Poss expiry of native passport b4 Citizenship app complete?

[missabc123]

Hi there

My South African friend has ILR (for several years) and a South African passport which is due to expire in November 2015.

We are applying for Citizenship in the next few weeks (due to acquiring funds soon hopefully) are aware the process takes up to 6 months and that his current SA passport may expire before the process is completed and are worried about this, as he has a short validity of his current passport.

Does this affect the process, what happens if it expires before the process is complete?

Also what are the implications of expiry of his current passport on his leave to remain? We are nervous about having to go through extending his SA passport due to this, so would rather complete citizenship before it happens however due to lead times for Citizenship taking up to 6m are nervous about expiry implications on both the ILR and the Citizenship.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

[CR001]

It will have no effect on his citizenship application if his passport expires during the application. I would suggest using Nationality Checking Service at your local council to submit (for a small fee) as they copy your documents and give originals back to you.

Has your friend done Life in the UK test and the English B1 test?

Has your friend got his permission from the SA Consular to obtain another citizenship? If he has not done this, he will automatically lose his South African citizenship and will no longer be eligible to hold a South Africa passport.

[missabc123]

CR001 - this is really useful, many thanks

I don't believe he has contacted the SA Consular yet so we will make it a priority!

Really appreciate your advice.

What concerns me is if his current passport expires before citizenship is granted, how will his ILR be affected, do we have to reapply for SA passport in the meantime and thus new ILR? Is there a possibility his ILR will be withdrawn due to his current passport it is linked to expiring (he is a divorcee now and was married when he applied for ILR so it may be an issue - however he has a young British son by myself which we hope will render him still eligible for ILR).

any thoughts you have would be very helpful.

[CR001]

If he wants to retain his SA citizenship, there are two processes he has to follow before he can apply for citizenship and they each have their own costs.

He needs to get a letter from Home Office Non Acquisition (Click) at a cost of £162 fees (Click)

Once he has this, he has to take the letter to the SA Consular (Home Affairs) and pay another £25 to apply for Retention of Citizenship (Click) they do this while you wait but the wait can be a few hours.

Only then can he apply for British citizenship and retain SA citizenship. However, he does not have to retain his SA citizenship and will lose it automatically if he skips the two steps above. He can then apply for a letter which is free, which will give him permission to enter SA on his British Passport and confirm that he has the right to residence as he was born there and can resume his SA citizenship if he lives in SA for 12 months.

He will only be able to renew his SA passport if he has followed the above steps.

British Citizenship will in effect override/cancel his ILR as he will no longer need ILR if he has a British passport.

Has he done the Life in the UK test and the English B1 test? He will not be able to apply for British citizenship if he has not done this.

When did he get ILR? Unless there has been deception or fraud, ILR will not be revoked just because a passport has expired. But this is irrelevant if he applies to be British.

[missabc123]

Hi there,

My ex partner (from South Africa) wants to apply for citizenship and has had ILR for a few years (now eligible to apply for citizenship)

However his current passport is due to expire in November, so he may need to get a new one before citizenship application is complete (I think citizenship process takes up to 6 m). I am wondering what the effect of renewing his SA passport might have on his ILR, will he have to reapply for the ILR due to needing a new passport?

We are concerned about his ILR being withdrawn or something (no idea if this happens) as when he applied he was married, he has been divorced a few years now and we have a young son together (of British nationality).

I'm not sure he would get enough work-based points for citizenship or ILR as he is currently on sickness benefits etc, so is relying on being eligible for citizenship through how long he has been here, having had ILR granted before, having a young son here etc. I understand he has not informed the govt about his divorcee status but he has told me it was not necessary to do so as he has ILR>

If his ILR / current passport expires and he does not get a new one what might happen? Does he still have "ILR"?

Sorry if this is confusing!

Many thanks
L

[missabc123]

This is so helpful, many thanks, I will ensure he does all of this ASAP

Re. life in the UK test and the English test - I understand he did these some years ago however managed to lose the paperwork. I'm not sure if he has a reference number he can check with the Home office for new paperwork confirming, so he may have to retake these urgently, unfortunately he is very disorganised but I will ask him to rehunt for the paperwork.

I hope they can reissue but otherwise redoing is the only option I guess!

I think ILR was granted around 10 years ago but am not sure of exact date. I am pretty sure there has not been deception or fraud, at least not intentionally, however when he got divorced I don't think he told the govt but I understand from him it was not a necessity due to the ILR or something. Any ideas if he should have already told them about this? I hope not!

Many thanks again

[CR001]

Hi there,

My ex partner (from South Africa) wants to apply for citizenship and has had ILR for a few years (now eligible to apply for citizenship)

However his current passport is due to expire in November, so he may need to get a new one before citizenship application is complete (I think citizenship process takes up to 6 m). I am wondering what the effect of renewing his SA passport might have on his ILR, will he have to reapply for the ILR due to needing a new passport? No, ILR is linked to a person, not a the passport.

We are concerned about his ILR being withdrawn or something (no idea if this happens) It does not happen unless there is previous deception or fraud as when he applied he was married, he has been divorced a few years now and we have a young son together (of British nationality).

I'm not sure he would get enough work-based points for citizenship or ILR employment is not a requirement for citizenship so he does not need 'work-based points' and as he already has ILR, it makes no difference and he is entitled to claim benefitsas he is currently on sickness benefits etc, so is relying on being eligible for citizenship through how long he has been here He needs 5 years legal residence to qualify for citizenship and meeting the standard requirements, ie absence limits etc, having had ILR granted before, having a young son here etc. I understand he has not informed the govt about his divorcee status but he has told me it was not necessary to do so as he has ILR correct, there is no obligation or rule that he has to inform HO that he is divorced if he has ILR.

If his ILR / current passport expires and he does not get a new one what might happen? Does he still have "ILR"? Yes, it does not expire with the passport. But is it not relevant if he is applying for citizenship as he will no longer need ILR which will be superceded by British Citizenship

Sorry if this is confusing!

Many thanks
L

[CR001]

This is so helpful, many thanks, I will ensure he does all of this ASAP

Re. life in the UK test and the English test - I understand he did these some years ago however managed to lose the paperwork. I'm not sure if he has a reference number he can check with the Home office for new paperwork confirming, so he may have to retake these urgently, unfortunately he is very disorganised but I will ask him to rehunt for the paperwork. He will likely have to redo them. LIUK is £50 and English test varies but is around £130

I hope they can reissue but otherwise redoing is the only option I guess! No, they cannot reissue. If he has done the LIUK and lost the test certificate, he will have to redo the test. The English requirement is new since October 2013 and he will need to do a test that is on the approved list and needs to do English Level B1 Approved English Test Providers(Click)

I think ILR was granted around 10 years ago but am not sure of exact date If he got ILR that long ago, it is unlikely that he did Life in the UK and definitely has not done the English test.. I am pretty sure there has not been deception or fraud, at least not intentionally, however when he got divorced I don't think he told the govt but I understand from him it was not a necessity due to the ILR or something. Any ideas if he should have already told them about this?No, not needed I hope not!

Many thanks again

[noajthan]

Hi there

My South African friend has ILR (for several years) and a South African passport which is due to expire in November 2015.

We are applying for Citizenship in the next few weeks (due to acquiring funds soon hopefully) are aware the process takes up to 6 months and that his current SA passport may expire before the process is completed and are worried about this, as he has a short validity of his current passport.

...'

Any advice would be gratefully received.

You can watch the citizenship timelines thread in this forum to get an idea of average processing times.
It is often less than 6 months, (based on our experience which took approximately 3 months).
No guarantees ofcourse.

Good luck.