and most of them have received the decision in 8-9 weeks time and based on that I had given the timelines in my initial thread. Things are clear now.

I will not submit my wife's application until I complete the oath ceremony and explore the option for applying the citizenship for my son. Couple of more doubts

1) does my son have to re-apply for citizenship after 18 years of age
2) Do you foresee any other challenges in obtaining the citizenship for children while the parents are not having the same.

Best Regards

[contorted_svy]

Many thanks contorted_svy. Thank you for taking the time to patiently answer all my questions, even the ones that might have seemed a bit silly.

I had checked the application processing timelines thread in the forum and most of them have received the decision in 8-9 weeks time and based on that I had given the timelines in my initial thread. Things are clear now.

I will not submit my wife's application until I complete the oath ceremony and explore the option for applying the citizenship for my son. Couple of more doubts

1) does my son have to re-apply for citizenship after 18 years of age No, once he is registered he is British.
2) Do you foresee any other challenges in obtaining the citizenship for children while the parents are not having the same. No, as far as he respects all the requirements. He has lived in the UK for 10 years, and all of you are settled and living here lawfully so he is eligible.

Best Regards

[contorted_svy]

Just wanted to add, that citizenship approval timelines are very individual. My approval took almost 4 months, it ultimately depends on how the HO is staffed and how long the inquiries take. Some cases take more than a year, most take less than six months, but ultimately timelines are independent and applications could take longer or shorter depending on the time of year or a thousand other factors which aren't under our control. Approval times could be shorter now then get longer again - difficult to predict how long an application submitted in 6 months could take and most likely an exercise in futility. Best to rely on the standard processing times which are 6 months and avoid to plan too much as ultimately one just needs to wait and not compare their wait to others too much.