Naturalisation application and travel

hshah · Post by **hshah** » Sat Jul 02, 2011 10:25 am

Hello
My wife, my child and myself all got ILR on July 10th, 2010 but my wife was in India for the birth of my child 3 years back around July 2008. She came back to the UK on 2nd Nov, 2008 along with my child

So i think from all the posts i have read, we can apply for naturalisation together only after Nov 2nd, 2011(3 years rule for dependant).
First question - Am i correct ?? I am planning to apply for naturilsation on first week of Nov, 2011

We are planning to travel to India for vacation in the december period. Second Question - Is it OK to travel after the application is made and we will be traveeling on our indian passports. Do they take our indian passports for the naturilisation application??

Once we come back in Jan end of 2012, if we have got an approval of the naturilsation applicatoin we can then go for the ceremony. Does this trip to india in between have any effect in this process??

Pls advise and thanks in advance

Thanks,
hshah

gidoc · Post by **gidoc** » Sat Jul 02, 2011 10:44 am

My wife, my child and myself all got ILR on July 10th, 2010 but my wife was in India for the birth of my child 3 years back around July 2008. She came back to the UK on 2nd Nov, 2008 along with my child

So i think from all the posts i have read, we can apply for naturalisation together only after Nov 2nd, 2011(3 years rule for dependant).
First question - Am i correct ?? I am planning to apply for naturilsation on first week of Nov, 2011

You need to fulfill standard requirements for naturalisation.
You will need to explain the absence period.
Your wife already has ILR so dependent rule will not apply and she can apply for naturalisation on her own if she fulfills the standard requirements.

We are planning to travel to India for vacation in the december period. Second Question - Is it OK to travel after the application is made and we will be traveeling on our indian passports. Do they take our indian passports for the naturilisation application??

Once we come back in Jan end of 2012, if we have got an approval of the naturilsation applicatoin we can then go for the ceremony. Does this trip to india in between have any effect in this process??

You can travel one week after your application, if you apply via NCS you will get your pasports back and can travel on them.
You cannot travel if you apply by post as you will have to send your passports with the application but can travel if your applications gets processed and you get your documents back in time.
The travel time will have no bearing on your application.

hshah · Post by **hshah** » Sat Jul 02, 2011 12:02 pm

Hello Sage,
First of all i would really like to thank u for your reply because if i interpreted it right my wife and son can apply for naturilisation in July 12th 2011 after one year completion of their ILR provided they meet the standard requirements for naturilsation. Sorry to be a pain but two more questions based your reply

One is my son is only 3 years old. He was born in india on 12/05/2008 and he came to UK along with my wife on 2/11/2008. Can i still apply for him as he has got ILR along with my wife and myself last year july 12th.

Second question is my wifes elibility for the standard requirements regarding 450 days outside UK in the 5 year period starting backwards from the date of application. There have been long gaps and here is the list of absences for her
Dec 2nd, 2006 Jan 1st,2007 30 Holiday to India
June 22nd, 2007 July 28th, 2007 36 Holiday to India
March 5th, 2008 Nov 2nd, 2008 242 Maternity in India
Nov 27th, 2009 Feb 13th, 2010 78 Holiday to India
Sep 26th, 2010 Nov 27th,2010 62 Holiday to India
Total= 448

So the total is coming to 448 days but in between we went for a 4 day trip to Paris and when i say 4 days we went in the morning and came back in the evening so effectively 3 nights stay in Paris but out of the 4 days we were theoritically 2 days in UK as we started early morning and came back late evening. So if count this as 2 days, it becomes exact 450 days. Is this a problem??

And also when u go out of UK for travel, does the day in which u travel and arrive be included in the calculation for day of absence??

Thanks again for ur advise

Thanks,
hshah

Post by **geriatrix** » Sat Jul 02, 2011 5:11 pm

See also eligibility.

Day(s) of departure from UK and arrival in UK are not to be included when counting "absences".

