12 months qualifying period. When does it start?

[Drasweed]

Hi. Sorry if this question was answered before but I could not find it.
I am preparing to apply with the family for naturalisation. We all applied for ILR together and got approval on same day. I received my RP as well as the kids on same day dated 22/11 but for some reason my wife's RP was not with them and I had to chase it and it was issued dated 2/12.
My question is when can we apply? Do we use the date of the letter of approval which we were given on the appointment or is it the date on the RP that counts?
Thanks.

[CR001]

Date of ILR approval should be fine although many people wait for 12 months from the date of the BRP.

Does your wife have 5 years residence??

[Drasweed]

Thanks for the reply.
She does have the 5 year residency as we all came here around the same time.
So if I apply based on the approval letters it should be fine. I need to make some travel plans and wanted to apply as early as possible to make sure I give my biometric data before I go any where. Looking at various timelines this seems to happen around 2 to 3 weeks from application date.

[CR001]

Yes, but some members have waited more than a month for biometric letters and recently one member posted they came back from holiday abroad to find they had missed the deadline for biometrics as letter arrived while they were away.

Any reason why you don't wait and apply for citizenship once you are back from traveling?

[Drasweed]

I will think about it. I will be away for a short time but due to family reasons on my wife's side she might have to stay abroad for few months and I was hoping to sort things out before she goes then hopefully by the time of the ceremony she would be back.

[Drasweed]

I will probably be travelling after Christmas which means I would have about 3 weeks if I apply on 2/12 based on date on my wife RP which might be ok. It is the fact that things can sometimes take longer that I was hoping to apply earlier based on the approval letter giving myself a window of about 5 weeks to do the biometrics before going any where.

[CR001]

Your wife does not have to apply at the same time as you. She can apply at any time when she returns provided her absences are within the limit.

December is a bad time for postal service, high risk that you won't get biometrics before you travel.

You do realise that your wife has a timeframe by which to attend the ceremony otherwise she loses out and will have to apply and pay again.

[sjames]

Hello everyone, I am not quite sure of my situation and could not find any one in similar situation, I hope someone can offer advice.

I spent exactly 6 years and 1 week in the UK, 5 years as EEA national family member on residence card and had my PR issued on the 20th August 2013. I work permanently in the UK but took a 1 year study leave from work to pursue a postgraduate course in the US, which I started late August 2014. I left the UK on the 21st of August 2015 and just got back 3 weeks ago.
I am now back to work, still have my permanent job with no issue.
My question is ' when can i apply for my naturalization' ?
I couldn't apply last year as I needed to travel for studies but I completed 1 year on my PR before leaving and no previous absences.
Can I apply now? or do I have to wait for certain period? if I need to wait, for how long and how will they calculate the absence?

[noajthan]

Hello everyone, I am not quite sure of my situation and could not find any one in similar situation, I hope someone can offer advice.

I spent exactly 6 years and 1 week in the UK, 5 years as EEA national family member on residence card and had my PR issued on the 20th August 2013. I work permanently in the UK but took a 1 year study leave from work to pursue a postgraduate course in the US, which I started late August 2014. I left the UK on the 21st of August 2015 and just got back 3 weeks ago.
I am now back to work, still have my permanent job with no issue.
My question is ' when can i apply for my naturalization' ?
I couldn't apply last year as I needed to travel for studies but I completed 1 year on my PR before leaving and no previous absences.
Can I apply now? or do I have to wait for certain period? if I need to wait, for how long and how will they calculate the absence?

As you have been absent from UK for less than 2 years you have maintained your PR.

Assuming you are not spouse of a BC you need to have been free from immigration time restrictions for 12 months before applying for the privilege of citizenship.

As family member of EEA national that means maintaining settled status (holding PR) for 12 months, so you could have applied around August 2014 at the earliest (assuming all other requirements are met)

When you do apply for naturalisation you must not have had more than 450 days absence in the past 5 years.
And not more than 90 days absence in the past 12 months before applying.

Note: You also have to prove you were physically present in the UK 5 years before date of application.

You can dig into all the requirements here in the relevant guidance:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... n_2015.pdf

As you've been away your potential date of application will now have to be pushed out to ensure you comply with the 90 days rule.
It's late & I'm tired (so not good on the math) but that would seem to be sometime around 9 months from now.

Good luck.