From Spouse Visa to having a British Passport

[fitter_happier]

Hey all,

I am just trying to get a general time line of the least amount of time it would take to get a passport for my Persian girlfriend. I'm a British Citizen myself currently living in Canada and hoping to move back home with her within the next year or 2. Lets say I marry my girlfriend and we go to the UK together (through a Spouse Visa).

From my understanding, it would be around 6- 7 years before she could get a British passport. First she would need to be in the UK for 5 years on the spouse visa, then she'd be eligible to apply for an ILR. Then after 1 year with ILR apply to become a Citizen. Is my understanding of this correct?

Thank you

[CR001]

If you are married and she has ILR, there is no requirement to wait one year on ILR before she can apply for citizenship if she meets the requirements.

[CandyLee]

WOW, thanks to CR001, I discovered a new piece of information today.

I always thought like fitter_happier did, that we need to obtain ILR for a year before applying for citizenship. I've read on the Home Office website multiple times and underApply for citizenship if your spouse is a British citizen, we need to be in the UK for 3 yrs and as now we need 5 yrs to get ILR, I've always thought that was under the old rule before 2012(back when a spouse only needed 2 yrs to get ILR) and they just forgot to amend the website.

Do you know how they will calculate the date for the requirement of you should have not spent more than 270 days outside the UK during the 3 years before your application? As we need to be in the UK for 5 yrs to first obtain our ILR status, and the requirement for that was no more than 450 days in 5 yrs.

How would they calculate the " no more than 270 days outside the UK during the 3 years" in the course of our 5 yrs here?

[CR001]

WOW, thanks to CR001, I discovered a new piece of information today.

I always thought like fitter_happier did, that we need to obtain ILR for a year before applying for citizenship. I've read on the Home Office website multiple times and underApply for citizenship if your spouse is a British citizen, we need to be in the UK for 3 yrs and as now we need 5 yrs to get ILR, I've always thought that was under the old rule before 2012(back when a spouse only needed 2 yrs to get ILR) and they just forgot to amend the website.

Do you know how they will calculate the date for the requirement of you should have not spent more than 270 days outside the UK during the 3 years before your application? As we need to be in the UK for 5 yrs to first obtain our ILR status, and the requirement for that was no more than 450 days in 5 yrs.

How would they calculate the " no more than 270 days outside the UK during the 3 years" in the course of our 5 yrs here?

It is calculated 3 years back from the date of citizenship application.

Note that nationality law is harder to change than immigration rules.

Note also that there is no '450 days in 5 years' absence rule for ILR based on spouse visa, so not sure where you got that from.

[CandyLee]

Thank you CR001, you continue to surprise me with you immigration facts and knowledge.

I got it from here, I guess I was mixed up and just been following that for no reason.

Apply for citizenship if you have indefinite leave to remain or 'settled status'

Residency requirements

You should have lived in the UK for at least 5 years before the date of your application.

You cannot include any time spent in the UK when you’re exempt from immigration control (for example, as a diplomat or member of visiting armed forces).

You should also not have:
spent more than 450 days outside the UK during those 5 years
spent more than 90 days outside the UK in the last 12 months
broken any UK immigration laws (for example living illegally in the UK)