British Naturialization

[monasingh1979]

Hi,

My daughter and I aquired british passport in october 2010 (even my husband was eligible but he did not apply). My husband came to India in November 2010 to start up some business and did not bother to apply for british citizenship as he recieved his ILR in September 2009 and thought it wasnt necessary to get British passport. He has been in India since then and will be returning to uk in jan 2012. However, he wants to apply for british nationality now and wasnt sure if he is still eligible as he has lived outside UK for apprx one year now. Can he still apply and can he apply from India itself?

[ILR_Applicant_UK]

He is OK, ILR stays valid as long as you're not away from the UK for more than 2 yrs in one go. He can return to the UK before Oct 2012 and submit his naturalization application

You don't have to apply for a passport once you've received your british citizenship, that can be done ANY time, even years after

Ofcourse once granted British citizenship, he'll have to give up his Indian nationality, and thereby Indian passport, and would therefore need to get a British passport if/when he needs to travel out of the UK again.

[monasingh1979]

can we apply for naturilization from India?

[Jambo]

He can't apply for naturalisation until he meet the residential requirements namely:

- less than 270 days outside the UK in the 3 years prior to the application.
- less than 90 days outside the UK in the year prior to the application.

He can't apply from India.

[ILR_Applicant_UK]

Jambo:

Both the requirements you list are discretionary - given he can now apply as spouse of EU national, you're right, the qualifying period is only 3 yrs. To put things in perspective, when we applied, my wife was away 670 days (instead of 450) in the last 5 yrs, and 114 days away in the last yr.

This is obviously discretionary, so, try to minimise the duration of excursions.

If it is not convenient for him to spend enough time to meet the requirements, I suppose he could just visit the UK every 2 yrs to keep his ILR going until the time he is ready to live in the UK.

[vinny]

His ILR may be cancelled, if he is just visiting the UK (18(iv)).

[Jambo]

Jambo:

Both the requirements you list are discretionary -

True. However when the total absences in the final year is over 180 days and the Residential requirement over the 3 years are not met, discretion will be applied only in the most exceptional circumstances. Sure, he can always apply but I would be surprised if he will be granted BC unless he spends sometime in the uk before applying.