steviedee

HI

Sorry if this has been asked before, but i couldn't find an exact match to our circumstances

My Wife arrived in the UK on a 1 year Tier 2 Visa In May 2011. In Approx may 2012, we got married, and started our 2 year Spousal visa - which is up for renewal in May of this year (2014)

Can we apply for ILR and Passport in 1 go? Do we even need to apply for ILR, can we go straight to Passport?

Also, we got the spousal visa on the original 2 year rule, which i believe means you get your passport after 3 years. Does her 1 year on a Tier 2 count towards that 3 years? - meaning we can get passport after May eitherway?

Thanks in advance!

Steve

p.s My Wife is from South Africa!

BritInParis

Your wife will need to obtain ILR before she can apply for naturalisation as a British citizen. Only after she has naturalised can she obtain a British passport.

Presuming you are a British citizen, if your wife applied her spousal visa before 9 July 2012, then you can apply for ILR after two years. Once your wife has obtained ILR she will need to wait a further year before becoming eligible for naturalisation.

NB: Your wife should apply to the South African High Commission in London to retain her South African citizenship before she naturalises. It's a fairly simple and inexpensive process but failure to do so will result in the automatic loss of her South African citizenship when she becomes British.

http://southafricahouseuk.com/passpo...rt_citret.html

roaringmouse

It seems that the OPs wife would have been living in the UK for 3 years already at the point of ILR. If the OP is a British citizen there would be no need to wait a further year to apply for naturalisation would there?

BritInParis

Good point. Once she has ILR she should be eligible to naturalise straight away.

steviedee

Thanks for the reply's guys


I am a British citizen, so its good to hear the 3 years will be from when she first arrived in the UK.

And thanks BritInParis - that's a good bit of advice we probably would never have known! Ill make sure she does it before she gets the UK Passport!

englishguygoinghome

Your wife will need to be very careful about the exact date on which her application is received (not the date she applies but at least 1 day later depending on how you send the form!):
- she must have ILR (but not have held it for any minimum period)
- she must have been in the UK on the exact date 3 years beforehand and be able to prove that
- she must have been absent from the UK for less than 270 days in the last three years
- she must have passed the KOL test
( - for others reading this whose spouse doesn't come from an english speaking country - she must have passed the english language test)

There is an immigration checking service in many areas which will speed up the paperwork by 2-4 weeks and ensure the applicaiton is received 1 working day after your appointment

roaringmouse

Not only others reading this, but also the OPs wife will need the English language test I think. She's from South Africa which is not on the exempt country list, although she may satisfy another exemption that we're not aware of.

BritInParis

South Africa isn't on the list, so a test is required unless she satisfies the requirements in another way i.e. a university degree taught in English.