Immigrationboards.com

Hi

I am currently on Tier 1 (General) visa. My wife is due for ILR this month. We are confident that she would get it. I want to understand what my options are to get ILR and become british citizen..

1. Wait for her to get ILR and then apply for ILR by myself and then next year apply for British Citizenship..

2. Wait for her to get the British Citizenship (which will be next year) and then apply for British Citizenship on ground of being spouse of a British Citizen..

Please help...

if ur wife is due for ILR what prevents u from applying with her?

When do you complete your 5 year residency in the UK as a Tier 1 General Migrant? Or are you on a dependent visa? You will need to provide more information about yourself before anyone can comment much further. Note that for you to apply for naturalization you will need to be free from immigration control. I.e. have ILR.

If you haven't read the following I would do so before posting...

ILR - FAQ:
http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=79378

British Citizenship - FAQ:
http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=95747

@niyoma : Because I would have to wait for 5 years to be eligible for British Citizenship..

@cs95tdg : I will complete residency period in May 2012. My wife would be eligible for British Citizenship in Aug 2013...

@gaurav76.5, the information you have provided here is quite confusing? If you qualified for residence on May 2012, why cant you apply for your ILR now before your wife qualifies in Aug 2013? Or am I missing something??

sorry my mistake I am qualifying in May 2014...apologies it was typo error

It sounds like both of you have individual visas and no one is dependent. If your visa is not linked to your wife then you can't get an ILR straight away on the basis of her ILR or Citizenship.

I think the best for you will be to wait for ILR till you become eligible in 2014.

Other may be able to shed some more light.

yes that's correct...we both have individual visas...since she is due for ILR now I wanted to be aware of the options if I can get ILR and british citizenship early

This is what I have gathered from what you have posted so far:

A) You are eligible for ILR in May 2014
B) Your wife is eligible for BC in August 2013

Based on the above you could potentially have two options:

1) Apply for BC one year after gaining ILR on your own right. I.e. May 2015
2) Apply for BC immediately after you have gained ILR & your wife has gained BC. I.e. This will anytime after May 2014 if your wife gains BC before then.

You should read the information posted against Q1 of the British Citizenship FAQ sticky I pointed you to before.
"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."
Note that you will need to meet all the residency requirements associated with both ILR & BC as detailed in the guidelines. The FAQ posts above will either contain most of the information you require or provide links to the required UKBA references. Please read through them to begin with.

thanks a lot...