Naturalisation as spouse of British Citizen queries

[spouse2018]

Hi All,

In the referees section there is one question which asks " How does the referee know the applicant?"

To this one of my referees said " Friend from University"

Would this suffice as an explanation or do we have to give more details.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards
Spouse2018

[alterhase58]

Yes sufficient - they are not delving into relationships, there's no guidance on that. Could be a friend, neighbor, colleague, etc

[spouse2018]

Hi All,

I know I have asked this before but as I am now getting close to submitting my online application I am in doubt about the profession of my professional referee.

He is currently serving as the Managing Director of a VAT registered private limited company here in UK however his occupation on companies house is showing as Engineer but his role is Director. He is a British citizen.

Are any of you sure if it's still ok for me to use him as a referee as the companies house information is on the government website and therefore very much accessible to the HO. I don't know if his occupation being Engineer would disqualify me using him as referee in the Director of limited company category.

Any advice is greatly appreciated and sorry for the repeated post as I am still feeling bit confused about this bit.

Kind Regards
Spouse2018

[contorted_svy]

Is your referee chartered with a professional body?

[spouse2018]

No he is not chartered unfortunately.
Any suggestions on how I could get around this?
It's the occupation as engineer on companies house that's concerning me because the role on companies house says director. Not sure what the HO considers more important role or occupation?

[contorted_svy]

My guess (and please note this is a guess) is that it should be fine. The list of occupations isn't all comprehensive and if your contact is employed as managing director this would prove his good standing and suitability as a referee. Should the HO have an issue with this referee, they would contact you and ask for another one.

[spouse2018]

Thanks contorted_svy.

I have just now managed to find a referee a friend of mine from University who is profession is Technical Sales Engineer. He is Chartered Engineer (CEng) with the Institution of Chemical Engineers.

Is it ok to use him as referee?

Any suggestions.

Kind Regards
Spouse2018

[contorted_svy]

As he is chartered, yes that should be OK.

[spouse2018]

Thanks contorted svy.

Both my referees are my friends.

One of them is an Engineer, BC and over the age of 25.
The other is an Engineer, BC and Chartered Engineer.

Is it ok if in the field "How does referee know the applicant" I say- "Friend from start of the course in 2009 at University".

Would the above explanation be OK?

Please advise.

Kind Regards
Spouse2018

[alterhase58]

That's fine - referees can be friends, neighbours, colleagues, etc - is not about necessarily having a professional relationship with them.

[contorted_svy]

Thanks contorted svy.

Both my referees are my friends.

One of them is an Engineer, BC and over the age of 25.
The other is an Engineer, BC and Chartered Engineer.

Is it ok if in the field "How does referee know the applicant" I say- "Friend from start of the course in 2009 at University".

Would the above explanation be OK?

Please advise.

Kind Regards
Spouse2018

Yes completely fine. One of my referees was my best friend and I simply wrote "Friend".

[spouse2018]

Hi All,

Thanks for your responses. It'd greatly reassuring and helpful.

One more question from me;

My professional referee has job title Technical Sales Engineer and he is Chartered Engineer with IChemE.

In the field Profession on the online form there is not enough space to enter all of the above so currently I have put down "Technical Sales Engineer Chartered Engineer IChemE"

Will this do or do I have to rephrase?

Please advise.

Kind Regards
Spouse2018

[alterhase58]

Just “Chartered Engineer …” will be fine.
Job titles generally are made up by employers and don’t always give an indication of their professional qualification.
Please don’t overthink.

I had plenty of job titles which didn’t say I am a “chartered professional”.

[contorted_svy]

Hi All,

Thanks for your responses. It'd greatly reassuring and helpful.

One more question from me;

My professional referee has job title Technical Sales Engineer and he is Chartered Engineer with IChemE.

In the field Profession on the online form there is not enough space to enter all of the above so currently I have put down "Technical Sales Engineer Chartered Engineer IChemE"

Will this do or do I have to rephrase?

Please advise.