Minors apply for registration, and adults apply for naturalisation.

gidoc · Post by **gidoc** » Sat Jul 02, 2011 6:23 pm

Sush has already filled you in.
You should be okay for your wife's absences and your son will get citizenship at the same time as you.

hshah · Post by **hshah** » Sun Jul 03, 2011 9:58 am

Thanks Sushdmehta and Sage!!!
The information is truly good and extremely helpful!!!

hshah · Post by **hshah** » Sun Jul 10, 2011 1:22 pm

I have one more question. If i apply in first week of august for naturalisation and maybe get an approval in October hypothetically. Then i have 3 months to attend the ceremony as per the rule and i attend the ceremony but then can i travel in last week of nov on my indian passport or do i then have to apply for british passport and then once i get it apply for my indian visa.

I am just worried that this whole process of getting british passport after ceremony and getting india visa may take more time and i will not be able to travel nov end. This travel is unavoidable and hence i was just thinking if there is a way where i attend the ceremony, travel on my indian passport and then apply for my british passport when i come back next year from my india trip.

Thanks in advance!!!

gidoc · Post by **gidoc** » Sun Jul 10, 2011 1:47 pm

have one more question. If i apply in first week of august for naturalisation and maybe get an approval in October hypothetically. Then i have 3 months to attend the ceremony as per the rule

Correct

and i attend the ceremony but then can i travel in last week of nov on my indian passport

No, then you need a British passport to travel

or do i then have to apply for british passport and then once i get it apply for my indian visa.

Yes, thats the right way. Do not forget that before applying for an Indian visa, there is a process to surrender your Indian passport- this takes upto 2-3 wks

I am just worried that this whole process of getting british passport after ceremony and getting india visa may take more time and i will not be able to travel nov end. This travel is unavoidable and hence i was just thinking if there is a way where i attend the ceremony, travel on my indian passport and then apply for my british passport when i come back next year from my india trip.

As you add in the end, best will be to travel to Indian in Oct, attend Citizenship ceremony upon return( you will have 90 days) and do the rest of the things subsequently.
In fact you should wish your approval is a bit delayed, so you do not have to re-think about these plans if approval comes in September!!

hshah · Post by **hshah** » Sun Jul 10, 2011 9:13 pm

Thanks again for the valuable reply.
My wife needs to be in india for dec 2011 and Jan 2012 so i will apply together for all 3 of us for naturalisation only in first week of October so that even if i get the approval in dec, she will be still ok for travel and come back and apply for the ceremony within the 3 months deadline. This whole project is around 2months(naturalisation approval)+ 1.5 months(ceremony +indian passport surrender + british passport application) + 0.5 months (indian visa) so in total 4 months in the best case. So if i apply in aug beginning and if something goes even a bit wrong my wife may not be able to travel nov end So best is delay the application to october and be safe

Thanks once again

Post by **Jambo** » Sun Jul 10, 2011 9:46 pm

we can apply for naturalisation together only after Nov 2nd, 2011(3 years rule for dependant).

Please note that the 3 years rules applies to a spouse of British citizen. Although, they have been cases where joint application were approved when only the main applicant met the 5 years residence requirement, this is an undocumented discretion and is not guaranteed. I would recommend you attach a cover letter asking them to consider your application first and asking for discretion for your wife.

hshah · Post by **hshah** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 3:11 pm

Thanks for your post Jambo!!
In my case my wife and myself do meet the standard requirements. I was confused in my first post when i said we can apply for naturalisation after 2nd nov because i thought for a joint application the dependant needs to be 3 years in the UK etc but from the replies i got i was made aware that although it is a joint application if both me and my wife meet standard requirements individually we are good to apply.

The problem which i have now is of travel.My wife can be in india for the months of Dec and Jan.
It is too tight to apply for naturailisation on first week of august and then get the british passport and apply for indian visa before nov end so i am going to delay this by applying during mid october for naturilsation so that i can do the ceremony after we come back from india in feb 2012 assuming the rules do not change in the meantime

Thanks!!!

Saberz · Post by **Saberz** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 4:22 am

Hello,

can you please advise where the requirement to stay for upto 5 days or 1 week after lodging the naturalisation application comes from?

If I need to travel within Europe, will be contactable on the UK telephone number and will have someone who can send any additiional documents in my absence or even be able to return to UK on a short notice, would it be okay for me to travel right after the naturalisation application?

Thank you!

Post by **Jambo** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 8:34 am

See Q2: Can I travel after applying for naturalisation? in the FAQ under application forms section.

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Naturalisation application and travel

Naturalisation application and travel