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Can my wife apply for British Citizenship while abroad?

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 11:05 pm
by sammyb30
Hi,

(first post, so apologies for mistakes etc)....

Our fact pattern:
I am a British citizen and my wife (Mexican) currently has indefinite leave to remain in the UK. This was granted in November 08. We lived in the UK from Feb 2004 to August 2011. We married in June 2006. We have now moved abroad (Luxembourg) due to my new job. My wife is also currently working here as well (dealing with Luxembourg immigration authorities is a dream compared to the UK!). My wife is currently working temporarily for a European institution and has been offerd a permenant role dependant on her having a British passport, as apparently ILR is not sufficient.

We shall be here in Luxembourg for at least another couple of years returning for holidays etc only. We plan to return to the UK within the next three years.

We also have a UK property currently rented out there (dont know whether
this is relevant, but just in case)....

I have a few questions that hopefully you experienced guys can help us with:
1. Will my wife lose her ILR at some point in the future based on the above facts, and if so what will be the implications of this when we return to the UK?
2. Is my wife able to apply for naturalisation/British Citizenship now? if so through which channels? if not, why, and is there any actions we can take to be able to apply?

Any help or advice you can give would be really appreciated, thank you!!

Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2012 1:52 am
by Lucapooka

Re: Can my wife apply for British Citizenship while abroad?

Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2012 3:39 am
by osteophytes
sammyb30 wrote:Hi,

(first post, so apologies for mistakes etc)....

Our fact pattern:
I am a British citizen and my wife (Mexican) currently has indefinite leave to remain in the UK. This was granted in November 08. We lived in the UK from Feb 2004 to August 2011. We married in June 2006. We have now moved abroad (Luxembourg) due to my new job. My wife is also currently working here as well (dealing with Luxembourg immigration authorities is a dream compared to the UK!). My wife is currently working temporarily for a European institution and has been offerd a permenant role dependant on her having a British passport, as apparently ILR is not sufficient.

We shall be here in Luxembourg for at least another couple of years returning for holidays etc only. We plan to return to the UK within the next three years.

We also have a UK property currently rented out there (dont know whether
this is relevant, but just in case)....

I have a few questions that hopefully you experienced guys can help us with:
1. Will my wife lose her ILR at some point in the future based on the above facts, and if so what will be the implications of this when we return to the UK?
2. Is my wife able to apply for naturalisation/British Citizenship now? if so through which channels? if not, why, and is there any actions we can take to be able to apply?

Any help or advice you can give would be really appreciated, thank you!!
No she cant apply from abroad. She has to meet the standard requirements as mentioned above

Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2012 9:10 am
by sammyb30
ok, thanks. So even if we/she returned now for 90 days there would be no way to apply that way?

If we stay abraod for more than 2 years will she also lose her ILR? if so, I guess she will require entry clearance on our return and the clock starts again for scratch?

thanks