Kind Regards
Spouse2018

No need to worry this much. Simply "Chartered engineer" will do.

[spouse2018]

Hi All,
The online application form says Referee 1 should be UK citizen and either professional person or over age of 25.
Referee 2 should be of any nationality and should have professional standing.

My Referee 1 on the online form is an Engineer, British Citizen and over the age of 25. He is not Chartered though.

My Referee 2 on the online form is a Chartered Engineer, British Citizen and over the age of 25.

The declaration form has the referees mentioned in the reverse order so a bit confused. Would the HO go by the order in the declaration form or the order in the online form.

Any suggestions.

Kind Regards
Spouse2018

[CR001]

It doesn't matter, as long as you have completed the forms and they have been signed by each referee and uploaded.

[spouse2018]

Thanks CR001.

In that case can you please see and tell me if the choice of referees as stated above is ok?

Regards
Spouse2018

[CR001]

Fine, you have already been told this.

You only need one referee over 25 who is British and does NOT have to be a professional. The professional referee can be of any nationality.

[spouse2018]

Sorry CR001 I did not quite understand your response.

Are you saying that the referees provided by me on my message above are both fine?

Kind Regards
Spouse2018

[AmazonianX]

Sorry CR001 I did not quite understand your response.

Are you saying that the referees provided by me on my message above are both fine?

Kind Regards
Spouse2018

YES, you were told this already and reiterated by CR001

[contorted_svy]

Hi All,
The online application form says Referee 1 should be UK citizen and either professional person or over age of 25.
Referee 2 should be of any nationality and should have professional standing.

My Referee 1 on the online form is an Engineer, British Citizen and over the age of 25. He is not Chartered though.

My Referee 2 on the online form is a Chartered Engineer, British Citizen and over the age of 25.

The declaration form has the referees mentioned in the reverse order so a bit confused. Would the HO go by the order in the declaration form or the order in the online form.

Any suggestions.

Kind Regards
Spouse2018

It doesn't matter who is referee 1 and referee 2, as far as your referees respect the requirements set - which they do. It is a stressful process but you have done everything according to the rules. Try to trust the process - should there be an issue with your referees HO would contact you rather than just reject your application straight away.

[spouse2018]

Hi All,

Thanks for the reassuring replies.

1. Is it mandatory to take the back of the photo with name and dob and include a pdf scan of this as part of the referee declaration?

2. Are we required to put name and dob at back of the photo and if yes who does this the referee or the applicant?

Please advise.

Regards
Spouse2018

[contorted_svy]

Hi All,

Thanks for the reassuring replies.

1. Is it mandatory to take the back of the photo with name and dob and include a pdf scan of this as part of the referee declaration?

2. Are we required to put name and dob at back of the photo and if yes who does this the referee or the applicant?

Please advise.

Regards
Spouse2018

No need to do any of that, it's legacy from the paper days. Ignore everything it says about signing the back of the photo.

[spouse2018]

Thank you all for the help so far.

I have two more questions about my professional referee.

1. Under his profession on the online form I have written: "Sales Engineer (Chartered Engineer (CEng) IChemE)". Is this ok? I know members have suggested just Chartered Engineer but would this not make the profession description a bit incomplete. Please confirm if my description as above is fine.

2. Email address: I have given his personal email address but I also have his work email address. Is there a preference for one over the other?

Apologies if the questions above sound silly but I just wanted to make sure that all aspects are covered.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards
Spouse 2018

[spouse2018]

Hi All,

In addition to the above question I also wanted to check on one thing:

In my wife's British passport copy there is only one page that I had to take photo of whilst all the others were scanned in a scanner. This is because we were in India and I could not get the passport scanned there. Is it ok to have one page as a photo. I have cropped the unnecessary edges to make it look neat and add this to the passport pdf. Would HO not accept the document as one page is taken as photo and the rest scanned. The rest are scanned because they are from my ILR application and this additional page is from the latest travel which shows that she is in India at the time of my application.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Regards
Spouse2018