dreamercon

I was wondering whats the fastest way for an EU citizen to get UK citizenship with a UK citizen spouse. Now I know that three years of residence in the UK and indefinite leave to remain (ILR) is all that is required to apply for British citizenship as a spouse of a British national.

However, EU nationals don't normally get any spouse visas. How can an EU national get ILR in the UK using the British spouse? I know an EU national can get ILR with five years of residence, but I was looking for a faster way.

(I cannot believe that non-EU nationals with british spouses can get citizenship faster than EU nationals with british spouses)

JAJ

EEA/Swiss citizens normally get Permanent Residence in the U.K. after 5 years.

However, there is nothing stopping an EU-state citizen spouse from applying for a spouse visa and Indefinite Leave to Remain under the regular U.K. rules, in order to be able to apply for British citizenship more quickly.

Irish citizens get permanent residence automatically (Common Travel Area).

dreamercon

So you are saying that the EU national should get a visa from a british consulate prior to going to the UK, for the purpose of obtaining ILR two years later. I wonder if a british consulate would agree to giving this visa. (Surely they will wonder why i want to "waste" 515 pounds). I vaguely remember in some forum someone who had HSMP, then her country joined the EU and the home office refused to renew the HSMP after that.

It would seem most awkward to have a british visa with entry clearance for only two years on an EU passport - that restriction would actually be against the basic rights of EU nationals.. Do you actually know of anyone who successfully got a british visa on an EU passport?

JAJ

I'm not sure if it would be possible to get a visa before arriving. There is nothing to this effect in the Entry Clearance Manual: http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/ecg/

However, it is possible to make an "in-country" application for regular spouse status (with a fee) after arriving. It's in section 16 of Chapter 4 of the European Casework Instructions:
http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/sit...cyandlaw/ecis/

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16. EEA National Spouses of British Citizens and Settled Persons
An EEA national who is the spouse of a British citizen or settled person may make a charged application under the Immigration Rules for leave to remain despite the fact that they are not required to obtain leave to remain.

The primary reason why an EEA national may choose to do this is so that s/he can obtain permanent residence within 2 years rather than within 5 years. This will then allow him/her to make an application for British citizenship at an earlier stage.

These applications are subject to the normal charges applying to applications made under the Immigration Rules.

In cases where it is clear that an EEA national is applying under the Rules, i.e. a rules based application form has been completed and the appropriate fee has been paid, then the application must be allocated to European Casework, not charged casework. The fee will not be refunded. This is due to the fact that the payment is made for the case to be considered under the Immigration Rules.

If the application is granted, the EEA passport must never be endorsed, as EEA nationals are not required to obtain leave. A registration certificate should be issued if the EEA national qualifies.

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It would then be necessary to make the application for Indefinite Leave to Remain under the normal timescale (otherwise time and money would be wasted).

http://www.immigrationboards.com is a good place to ask U.K. immigration questions.

Which EU state is the spouse from, out of interest? Will spouse be able to keep that citizenship upon becoming British, and would it be a problem if the other citizenship is revoked?

I am not sure if I believe the HSMP story, or if the Home Office really did try that, the caseworker may have been acting illegally.

dreamercon

Thanks for finding this rule. This would concern a spouse from Greece. Greece allows dual citizenship, but I have a very negative predisposition towards the greek government (for imposing a year long military service requirement on all males under 45, for providing the lowest quality of consular assistance abroad and for always making you go through mountains of paperwork and bureaucracy for the simplest things - its amazing how much paperwork you need just to renew a passport). Its definitely beneficial not to register as greek male children born outside greece if those are entitled to some other EEA citizenship - even though formally speaking greek citizenship is automatically transmitted to children of greek parents and you can do nothing about it short of renouncing greek citizenship prior to their birth. Until very recently, you could not even renounce greek citizenship if you had not fulfilled military service requirements..

Steve87

Guys all this is great news- we are in exactly the same situation!

One question though: We have been living together in the UK for 3 years but we only married last year.

Does that make me eligible for ILR this year or only next year when we have been married for 2 years?

Any ideas/advice/experience welcome and much appreciated!


Thanks

JAJ

What is your nationality?? And spouse's nationality?

Steve87

I am German citizen and my wife is UK citizen.

Alix

Have you been paying UK taxes during these years?

Steve87

I filed UK income tax in 2006/07 and 2007/08.

Do I have to have filed UK income tax in 2005/06 in order to have exercised treaty rights in that year? I had a national insurance number already in 2005/06.

I contacted a few lawyers who told me that the 5 year period for EU citizens is applicable to me despite being married. They did not seem to be aware of this casework.

Steve87

"ECD.3110 is the appropriate covering letter"

What does this actually mean?

Steve87

Guys I think ch.4 s.16 is about "leave to remain" i.e. classical immigration through spouse visa. Thus, the paragraph discusses why a EU citizen would bother to apply for it and whether s/he'd be charged for it. Answer: To get British citizenship quicker (and yes, charged for it). So this does not lead to ILR unless LR is obtained beforehand.

However, there is still the ILR after having been with spouse/partner for 4 years inside or outside the UK in combination with citizenship after 3 years in the country.

JAJ

In order to apply for naturalisation as a British citizen, you need to have ILR under the Immigration Rules, or Permanent Residence under the EEA rules. There are some exceptions such as for those with Right of Abode, or Irish citizenship, but that is basically the deal.

EEA/Swiss citizens do not normally get PR until after 5 years in the U.K. - even if married to a British citizen. They do have the option of coming in under the normal Immigration Rules, but most either do not know about this or don't want to pay the fees.

Hence you need to wait until you have PR before you can apply for British citizenship. You could switch to the U.K. Immigration rules track, but you would then wait a further 2 years for ILR.

In order to get immediate ILR under the 4 year rule you mention, the Immigration Rules say:

"... the parties were married or formed a civil partnership at least 4 years ago, since which time they have been living together outside the United Kingdom; ... "

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/po...onrules/part8/

Three additional points to bear in mind:

1. You do not need to do the Life in the UK Test to get Permanent Residence under the EEA rules but it will be necessary to progress to British citizenship.
http://www.lifeintheuktest.gov.uk

2. Watch out next week for proposals to increase the waiting time for British citizenship. They will require legislation so won't kick in until 2009/10 and could be amended between now and then:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-passport.html

3. As far as I am aware you no longer need to get permission to keep your German citizenship if you become a citizen of another EU state but you should verify this with the German authorities.