Immigrationboards.com

Hi All,

Just thought I would post my journey to Citizenship in terms of processes and costs.

Route:

- £90 UK Ancestral Visa- October 2004 arrival in the UK from South Africa.

-£750 plus £10 for special delivery. Applied for Limited Leave to Remain in October 2008.

- Received Limited Leave to Remain letter with stamp in passport in January 2009.

- £31. Wrote and passed Life in the UK Test in January 2010


- £1,020. Applied for Indefinite Leave to Remain same day appointment in Februaury 2010. Granted same day ILR with letter and stamp in Passport.


- £780 plus £53 for National Checking Service appt fee at South Lanarkshire Council. Application for British Citizenship made on 15 March 2011.......

- 18/03/2011- fee taken from Credit Card

- 30/03/2011- Acknowledgement Letter of application receipt received from UK Border Agency.

Still awaiting a response which I am hoping should be granted. I am a Civil Servant and have no record at all or convictions etc. Am in the Territorial Army and a volunteer policeman.

Total cost including a British Passport application fee of £77.50 for becoming a British Citizen.

= £2,758.50

Happy to answer any questions and intersted to hear other peoples' experiences.

Hi

Thanks for the information.

My nephew is about 4 months behind you, following the same route that you've taken. I knew that it had cost him quite a lot so far, but I didn't know how much the whole process would be! He is eligible to apply for naturalisation on 8/7/2011 (one year after ILR granted). He has just applied to the SA High commission so that he doesn't lose his SA citizenship. Did you do that too and if so, was that successful?

Please let us know how your application progresses and good luck!

@ AlgieUK....

That was quite observant of you!! I have added an extra £80 for letter from UK Border Agency stating that I am not naturalised yet. £15 for application form that needs to be completed for SA High Commission and extra £15 for ID photo costs through the wgole process.

New total cost for British Citizenship = £2,858.50. I have not included costs in time or transport as well.

I hope your son does get the citizenship no bother.

I believe The British Citizenship Caseworker processes are more efficient and apparently (which I guess is dependant on time of year, complexity of application etc) they complete decisions on applications sometimes in a month or 2. But I am still waiting for a decision as of 21 April 2011.

SA High Commission process I am still awaiting a response from them and it has been about 5 weeks now.

Will keep you posted.