If you:

• were in UK three years ago;
• haven't been outside UK for more than 270 days since (and no more than 90 days in the last year;
• are married to a British citizen, and
  
• have ILR

you can apply for naturalisation as soon as you've passed the test...

hth
paul

Hi Paul,

Do you not require to have your settlement visa for atleast one year like in case of ILR?

Cheers

Hounslow

No - you need to have it for a year if you are not married to a British citizen. If you are married to a BC, you can apply immediately - so long as you've been in UK for three years...

I think I can see what you're getting at though, Hounslow - in many cases, people arrive in UK on a two year "spouse" visa. They then get ILR after two years, and have to wait until they've been here for three years before qualifying for naturalisation. So they end up having ILR for a year, just because that's the way the IMMIGRATION rules work.

But Shaik originally came into the UK about five years ago, and only got married two years ago. So two years after the marriage, he gets ILR, but is immediately qualified for naturalisation, because he has been here for over three years....

Does that make sense?

atb

paul