lostinvisas

Hi everyone,

Just came across this website and it is such a help for people like me. So first of all, thank you to everyone who has contributed.

I had a question which I need your expertise:

My wife (American) and I were living in the US before our move to the UK. My wife entered the UK on a spouse visa of a UK citizen (me). She was granted a 2.5 year visa which will expire sometime in August 2018. We were evidently going to apply for an extension via the FLR form. We have in mind to have her apply for UK naturalization via marriage around the end of 2018 as she will have three years of residency in the UK on or around December 2018. However, it seems a little strange that we have to apply for an extension of visa in order for her to apply 6 months later for citizenship.

Because the fees are pretty high for an extension (a little over £1K) and the naturalization (another £1K), I was wondering if there was another option? Because I am also an EU citizen, I am wondering whether I should just have my wife switch to a EEA family permit by getting an EEA2 residence card.

But, is this even possible to switch from UK spouse visa to non EEA family permit? Are there any negatives to doing so? Would it create an issue in regards to her future application for UK citizenship?

Thanks a lot for your input.

lostinvisas

Hi again,

So I came across the Mc Carthy ruling which seems to indicate that as a British citizen, I can only have my wife apply under my British passport and not my EU one. So I guess no luck in changing her visa to a EEA family permit unless using the ‘Surinder Singh’ route which is not possible for us as we lived in the US and not another EU country.

I still wonder, if the only way for us is therefore to renew her UK visa spouse via the FLR form in order to then apply for citizenship 6 months later. I don't see any other option but if anyone has any input, it would be lovely to hear it.

Thanks!

BritInParis

Your wife will need to have ILR before she can apply for naturalisation which requires five years of residence, hence the 2.5 year validity periods for each visa.

angie_329

As far as I am aware, your wife can only apply for citizenzhip after 5 years on a spouse visa- so she needs the next 2.5 yr visa. The old rules for spouses to become citizen were 3 years on spouse visa but now this has been extended.

lostinvisas

Thank you both very much for your quick replies and for providing this important information.

That is disappointing to hear that it is now 5 years. What is surprising is that the naturalization page of Gov.uk seems to indicate a 3 year requirement for naturalization under section 6.2 of the British Nationality Act 1981.

Since I can't post a link here (since I have less than 5 posts), here-under is the relevant section of the page which was published for Home Office Staff on December 6, 2017:

The residence requirements which someone applying under section 6(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981 are that the applicant was:
• in the UK at the beginning of the period of 3 years ending with the date of application
• not absent from the UK for more than either:
o 270 in that 3 year period
o 90 days in the period of 12 months ending with the date of application
• not, on the date of the application subject under the immigration laws to any restriction on their period of stay in the UK
• not, at any time in the period of 3 years ending with the date of application in breach of immigration laws

Another page on the gov.uk website entitled Become a British Citizen also states:

"Unless your spouse or civil partner works abroad either for the UK government or for an organisation closely linked to government, you must usually also have:

* lived in the UK for at least the 3 years before your application is received
* spent no more than 270 days outside the UK in those 3 years
* spent no more than 90 days outside the UK in the last 12 months
* not broken any immigration laws while in the UK"

Do you know when this rule was changed from 3 years to 5 years residency for spouses of British Citizens?

In any case, I will follow your advice to therefore apply for another Spouse visa under FLR-M then after this finishes, have my wife apply for ILR at the same time as the naturalization procedure.

Again many thanks for your guidance

BritInParis

The residency requirement for naturalisation for the spouses of British citizens remains at three years. What has changed is that the requirement for ILR for those holding spouse visas has been extended from three to five years. Previously you were given a single three year visa after which you could apply for ILR. Now you are given two 2.5 year visas before you are eligible for ILR. Since you cannot naturalise if you have time restrictions on your stay in the UK it has effectively meant five years for almost everyone.

Your wife will need to apply for FLR in August 2018. At the end of the validity of that visa then she can then apply for ILR, having passed the Life in the UK Test. Only after being granted ILR can she then lodged an application for naturalisation. The one advantage she will still have is that anyone not married to a British citizen has a further twelve months to wait until becoming eligible for naturalisation; she can apply as soon as she receives ILR.

lostinvisas

Thank you very much for breaking it down in such a clear way. Makes total sense even though I preferred the old 3 years residency test
Guess we will just have to wait a couple more years for her to become a UK citizen.

Again thanks for all your help