Question about expat wife getting a uk passport

[Dr Strangeglove]

Hi all

Apologies if this has already been answered but I couldn't find it.


Basically, I'm an English expat living in Dubai. I married a Ukrainian before I moved here (just over 2 years ago). Neither of us want to move back to the UK anytime soon, but we experience a lot of issues when travelling together (she needs to apply for endless visas).

Is there anyway of making this process easier now that we've proved it isn't a marriage of convenience? Or does she have to live in the UK for two years to qualify for a passport?

Many thanks

[Fatbrit]

She has to live in the UK before she can apply for citizenship. The days when foreign women who married Brits automatically took this trump card nationality have long faded into the mists of time.

[rj.uk]

I know how your wife feels. Had the same problems when travelling with a Filipino passport. But found it easier when my passport got thicker - do not let your wife throw her old passports let them be attached to the current passport. And as long as you have all the documents necessary for the visa of any counrty it is a doddle.

[jlms]

Originally Posted by Dr Strangeglove

Hi all

Apologies if this has already been answered but I couldn't find it.


Basically, I'm an English expat living in Dubai. I married a Ukrainian before I moved here (just over 2 years ago). Neither of us want to move back to the UK anytime soon, but we experience a lot of issues when travelling together (she needs to apply for endless visas).

Is there anyway of making this process easier now that we've proved it isn't a marriage of convenience? Or does she have to live in the UK for two years to qualify for a passport?

Many thanks

You actually need to live 5 years in the UK in order to apply for a British passport, and the current government, heading calls of right wing ignoramus, is planning to make the process even more difficult, requesting nonsensical "social work in the community" (whatever that is) and all kind of other nonsensical stuff that would make it ever more difficult.

I have been in the UK for 12 years now, hold no British passport, and fully understand the frustration, since we Mexicans are treated far worse than others when traveling to some other countries, funnily enough we receive visa on arrival to all of the Schengen area countries, so the occasional application for a visa elsewhere (Turkey, Australia or Namibia) is only a minor hindrance.

The only country I have avoided consistently is the US, thankfully there are many flights that go to Mexico from Europe without stopping in the US (the US is perhaps the only country that requires a visa for air travelers in transit through local airpots), just to think of subjecting myself to the asinine US procedures required to obtain a visa gives me a headache :-/

[Joppa]

Yes, several years of residence in UK or crown dependencies (Channel Islands, IOM, Gib, Falklands etc) is a pre-requisite for naturalisation. Except where your wife works for the British government (e.g. embassy staff), UK organisations or international organisations of which UK is a member (e.g. UN). The latter must be a long-standing thing - so getting a job as a secretary now won't help. There must be a current, well-established link to UK, which is likely to continue after her naturalisation.