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I am about to apply for naturalisation in October and have a little doubt, Hoping some one will be able to shed some light. I received my ILR on 14 years long residence basis.

It has been 15 months since i applied for my ILR and it took UKBA 11 months to decide. The delay was not my fault so i will be asking them to use their discretion in regards to being free from immigration control during the last 12 months.

I also believe there is a discretion they can use if you haven't been legal in the last 5 years but i am in 2 minds whether to ask for that discretion or just sent the required documents for the last 5 years and hope for the best. On the application form and other relevant guidance notes it states that the document they require for the purposes of legal stay for the last 5 years are your passports or letters from employers and other government departments.

Now i don't have any passport but i can provide them letters from my employer and also a statement from HMRC showing my tax and NI contributions?

Would those 2 documents be enough in regards to legal stay during the 5 years or shall i explicitly ask them for their discretion to be applied. obviously i have to convince them and provide more reasons for them to use their discretion in my favour.

Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated.

It's better to continue in your previous thread in which you asked the same question.

What was your status before? Have you claimed asylum? Have you been an overstayer? Were you a minor at the time?

Normally, if you applied under the 14 years rule, your lawful residence only started when you applied for ILR unless you had a previous claim pending.

On what basis would you ask for discretion for this requirement?

Also, if you were born in the UK and lived here for the first 10 years of your life, you might be better applying for Registration using form T instead of naturalisation.

Jambo wrote:What was your status before? Have you claimed asylum? Have you been an overstayer? Were you a minor at the time?

Normally, if you applied under the 14 years rule, your lawful residence only started when you applied for ILR unless you had a previous claim pending.

On what basis would you ask for discretion for this requirement?

I have lived here almost all my life as a british citizen but there were few problems when i applied for my british passports, mainly due to my parents. i consulted few solicitors and all suggested to apply under 14 years long residence.

Now as far as i am aware i was a citizen but obviously after applying under long residence category and been given ILR i don't know what my status was before. Yes i was a minor and this is the first time i am dealing with my own immigration status.

I would ask them that i was minor and had no control over my situation and hope for the best. I have never been in trouble with police and have paid all taxes and NI since i started working.

In case you missed this line (as my edit crossed path with your post):

* Also, if you were born in the UK and lived here for the first 10 years of your life, you might be better applying for Registration using form T instead of naturalisation. You could have also skipped the ILR application in that case.

Please continue in your other thread