My husband is from South Africa and has been in the UK for 4 and a half years.Can he apply for UK citizenship?

Question

My husband is from SA and I am from the Czech Republic. We got married 2yrs ago,but he still has his afrikaans citizenship. It causes a lot of problems when we go on holidays,as he needs to apply for a visa everywhere we go and there are other issues,too (e.g.mortgage). He has been in the UK for 4 and a half years,first 2 years on a"working holiday visa" and the past 2 years on a "EU partnership visa", which is for 5 years.

Apparently after those 5 years he gets British passport.

Is there anyway how to speed things up (legally)?

Answer 1

I just want to say: There is no such thing as an "Afrikaans passport", he has a South African passport. Afrikaans is a language, the newest in the world actually. You are better of going on the South African Embassy website, they give clear advice, the only way to speed things up is by getting assistance from a litigator who will cost more.

Answer 2

Why not apply for a Czech passport? It's an EC passport and can be used for any legal transactions anywhere in the EU, including UK.

Answer 3

Why should you be able to jump the queue just because he's South African? If he was under the Commonwealth we might understand.

He needs 5 years in the UK for citizenship. You can only apply for it after the 5 years are up.

Just make sure the forms are filled in correctly so that the Home Office doesn't throw them back because they're incomplete.

Answer 4

If you are not married to an UK Citizen you will need to meet the following residence requirements over the last six years.

You must have been living in the UK exactly six years before the date the application reaches the Home Office; and

During the six-year period you must not have been outside the United Kingdom for more than 450 days (about 15 months); and

During the last 12 months of the six-year period you must not have been outside the UK for more than 90 days; and

During the last 12 months of the six-year period your stay in the United Kingdom you must have held permanent residence/ indefinite leave to remain (ILR); and

You must not have been living in the United Kingdom in breach of the UK immigration rules at any time during the six-year period ending with the date that the application is received by the Home Office.

The processing times for naturalization applications is currently about six to seven months. If you would like assistance with a naturalisation application made on the basis of having permanent residency, please contact our office on (0)207 842 0800 or complete our online enquiry form for naturalization.

Answer 5

no ,it is 6 years if you are not married to an UK citizen :

Naturalisation after # six years in the UK #

If you are not married to a British Citizen you will need to meet the following requirements to apply for naturalisation:

You must be aged 18 or over and are not of unsound mind.

You must be of good character.

You should be able to communicate in the English language (or Welsh or Scottish Gaelic). There are exemptions to this requirement, for example if you are elderly or mentally handicapped.

You should intend to live in the UK or in Crown Service abroad (working directly for an UK Government organisation), or be employed by an international organisation of which the UK is a member, or be employed by a company or association established in the United Kingdom.

http://www.workpermit.com/uk/naturalisat...

here is the UK home page for more infos on citizenship:

http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/applyin...