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Hi

I am so grateful if someone could give me some advice relating to my application.

I am going to apply for naturalisation as a British citizenship on the basis of marriage to a British citizen.

Marriage visa issued @ 11/02/2009, valid until 11/05/2011
The date of entry UK: 07/03/2009
PR issue date: 17/06/2011

I would submit my application after 07/03/2012, which will satisfy the qualifying period of 3 years.

However I feel confused when I am trying to filling in AN form:-

In section 2.1 Date and place of first arrival in the UK

Shall I fill in 07/03/2009 (spouse visa), or 19/09/2005 (student visa)?

Background: I arrived in the UK in 2005 as a student before I was married. I overstayed on my student visa while I was waiting for my ceremony to take place. I applied for spouse visa straight away after ceremony, however it was refused. I went back to my country and reapplied spouse visa, which was granted for the period 11/02/09 – 11/05/11

If I did fill in 07/03/2009, how am I going to fill in the section 1.16 and 1.17? because home office asks for the address for the last past five years.

thanks very much if someone can enlight me on the above issue please!

You need to put ur entry date of 07/03/2009 when you entered UK on spouse Visa.

Hi Samllfamily

Thanks for your reply. i really appreciate it. but i have a question relating to this, like you mentioned, i should fill in 07/03/09 as the date of entry, how am i going to fill in section 1.17 (addresses for the past five years), as I live in the UK since 2005.

thanks very much.

mercmullis wrote:Hi Samllfamily

Thanks for your reply. i really appreciate it. but i have a question relating to this, like you mentioned, i should fill in 07/03/09 as the date of entry, how am i going to fill in section 1.17 (addresses for the past five years), as I live in the UK since 2005.

thanks very much.

You are required to provide addresses for the past 3 years not for the past 5 years because you are married to a british citizen...

For ur peace of mind pls read the following requirement criteria provided by HO:-

2.1 Enter the day you first arrived with a view to staying in the UK on a long-term basis, and the airport or seaport through which you then entered. If this is less than 5 years before the date on which we receive the application, or less than 3 years before this date if you are married to or the civil partner of a British citizen, you might not meet the residence requirement (see pages 4 and 5 of the Booklet AN) and your application may be unsuccessful.

Hope that helps

mercmullis, my understanding is different. In fact you could have applied for BC straight after you obtained your ILR due to the fact that you were present in the UK for 3 years and beyond.

so first of all, if i were you i would put down the 2005 date as the one which shows you were in the UK. also for the addresses, it doesn't matter that you were out of the country for a while....put down your UK addresses for the past 5 years (it only helps to show u meet the residence requirements).

I see you went home for your spouse visa but at long as the stay did not extend between the 270 day requirement, you more than meet the requirements. I was in the same soup cos i had to go back home for spouse visa and it took over 3 months, but as it was still within the residence requirement, it was fine for me to apply.

also i was told by a lawyer and the ho cust serv that you have to put down the address for 5 years not 3 years because that is what the requirement is (despite being married to a BC). i put down my home country address where i lived 5 years ago.

This requirement for 5 years is different for the SET (m) which requires u put down addresses for the past 2 years only.

so there you go.....you decide what to do....and oh i copied this from Jumbo faq which might help you decide:


http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=95747

Q1: I was just granted ILR, when can I apply?

If not married to BC, the standard requirements need to be met. This includes holding ILR for at least 12 months before applying.

If married to a BC, you can apply the same day you are granted ILR if you meet the spouse requirements which includes 3 years residence. Any legal stay in the UK counts.

An important requirement you should pay attention to is that you need to have been physically present in the UK at the beginning of the 3/5 years residence period i.e. the day the HO receives your application 3/5 years back. This is a pass/fail test and the HO has no discretion with this requirement.

The issue is with the overstay period as one of the requirements is to have not been in breach of the immigration rules at any stage during the the residence period so you can't count the years from 2005.

Put the addresses for 5 years. Even if this is UK address, it should not be an issue if you meet the requirements.

Smallfamily, Bebe2011, and Jambo

Thanks very much for your reply. I thought that I cannot apply British citizenship before 07/03/2012 (three year qualifying period from 07/03/2009 - 07/03/2012). If I applied before 07/03/2012, which would mean that I was in breach of immigration law - overstay 2 month after my student visa expired.

Home offices says that your application may be refused if you have been in breach of immigration laws during the residential qualifying period.

That is the reason why I wait till 7th March this year to apply naturalisation.

I was thinking if I can fill in 07/03/2009 (date of entry) on section 2.1, then fill in uk address for last five years on section 1.17

Please help me, i fee so confused now.

Your understanding is correct.