When should I apply for naturalisation? A8 nationals

[tesia85]

Hello,
First of all thank you to everyone who is devoting their time on this forum and helping people like me. I am quite active on tripadvisor myself
I and my husband would like to apply for British citizenship. We are originally from Poland. We did not apply for ILR, PR etc. Here is our situation:

Husband
started working in the UK on 22/05/2007
has a WRS certificate (both parts) dated 25/06/2007
he has continuously worked for the same employer until present and has all p60s

I
arrived in the UK June 2007 and was looking for a job
started working on 17/09/2007
have a WRS certificate issued on 29/11/2007 (but one of the parts states that I have been employed since 17/09/2007).
I have worked for the same employer until present and have all p60s.

We were not married when we first arrived in the UK and got married here in December 2009.

I know that to be on the safe side we should apply after 29/11/2013. However, could we apply after 17/09/2013 which is 6 years after I started working (and WRS although issued 2 months later confirms that date)?

You are probably wondering why is it a problem for me to wait extra two months. We are expecting a baby in November . I am considering giving birth in my home country (need help from my family) and come back to the UK around January/February next year. My husband will remain here. I will be on maternity so I will continue to be employed but will be out of the UK for 5-6 months. I am worried that if I apply in February 2014 I will have to rely on their discretion to ignore my absences. Whereas if I apply in September 2013 it will go smoother or will it? Please, advise when is the best time for us to apply.
Thank you!

[tesia85]

Hello again, someone suggested to me that i could ask UKBA to process my husbands application first as his is quite a straight forward case and then they could treat me as a spouse of BC and only look at my last 3 years. I searched the forum for such kind of joint applications and it looks like people get different responses. Has anyone done something like this recently and can share their experience? I mean 1 spouse meeting the 5 year criteria and the other the 3 year one (i assume i automatically got ILR in 2012).
Thank you!

[Jambo]

Have you applied for WRS in time (within 30 days of starting a job)?

If you applied on time, then your time started when you started employment. Otherwise, your time started when the certificate was issued.

[tesia85]

Thanks for your response. I don't remember for sure but the certificate issue date suggests that i was slightly late. I reckon i must have applied after 2 months of starting work.
Which means if we wanted to apply together now i would have to hope for their discretion to treat me as if i was a spouse of a British Citizen.
Alternatively, my husband could apply now and by looking at recent timescales i think he could get his case closed in 5-6 weeks. Then i could apply as a spouse. It would cost £200 more to go separately but perhaps its worth it to minimize the risk of refusal?

[Jambo]

Thanks for your response. I don't remember for sure but the certificate issue date suggests that i was slightly late. I reckon i must have applied after 2 months of starting work.
Which means if we wanted to apply together now i would have to hope for their discretion to treat me as if i was a spouse of a British Citizen.
Alternatively, my husband could apply now and by looking at recent timescales i think he could get his case closed in 5-6 weeks. Then i could apply as a spouse. It would cost £200 more to go separately but perhaps its worth it to minimize the risk of refusal?

Applying separately is an option. Another option is to ask for discretion on the 12 months after PR (this would require you to provide proof you have established your home and family in the UK for example if you bought a house here).

Does your husband remember when he applied for WRS? Might give some indication how long it normally took. I believe WRS was usually issued within a few weeks so you might be right that you were slightly late.

Your call. I believe the risk is quite small. (As there several discretion options the caseworker might use even if your PR was in November and not September).

Another thing to take into account is that you may want your husband to apply now so he will be British before the child is born. Otherwise, the child (born abroad) will not be British and if would wish the child to become British, that's a £600 application.

[tesia85]

Thank you Jambo for your invaluable comments. I think we will go separate because i also need to ask for discretion on absences in last year. If i apply in september i will have 97 days outside the uk in last 12 months. i know they automatically accept upto a 100 so shouldnt be a problem. We are renting so might be hard to proof a strong link with the uk for them to shorten my PR time.


Do you think my husbands case is straight forward enough to apply by post and save on NCS? He is not in a hurry to have his originals back. We would send them his WRS, 6 x P60, letter from employer, life in the uk cert, AN form, payment slip and his Polish passport.

[Jambo]

The main advantage of NCS is keeping the originals (mainly passport). If this is not required, he can go postal.

[tesia85]

Thanks again Jambo
I am now thinking that if my husbands application and ceremony take more than a few weeks then I may not be able to apply myself before I go to Poland to give birth (I have to fly before 34th week of my pregnancy but the sooner the better really). If that was the case is it possible for me to travel and leave the application for my husband to post when he gets his naturalisation certificate? If that was not allowed and I had to wait till he gets the certificate then how soon could I travel abroad after sending my application? I read somewhere that people were advised to wait 4-5 days.

If that was not enough I realized I travelled abroad a few times around that time in 2010 so I have to make sure I was present in the UK 3 years from the date of my application. What exactly is the date of my application? Is it the date I put the documents in the post or NCS? Or is it the date someone opens the envelope at UKBA? or maybe the date they officially acknowledge it in writing? Thanks again for all the help!

[Jambo]

Thanks again Jambo
I am now thinking that if my husbands application and ceremony take more than a few weeks then I may not be able to apply myself before I go to Poland to give birth (I have to fly before 34th week of my pregnancy but the sooner the better really). If that was the case is it possible for me to travel and leave the application for my husband to post when he gets his naturalisation certificate? If that was not allowed and I had to wait till he gets the certificate then how soon could I travel abroad after sending my application? I read somewhere that people were advised to wait 4-5 days.

The requirement to be present in the UK when the application is recieved has been removed a year ago. He can apply on your behalf even if not present in the UK (I guess you will travel with your national ID).

If that was not enough I realized I travelled abroad a few times around that time in 2010 so I have to make sure I was present in the UK 3 years from the date of my application. What exactly is the date of my application? Is it the date I put the documents in the post or NCS? Or is it the date someone opens the envelope at UKBA? or maybe the date they officially acknowledge it in writing? Thanks again for all the help!

It's the day the application is recieved by the HO (the day the post is delivered).

[tesia85]

The requirement to be present in the UK when the application is recieved has been removed a year ago. He can apply on your behalf even if not present in the UK

This is great news for me! I was convinced this was not allowed. How would I indicate this on my form in absences section? Eg. I go abroad on 01.09, my application is posted on 10.09. Would I put 01.09 as departure and N/A the return?

(I guess you will travel with your national ID).

That's correct. Could it be a problem that the passport i will send was issued in October 2008 so does not cover the first year when I was in the UK? I don't think I had one when I arrived and just used my ID.

Thank you again!

[Jambo]

This is great news for me! I was convinced this was not allowed. How would I indicate this on my form in absences section? Eg. I go abroad on 01.09, my application is posted on 10.09. Would I put 01.09 as departure and N/A the return?

I guess so. You will also need to make sure the number of absences is calculated according to the actual posting (so for your example it would be 10 days until it reaches the HO and that is added to the total figure on that page).

That's correct. Could it be a problem that the passport i will send was issued in October 2008 so does not cover the first year when I was in the UK? I don't think I had one when I arrived and just used my ID.

You will need to provide some proof of residence in the UK in the first year (official letter from HMRC for example, letter from employer). This is mainly to show you have been resident and working for 12 months for the WRS which lead to PR. For naturalisation itself, only the last 3 years matters.