Born in Germany,married to a British citizen
 

Hello there

I will make this as short as possible, I was born in Germany (still have my German passport), I am married to a British citizen and for now, we live in the
USA (he is in the US Military).
I know Germany is a member of the EU/EEA (European Union/European Economic Area) so I do not need to apply for 'entry clearance' to work or live in the UK, but I was wondering if I can apply for my British citizenship while we are still living in the US?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you

Re: Born in Germany,married to a British citizen
 

I believe you can, but not sure of the details, but this link might help get the ball rolling :)
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/con...d/en/home.html

Re: Born in Germany,married to a British citizen
 

What is your parentage?

Re: Born in Germany,married to a British citizen
 

Hello Don

Both of my parents are Germans!

Re: Born in Germany,married to a British citizen
 

Don't want to be rude, but why bother? You've a german passport, can live in blighty and all that...

Re: Born in Germany,married to a British citizen
 

OK, then, I think the answer is no, you need to satisfy residence requirements in the UK (3 or 5 years?) and then you can get UK citizenship. But what's the point? As an EU citizen you are not treated differently to UK citizens.

Re: Born in Germany,married to a British citizen
 

No, you can't apply for British citizenship while living in the USA (full details can be found at http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind...tizenship.html).

You would have to fill the residence (and other) requirements; because you are married to a British citizen, the residence requirement is, essentially, that you live in the UK for 3 years before applying. You must be regarded as settled in the UK, and as an EU national in your probable circumstances, this is likely to mean that, after you settle in the UK you will need to apply for, and be granted, indefinite leave to remain in the UK (which is a formality for EU citizens) before you apply for naturalisation.

The other requirements would probably not be a challenge: you must be aged 18 or over, be of sound mind, be of good character, and have sufficient knowledge of English (or Welsh or Scottish Gaelic).

As to the question of any advantages of obtaining British citizenship when you are already a citizen of another EU country (raised above), there are some. First, of course, you may choose to do so because of the sense of commitment and belonging to the UK that it would bring. The biggest practical advantage is that, as a German citizen, you would not be able to vote in general elections in the UK. There are other things that you could not do, such as stand for parliament or be called for jury service, but my guess is that these are not likely to be important to you! It might conceivably be important to you that, if you naturalise as a British citizen, any children born to you outside the UK will be British citizens by descent, regardless of who their father is. A British citizen cannot be deported from the UK; a German citizen could in certain circumstances, but in the ordinary course of life that is unlikely to be an issue for many people.

You would also need to consider whether naturalisation as a British citizen would have any effect on your German citizenship.

Re: Born in Germany,married to a British citizen
 

Bob and Don, Thank you for all your help, I concentrated so much on Visa/work permit that I completely missed the part about European Nationals being able to work and live in the UK without British citizenship.
Thanks again!
Sandy

Re: Born in Germany,married to a British citizen
 

Hello CPW

Becoming a British citizen would not have a big effect on my German citizenship, the only thing I would have to do is to fill out a form asking permission to 'retain' my German citizenship.
I would become a British citizen because of the sense of commitment and the feeling of belonging, but also because I feel that voting is very important.
I had the chance to spend a lot of time in the UK and I fell in Love with country and the British people, so becoming a British citizen would make me, and my husband, very proud.
Thank you for your help CPW!
(I just hope my English is sufficient enough :) )

Re: Born in Germany,married to a British citizen
 

On the basis of your written English, you could pass three times over - davon bin ich sicher! Good luck!

Re: Born in Germany,married to a British citizen
 

Yeah, I heard about that, testing, sounds like a bit of a joke...though didn't realise you had to do that through marriage too? hmmm... :)

Re: Born in Germany,married to a British citizen
 

Not having a British citizenship is likely to bar one from most policy/management level jobs in the public service.

It's also necessary to be a British citizen if you would like a British passport.

My understanding is that a German citizen who takes British citizenship (by naturalisation) automatically loses German citizenship *unless* permission is obtained in advance from the German authorities to keep German citizenship.
http://www.germany-info.org/relaunch...tizenship.html

I would presume a former German citizen would still be able to return to live in Germany on a British passport.

To the original poster (SandyW) - have you or your husband got US citizenship? And if you haven't have you thought about obtaining it. If he;s in the US military it's likely to be easier provided he applies while still eligible.

He will keep British citizenship - although US citizenship does entail tax obligations which he'll need to be ok with, it also preserves his rights to return to the US later on (and pass on US citizenship to non-US born children).

You may also be eligible to become a US citizen - although you'll need that permission from Germany in advance if you want to keep your German citizenship.

Jeremy

Re: Born in Germany,married to a British citizen
 

The English language requirement has just been introduced for spouses of British citizens seeking naturalisation (for those applying from 28 July 2004).

It's always been there for other naturalisation applicants (at least since 1949). Evidentiary requirements have been tightened up, but after an initial fiasco where the Home Office seemed to forget that a large number of applicants were native English speakers anyway, the evidence required is more reasonable and should not pose significant problems for most.

Those applying for *registration* as a British citizen do not have a language requirement.

Jeremy

Re: Born in Germany,married to a British citizen
 

It used to be true that a person naturalising as a British citizen who is married to a British citizen did not have to have 'sufficient English' (or Welsh or ...), but under the new arrangements that concession no longer applies, I believe.

Re: Born in Germany,married to a British citizen
 

Hi there I am in the same boat at the moment. Being a German citizen married to a British citizen. As far as I understand it you still need to prove your commitment to the German authorities. Which by knowing them would be not as easy as someone might think. Where did you get your information from that you only need to fill out a form and that it would be easy. I would be very grateful for sharing light on this.