Naturalisation and proof of residency for my spouse.
Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2025 11:33 pm
My American wife has had ILR for almost 13 years now and she's currently in the process of applying for citizenship on the 3 year spousal route.
I've been thrown a little by the wording for acceptable documents in the document upload part of the application. It reads -
'If you do not have your passport or it was not stamped when you entered the UK, you need to include letters (for example, from your employer or government department) as proof.
Bank statements or household bills are not suitable proof you have been living in the UK.'
I was under the impression that while not to be relied on, bank statements were acceptable, but clearly not? So we're now collating as many documents as possible from government departments as my wife is self-employed. Thus far we have -
- Tax returns/SA302s for the last 3 completed tax years and a few other letters/statements from HMRC covering the last 2 years.
- A letter from HMRC dated 11/2022 confirming she's resident in the UK for tax purposes (don't get me started on America taxing by citizenship!)
- Mortgage statements for 2023 and 2024. I can't find the statement for 2022 which is really annoying.
- 3 or 4 letters from the NHS regarding test results etc from the last 3 years.
- Various letters from the local government pension scheme she paid into while employed from the last 3 years.
- Letters from her business banking provider covering the last year.
Will this all be acceptable/enough? The only year that makes me nervous is 2022 - we don't have much government paperwork other than her submitted tax return/SA302.
I've been thrown a little by the wording for acceptable documents in the document upload part of the application. It reads -
'If you do not have your passport or it was not stamped when you entered the UK, you need to include letters (for example, from your employer or government department) as proof.
Bank statements or household bills are not suitable proof you have been living in the UK.'
I was under the impression that while not to be relied on, bank statements were acceptable, but clearly not? So we're now collating as many documents as possible from government departments as my wife is self-employed. Thus far we have -
- Tax returns/SA302s for the last 3 completed tax years and a few other letters/statements from HMRC covering the last 2 years.
- A letter from HMRC dated 11/2022 confirming she's resident in the UK for tax purposes (don't get me started on America taxing by citizenship!)
- Mortgage statements for 2023 and 2024. I can't find the statement for 2022 which is really annoying.
- 3 or 4 letters from the NHS regarding test results etc from the last 3 years.
- Various letters from the local government pension scheme she paid into while employed from the last 3 years.
- Letters from her business banking provider covering the last year.
Will this all be acceptable/enough? The only year that makes me nervous is 2022 - we don't have much government paperwork other than her submitted tax return/SA302.
So I’m guessing we do need to provide all this additional proof?