Immigration Corner | How a spouse obtains UK citizenship

Dear Mr Bassie,

I am married to a British citizen, and I would like to know if I can apply for citizenship as a spouse.

SM

Dear SM,

A person can apply for citizenship if their spouse is a British citizen.

ELIGIBILITY

Persons can apply for British citizenship by ‘naturalisation’ if they:

• Are 18 years or over;

• Are married to, or in a civil partnership with, someone who is a British citizen;

• Have lived in the United Kingdom (UK) for at least three years before the date of their application.

Persons can also apply as soon as they have one of the following:

• Indefinite leave to remain in the UK;

• ‘Settled status’ (also known as ‘indefinite leave to remain under the EU Settlement Scheme’);

• Indefinite leave to enter the UK (permission to move to the UK permanently from abroad).

They must also:

• Prove they were in the UK exactly three years before the day the Home Office receives their application;

• Prove their knowledge of English, Welsh or Scottish Gaelic;

• Show they have passed the ‘life in the UK’ test;

• Be of good character – read the naturalisation guidance.

This is one way to apply for British citizenship. Persons should check if they are eligible another way – including through the Windrush scheme.

RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS

Persons must have lived in the UK for at least three years before the date of their application. They cannot include any time spent in the UK when they are exempt from immigration control as a:

• Diplomat;

• Member of a diplomat’s staff or household;

• Member of visiting armed forces.

They also should not have broken any UK immigration laws. If they have indefinite leave to enter or remain, the Home Office will not usually check if they broke any immigration laws before then.

TIME SPENT OUTSIDE THE UK

To be eligible, persons should not have:

• Spent more than 270 days outside the UK during the three years before your application;

• Spent more than 90 days outside the UK in the last 12 months.

Persons may be exempt from the residency requirements if their partner works abroad either for the UK government or an organisation intricately linked to government.

WHEN TO APPLY

Please be aware that persons must have been physically present in the UK exactly three years before the Home Office receives the application.

The application may be rejected if they were not in the UK exactly three years before the Home Office received it. This depends on the reason why they were not in the UK.

The Home Office will consider if there are special circumstances, for example:

• They were not able to live in the UK at the start of the three-year period because of health reasons or travel restrictions;

• They were told to leave the UK during the three years, but this decision was later overturned.

The date the Home Office receives the application depends on how persons apply. If they apply online, their application will be received on the same day. It will take longer if they apply by post.

Please note that it costs £1,330 to apply. Persons will usually get a decision within six months – some applications can take longer.

A child is usually automatically a British citizen if he/she were born in the UK and their other parent was a British citizen.

Just for completeness, a person cannot apply for citizenship as the partner of a British citizen if his/her partner has died. Persons should check if they are eligible another way, for example, they may have indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

Good luck!

John S. Bassie is a barrister/attorney-at-law who practises law in Jamaica. He is a justice of the peace, a Supreme Court-appointed mediator, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a chartered arbitrator, the global president of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and a member of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association (UK). Email: lawbassie@yahoo.com