Immigrationboards.com

Hi,

I'm in the process of applying for British Citizenship, and I’ve gathered all the required documents, including proof of continuous residence for the past five years, as well as the two referees. However, I would like to clarify my academic situation.

I started a Higher Education Certificate course at a university in the UK in April 2020. Halfway through, in October 2020, I decided to withdraw because I wanted to enrol in a different Computer Science course with a Foundation Year at another university, which I began in January 2021. I was supposed to complete this degree in June this year (the course takes four years with the Foundation Year), but due to health issues, I was unable to submit my final assignment and project. As a result, I was granted extenuating circumstances, and I am now expected to receive my degree this autumn.

In my application, I indicated that I do not currently hold a higher education degree, as I have not yet received it. My concern is whether the caseworker might find it unusual that I began higher education studies in 2020 but have not yet obtained a degree, which could potentially lead to a rejection.

Would you recommend including a cover letter with my application to explain this situation? I have not yet submitted the application, as I want to ensure everything is in order beforehand.

Thank you very much.

There's no requirement to have a degree, unless you want to use your UK degree as proof of English proficiency. #
Your path or time taken to receive the degree is not relevant.

I was thinking that the caseworker might assume I didn't bother to put effort into finishing my studies, since I started my first course back in 2020 and have not yet obtained a degree. This might have reflected poorly on my character and potentially led to a rejection on that basis. As I mentioned in my original post, I didn’t drop out - my graduation was delayed due to personal circumstances.

Your academic performance is completely irrelevant for this application.

No need to explain anything. No need to overthink this either.

Your academic situation has no bearing whatsoever on your application, as long as you respect the statutory requirements. The only academic results they care about are the Life in the UK test and the English language requirement.

Best of luck with your application and for the end of your university journey.

I currently have multiple documents that demonstrate my continuous residence in the UK over the past five years, including payslips, P60s, Student Finance Entitlement letters, and tax returns. I'm wondering whether I should submit all the evidence (including five years' worth of payslips, which amounts to around 60 documents) to strengthen my UK citizenship application, or whether it would be sufficient to send only documents covering annual periods, such as the P60s.

Regarding the Life in the UK Test and the English language test, should I simply include the reference codes in my application, or is it advisable to also upload screenshots of the certificates?

Thank you in advance.

P60s, one per year, are enough (if your passport doesn't get stamped, if it does you can just use that). The rest of the evidence is unnecessary.

For Life in the UK yes, only reference is enough. For the English test I would upload also a scan of the certificate.