EEA Naturalised as British citizen - can my non EEA wife...

[JBE]

obtain a British citizenship as well?

Good morning to everybody,

I shall appreciate your help and suggestions for my case:

I am Italian and I have been living in the Isle of Man for 5yrs + 1.
My wife is Kazakh and has been livin in the Isle of Man since April 2007.
We got married in Italy in March 2007.

I am about to become a British naturalised citizen - expected date Dec 09 - and I wonder what would be the fastest route for my wife to obtain a UK passport.

We understand that:

> if my wife makes an application based on her residency in IOM, the min lenght of stay should be 5 yrs + 1 and this means that she would be able to apply not before April 2013.

> if she makes an application based on the fact tha she is married to a British naturalised citizen, the date from which she can apply is not clear:
> Would it be 3 yrs since I have been naturalised as a British Citizenship, i.e. Dec 2012 or
> 3 yrs will be counted from the date she arrived in the UK, and therefore Apr 2010

I thank in advance everybody who can help

Regards
J

[Obie]

As things stand, your wife will obtain British Citizenship in 2012, immediately after receipt of PR. She will not need to wait till 2013 as she is married to a British Citizen.

If you want her to gain British Citizenship sooner, ie 2011, she would need to go to Italy and apply for a Spouse of British Citizen Visa, subject to you meeting the Maintenance and Accommodation requirements, and apply for ILR in 2011. Upon receipt of ILR, she can immediately apply for naturilisation, as she would have lived here for 3 years in a lawful capacity.

[JBE]

Thank you.

I think it is more practical to wait for one year, so to wait until 2012.

Would it still be possible for her to obtain a British citizenship based on my British naturalisation even if by 2012 we no longer reside in the UK?

[Obie]

She would need to be resident in the UK at the time of application. Therefore i think the simpliest answer to your question, would be a no. Except, if of course you are serving overseas on behalf of the British Government or Crown service, even that i am not entirely sure she will be exempted.

Mind you, she would also need to pass Life in Isle of Man test aswell, which cannot be taken overseas

[JBE]

She would need to be resident in the UK at the time of application.

It seems rather odd. I think she should have the right to obtain a British passport, since I will be a British citizen, non matter what my residence status is or will be.

Any law I can read for this specific case?

[Wanderer]

I think she can apply in the IOM;

http://www.gov.im/cso/immigration/nationality.xml


Can't be many Kazhaks on the Isle, or is she ethnic Russian?

[Obie]

See this

[Wanderer]

See this

Bugger that Obie, it's a big night for football and cricket tonight!

I still think it's ok - my mate is a Manxman, which proves nothing of course, but the Manx do have their there own KOL test, which is essentially the UK one with a bit of IOM bit on the end;

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe ... 568733.stm

Having done a bit of research tho now I'm not so sure of my stance, that this is interesting;

http://www.gov.im/cso/immigration/faqs.xml#23


Q How do I become a Manx citizen?
A You can't. Manx people are actually British citizens deriving their nationality from the provisions of the British Nationality Acts.

I'm not sure if that means for immigration purposes the IoM IS the UK?

Australia 19-1 chasing 229....

[JBE]

See this

Thanks. I think then I should go for an Italian passport, which after 3 yrs of marriage you can obtain anyway even if you are not resident in Italy. It just takes two years for the application process to be reviewed! It's apalling!

[JBE]

See this

Bugger that Obie, it's a big night for football and cricket tonight!

I still think it's ok - my mate is a Manxman, which proves nothing of course, but the Manx do have their there own KOL test, which is essentially the UK one with a bit of IOM bit on the end;

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe ... 568733.stm

Having done a bit of research tho now I'm not so sure of my stance, that this is interesting;

http://www.gov.im/cso/immigration/faqs.xml#23


Q How do I become a Manx citizen?
A You can't. Manx people are actually British citizens deriving their nationality from the provisions of the British Nationality Acts.

I'm not sure if that means for immigration purposes the IoM IS the UK?

Australia 19-1 chasing 229....

I know about the IOM KOL test, which I am about to take. So actually I think, I will get my UK passport in 2010.

[Obie]

IOM is a Crown Dependent Territory but not part of the UK. It defence, trade and foreign affair controled by UK government.

They adopt UK Nationality rules, but are not part of the EU.

The have their own test called Life in Isle of man Test or (KO LIOM test), which i think is different from that of the UK.

OP you are better off applying for Italian Citizenship for your wife as she qualifies next year. Three years for the spouse/wife of Italian who live overseas.

[JBE]

thank you