DCF - does US hubby need to have ILR

[mrssmith 0]

I have just been reading the Embassy info section and it suggests that the US citizen needs to have ILR rather than FLR to be eligible to apply for DCF at london.

My US hubby only has FLR currently , this expires in September and are debating whether to apply for a two year extension on FLR which is cheaper or the ILR .... We are hoping to move stateside April- ish 2009. We sent our forms End of January so should start processing within the next month as processing December 28th as of last monday.

So what will happen?

Also he will have been in the country 3 years April 2009 so were considering applying for his Citizenship before we left, However unsure how long this will take to achieve? Anyone know the timeframes for UK citizenship?

[gwenneh 7]

No. I have FLR (expired today, actually...*sob*) and we successfully went through DCF.

[VisaJourneyLady 33]

Seconded, my OH didn't have ILR, but rather an EEA Family permit that was due to run out in Feb, and an application for a 5 year EEA Family member permit underway, but not approved.

On the second question, I'm sure you're familiar with this website, but here's the particular page your looking for:

http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/britishci...g/waitingtimes/

looks like it takes about 14 weeks, so you would have to hang around here for a while longer, but I know there are a lot of people on this forum who would tell you that it would be worth it.

(oh and he would have to take a 'life in the UK' test too, but I'm sure that would be no problem.

[MargotDarko 0]

Seconded, my OH didn't have ILR, but rather an EEA Family permit that was due to run out in Feb, and an application for a 5 year EEA Family member permit underway, but not approved.

On the second question, I'm sure you're familiar with this website, but here's the particular page your looking for:

http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/britishci...g/waitingtimes/

looks like it takes about 14 weeks, so you would have to hang around here for a while longer, but I know there are a lot of people on this forum who would tell you that it would be worth it.

(oh and he would have to take a 'life in the UK' test too, but I'm sure that would be no problem.

ILR expires once you've been living outside of the UK for 2 years, so I would think it would not be worth it for someone planning to settle indefinitely in the US. If the USC were close to being able to apply for UK citizenship, that would be worth it I would think in a lot of cases.

[MargotDarko 0]

I have just been reading the Embassy info section and it suggests that the US citizen needs to have ILR rather than FLR to be eligible to apply for DCF at london.

My US hubby only has FLR currently , this expires in September and are debating whether to apply for a two year extension on FLR which is cheaper or the ILR .... We are hoping to move stateside April- ish 2009. We sent our forms End of January so should start processing within the next month as processing December 28th as of last monday.

So what will happen?

Also he will have been in the country 3 years April 2009 so were considering applying for his Citizenship before we left, However unsure how long this will take to achieve? Anyone know the timeframes for UK citizenship?

To apply for UK citizenship, I believe he will have to have ILR and not just extend his FLR. Hopefully someone can correct me on that if I'm remembering incorrectly.

Would it be possible for you to move to the US before his current FLR expires? As long as everything goes smoothly with your visa, it would be likely you could move to the US as early as June this year if you'd like. Then you wouldn't have to pay for or deal with anything for your husband in the UK.

However, if you have definite or fairly definite plans to someday to re-settle in the UK or could easily pay the fees, it would be worth it to get ILR for your husband and stick it out for him to apply for citizenship. He would be able to move to the US even while his UK citizenship application was being processed. They even have swearing-in ceremonies in the US.

When you say he will be in the UK three years as of April 2009 - has all of that time been spent on a resident visa? Visiting and I think even student visa time would not count towards those three years.

[mrssmith 0]

He came to the UK in April 2006 on a fiancee visa, we married in July and then he gained FLR in September. So does all that count? I mean the fiancee visa?

So we could apply for his UK citizenship and then leave and move to the US before it has been processed, is this correct? If so where can i find out about this.

We don't want to move until Around April 2009 as we need to sort out finances and tie up loose ends, but then we don't want to have to wait an additional 6 months after applying for citizenship in April 2009 before we leave. I however think that gaining citizenship would be beneficial.

You do need ILR to apply for citizenship, so this is why we need to work out which visa to apply for before September.