Question regarding an application for Naturalisation:

 

I’m planning to apply for British citizenship. I’ve been in the UK for over 10 years and I have been granted Settled Status 14 months ago. I’m an EU citizen and have been exercising my treaty rights since my arrival here.

My main question is, I have been on universal credit benefits for the past 7 months and I’m coming back to work just now. Will it in any way affect my Naturalisation application?

Public Answer:

Thank you for your enquiry.

The fact that you receive benefits should have no negative impact on an application for naturalisation as you have already obtained permanent residence in the UK over a year ago.

To be eligible for naturalisation, you must:

• Be aged 18 or over;
• Be of good character;
• Have the intention to make the UK your permanent home;
• As you are an EU citizen, you must have had permanent residence in the UK for the last 12 months.
• Meet the knowledge of English and Life in the UK requirement;
• Meet the residency requirement, i.e. you must have lived in the UK for 5 years before the date of your application for naturalisation. In those 5 years, you must not have spent more than 450 days outside of the UK and no more than 90 days outside of the UK in the last 12 months before the date of the application.

Someone will be in touch with you shortly to see how we can help you further.

The answer provided above is for information purposes only and cannot be taken as a legal advice until we have your full instructions, if you would like to proceed to full legal advice and/or services with us, please let us know your availability for an appointment by contacting us on 02087575751 or through our contact form.

We look forward to hearing back from you soon.

Best regards,

WF Team

[This question has been successfully answered by our lawyers in a private e-mail]