Marriage is a beautiful thing. On other hand navigating the UK’s immigration process can be challenging and daunting to say the least. This article has been written to give you a top-level view to help you understand legal requirements and your options more clearly. Gaining a greater understanding of these immigration processes is one thing, however, it is advised you seek proper legal advice when filing for your spouse visa.
In order to apply for British citizenship, you need to have indefinite leave to remain (or indefinite leave to enter) or have settled status from the EU settlement scheme. There is a clear process that you need to follow if you are an individual looking to move to the UK to live and work.
A spouse visa
The UK spouse visa is the process followed for married partners of British or Irish citizens or those people who are settled in the UK, persons with pre-settled status, persons with refugee status or humanitarian protection, a Turkish businessperson or a Turkish Worker visa. If you want to stay in the UK with your spouse, you will need to apply for a visa. The UK spouse visa can lead to indefinite leave to remain or settlement after a period of 5 years in the UK.
Moving from a spouse visa to British citizenship
If you are married to a person who is already a British citizen this does not grant you automatic access to becoming a British citizen. There is a process of naturalisation that must be followed, with the non-UK spouse expected to meet a range of eligibility criteria under nationality rules when making an application to the Home Office for citizenship.
Can I apply straight away for British citizenship?
Once you have been granted UK settlement, you can then apply for British citizenship, as long as you are married to a British citizen, which is why we are talking about the route from spouse visa to citizenship in particular.
The criteria to be eligible for British citizenship by marriage include the following:
· The person must be at least 18 years old
· They must be married or in a civil partnership with a British citizen
· Be of good character and of sound mind (you must have no recent or serious criminal convictions)
· Have the ability to communicate sufficiently in English and have knowledge of British life (there is a ‘Life in the UK’ test that you can take to satisfy these criteria as well as an English language test)
· They must have lived in the UK for a minimum of 3 years prior to the application
You can apply for naturalisation as soon as you are granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK or you have settled status under the EU settlement scheme.
The application process usually takes between three to six months to complete and for you to be given a decision. The cost for a UK naturalisation application is £1,300 per applicant.
How to apply for citizenship by marriage
For foreign spouses who wish to settle in the UK with their partners, gaining British citizenship by marriage is the process to follow. Once you are classed as a naturalised British citizen you have the ability to live and work in the country without any immigration controls linked to you. This route to British citizenship is only available to those people who are married to a UK national, or in a civil partnership with them, providing that they have held indefinite leave to remain for at least three years.
Is it possible to apply for joint British citizenship?
In some cases, you might want to apply for British citizenship at the same time as a family member or partner. As long as both parties have gained permanent leave to remain as a result of being in the UK for a long period, you might be entitled to apply through a joint application. It is similar to applying on your own, but it is always best to seek professional, legal advice before proceeding with any visa or citizenship application.
The biggest reason to apply jointly was to reduce the fees attached to the application process, although this has since been removed. Alongside this, it makes sense that should you both be applying at the same time you would want to become British citizens at the same time, making it easier to apply for passports at the same time too.
If you are in the process of looking into a fiancée visa or you want to move to the UK as a married couple, it is important to have access to specialists in UK immigration law. It is important that you have a full understanding of what is expected of you in terms of applying for a visa either as a married couple together, where one of you is a UK citizen and one is not, or whether you are engaged to be married and looking to move to the UK to live and work. A specialist in immigration law will keep you aware of what is expected of you, and any changes in the law during the process, and ensure there are minimal delays along the way.
BIO: Yomi is the Managing Partner of Owens Solicitors – A specialist immigration & family law firm based in Luton. Yomi has been building Owens reputation within the world of immigration law since 2007. Her stellar reputation has established her as a trusted first point of contact UK-wide. Yomi has seen particular success in obtaining spouse visas and successfully processing immigration sponsorship licence applications.
