Confused about British Citizenship...

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to work out how long my husband (Australian) and children (Australian) would need to reside in the UK to obtain British Citizenship. I am a British Citizenship by descent and hence I can't pass on my British Citizenship to my children.

I'm not sure if I'm interpreting the gov UK website correctly, but when I click on "Become a British Citizenship" it states you have to live in the UK for at least 5 years. At the end of that paragraph it states there are different requirements if your spouse is a British Citizen. When I click on that link it has other dot points about what is required to become a British Citizen and toward the end of the page it states that you must live in the UK for 3 years.

Do you think then that my husband and children would be eligible for citizenship after 3 years or would it be 5 years? I then click on the "Guidance Notes" and on page 7 it states 5 years or 3 years if married to a British Citizen.

If anyone has been through this application process and can share their experience, that would also be greatly appreciated.

Thank You!

If you are married for a number of years (I think it's 5 years) your husband can apply for a residency visa which will give him the right to live/work in the U.K. , he then has do the knowledge of life in the u k test, get an ILR and then after 3 years in the U.K. he can apply for citizenship. Cost a few thousand £ for the various applications. There is now a combined service where you apply for citizenship and passport at the same time.

Hope that helps , I know the website is sometimes just sending you in circles.

Thank you so much RandL. Is a "Residency Visa" the same as a "Family of a Settled Person Visa"? I can't find "Residency Visa" on the website but maybe I am getting lost in selecting the right screen!

Hi River,

are you guys are already in the U.K. Or still in Australia.

I can tell you how it worked for us, i am Aussie my wife is British.

stared the process from Australia, applied for "settlement spouse visa, KOL required". KOL- knowledge of life , test to be done in the U.K. That was valid for 2 years. Got to the uk, did the KOL test in the first month and then applied for ILR = indefinite leave to remain straight away. This allows to stay in the UK indefinitely. Then after 3 years you are eligible to apply for citizenship. I am just about to do that.

rules might have changed slightly, the application process from Australia required some attention to detail, it is then sent to their processing centre in Manila. Got my visa after 2 weeks of lodging . That was back in 2011, left OZ in 2012.

We too found the border agency website very confusing and looked at many forums to make sense of the process.

Funny thing is we are thinking of going back to OZ

Hi RandL

We are still in Australia so thank you for explaining your process because ours will be exactly the same.

Where did you end up moving to in the UK? Did you enjoy it? What are your reasons for returning to OZ (only if you are happy to share).

This is a big decision for our family as my husband has never lived in the UK so we are a bit nervous about whether this is the right decision for all involved :-) so if you think of anything that would be good for us to know, it will be greatly appreciated! Even if you wish to private message me.

Thanks!

Hi RandL

 

We are still in Australia so thank you for explaining your process because ours will be exactly the same.

 

Where did you end up moving to in the UK? Did you enjoy it? What are your reasons for returning to OZ (only if you are happy to share).

 

This is a big decision for our family as my husband has never lived in the UK so we are a bit nervous about whether this is the right decision for all involved :-) so if you think of anything that would be good for us to know, it will be greatly appreciated! Even if you wish to private message me.

 

Thanks!

Things have changed a lot in the last few years. To get a UK Spouse Visa for your husband you have to meet the financial requirements - they are what prevent a lot of Ozzies moving to the UK with their spouses. You either need a job with a guaranteed income over a certain amount (I think its around £18,600) or over £62,000 in savings.

https://www.gov.uk/join-family-in-uk

Hi River

I hope your application to return to the UK is going well. I think we are a few weeks behind you! Please could you let me know whether you decided to go with the 'Join a family member settled in the

uk' visa, or the 'Settlement spouse' visa? We are a little confused as to which is the correct one, we started filling out the settlement spouse visa but now not so sure? We did however note that the accommodation section asked for a family or hotel name so at least we know we can just book a holiday rental for when we arrive. A bit risky in the sense that if we don't get the visa approved we still have to pay for the accommodation, but we decided we would just go for a holiday to visit family!

Where are you moving back to? We've been here for 8 years and decided to move back home )