Immigrationboards.com

Hi all,

I am a British citizen through decent (mother born in UK) and i have been living in the UK for a year now. My twin brother also wants to apply (currently residing in South Africa) Now my question is, if he comes to me on holiday, can he apply for his citizenship and his British passport while visiting me? IF he comes on a holiday Visa, will he be sent back to South Africa while the application is in process in the UK? He has all the documentation required to apply for his passport except for the character reference. He doesn't know anyone in South Africa who has a British passport who can vouch for him. Will they require this still if he does his application in the UK?

Thanking you in advance
Sandy

When was he born? Before or after 1.1.1983.

JAJ wrote:When was he born? Before or after 1.1.1983.

OP and brother born before 1983.

british-citizenship/ukm-applicants-for- ... l#p1302504

As I understand it the "no-switching" rule does not apply to citizenship applications. So in theory, someone can arrive as a tourist and apply for UKM/UKF- however, in practice, if an Immigration Officer thinks an arriving tourist is planning to do that, they may well refuse entry.

In addition, processing time is usually more than the typical tourist stay in the U.K. and it would still be necessary to attend a citizenship ceremony. Normally those living outside the U.K. can get a citizen of the country of residence to act as reference if necessary.

He needs to obtain Home Affairs permission to keep his South African citizenship upon becoming British (if he wants to stay South African).

Also- if he has a spouse/family and is planning to bring them to settle in the U.K. he should look to see if he will qualify to sponsor for a spouse visa and if not, consider the pros and cons of obtaining an ancestry visa instead of British citizenship.

SandraArchangel, Did your brother end up getting his UKM and if he did, did he do this while visiting the UK asking as My sister is also thinking about going over and applying while Visiting family. Thank you