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| Acquiring UK Citizenship and Naturalisation |
| For Advice Call 08712886930 |
 Orchid of Siam are authorised to provide immigration advice and services by the Immigration Services Commissioner Ref. No. F200500016 Members of the Immigration Law Practitioners' Association.We provide British Citizenship application services and advice. For our fees and applicable Government charges please see our Fees Scale page. On 1st November 2005 the Home Office issued notice that all applicants for British Citizenship will have to sit an exam, taken on a computer, in English which will be an examination of the candidates knowledge of life in the UK. Special courses are run at some 100 Learn Direct and similar centres throughout the country. The test fee is £34 in addition to the other fees payable. From 2nd April 2007 this test needs to have been passed at the Indefinite Leave to Remain application stage and applicants for Citizenship who have already passed the test will not need to do another test. Applicants who are not up to TESOL 3 may join an English with Citizenship course and if they have made progress they can get a letter from their school which will exempt them from the need to take the test, contact Learn Direct for details in your area. British Citizenship and Naturalisation if you are not claiming based on Ancestry are normally claimed in two major ways: 1) After three years in the UK as the spouse of a British Citizen or 2) After six years in the UK. PERMANENT RESIDENCY/INDEFINITE LEAVE TO REMAIN IN THE UK In ALL cases you will need to have permanent residency/indefinite leave to remain in the UK before you can apply. The length of time you must have been legally in the UK before this can be granted are: 2 years for people married to a UK citizen or as an unmarried partner. 5 years for highly skilled migrant programme workers, work permit holders, ancestry applicants, investors, writers, composers, artists, company sole representatives, people establishing a business themselves. 10 years lawful residence in the UK. 14 years as resident with a combination of illegal and legal residency. Your application must be sent NO MORE than 28 days before the expiry of your current visa. APPLYING FOR CITIZENSHIP/NATURALISATION If you are the SPOUSE of a UK citizen you can apply after you have been resident in the UK for three years or more on the date your application is received by the Home Office. You must meet the following conditions: 1. That you were living in the UK at the start of the three year period. 2. You must have permanent residence in the UK when your application is sent to the Home Office. 3. You must not have spent over 270 days outside of the UK during the three years and during the last year you must not have been outside the UK for more than 90 days. 4. You must not have been in breach of any UK immigration rules throughout the whole period of your residency. For naturalisation after FIVE years in the UK where you are NOT married to a UK citizen the following conditions must be met: 1. You must have been in the UK at least 5 years on the date your application is received by the Home Office. 2. You must not have spent over 450 days outside the UK during the five years and during the last year you must not have spent over 90 days outside the UK. 3. In the last 12 months of the five years you must have permanent residency status/ indefinite leave to remain in the UK. 4. You must not have breached any immigration rules during the five years. For ALL UK citizenship applications the following conditions must be met: 1. Your minimum age must be 18 years. 2. As from 1st November 2005 you must have passed the Citizenship exam or have attended an approved course. 3. You must have character references. 4. You should be intending to live in the UK. It takes about 2-3 months to process an application. After the Citizenship has been granted you will receive notification of this and your nearest designated registry office will contact you to arrange for you to attend a citizenship ceremony at which you will receive your official certificate. You are normally allowed to invite guests to your ceremony. After you have the certificate you can immediately apply for a UK passport if you wish. NATIONALITY CHECKING SERVICE (NCS) Some local councils have teamed up with the Home Office in order that all original documents and passports can be submitted to the Council who will check and copy them and then forward the copies to the Home Office for processing. This saves applicants having to part with valuable documents. The Councils charge various fees for this as the fees are set by the individual councils. Full details and a list of participating councils and the appropriate contact details can be found at http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/applying/nationality/ncs WHAT HAPPENS AT THE CEREMONY When your application is approved you will be sent a letter stating this fact and inviting you to attend a ceremony at an address that will be given in the letter. You will be asked to telephone a given number to make an appointment. Generally the number will be an answering machine which will ask you for your name, reference number and your telephone number. The local authority will call you back with an appointment which is normally within 14 days. When you arrive for the ceremony, you will be asked to show your letter of invitation. You will then receive your pledge card with the words to the oath or affirmation and pledge that you have to say during the ceremony. When you attend the ceremony, it will be usual to do so together with a group of other new citizens. The Superintendent Registrar or Deputy will host the ceremony. Local dignitaries will attend. After a speech of welcome, the Superintendent Registrar will invite you to swear the Oath of allegiance or, if you prefer, to speak the affirmation of allegiance. Oath of allegiance I (name) swear by Almighty God that on becoming a British citizen, I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, her Heirs and Successors, according to law. (If you wish you can swear the above oath on your own Holy Book which you are free to take with you and substitute the name 'God' with your own deity.) Affirmation of allegiance I (name) do solemnly and sincerely affirm that on becoming a British citizen, I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, her Heirs and Successors, according to law. After the Oath or affirmation, you will take the citizenship Pledge Pledge I will give my loyalty to the United Kingdom and respect its rights and freedoms. I will uphold its democratic values. I will observe its laws faithfully and fulfil my duties and obligations as a British citizen. The Superintendent Registrar will then present you with your citizenship certificate and an information pack. There may be an informal celebration with light refreshments. Correcting mistakes on your citizenship certificate: If the personal details you gave do not appear correctly on your certificate, you should return it to: The Home Office, Citizenship Ceremonies Support Team, 3rd Floor, India Buildings, Water Street, Liverpool, L2 0QN. You should explain the mistake and enclose evidence to support what you say. The Home Office usually wants to see official documents as evidence. If the mistake is yours, you may not be able to change it. Special arrangements Citizenship ceremonies will normally be conducted in groups to reinforce the community nature of citizenship. You can, however, make an arrangement with your local authority for an individual ceremony. This may mean paying an additional fee. You may wish to bring guests to your ceremony. You should discuss this when you make your ceremony appointment because the space for guests may be limited. USEFUL WEBSITES http://www.uknationality.gov.uk http://www.lifeintheuktest.gov.uk http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk |
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