Application date - 19th February
Biometrics - 10th March
Approval - 6th July
Ceremony - 20th July

I have applied for my passport and currently waiting for it!
I hope this helps anyone waiting.

Hi all,

I'm looking at submitting my naturalisation application but I have a minor criminal conviction within the 3-year good character window and wanted to see if anyone has experience with something similar.

My situation:

• Spanish national, 10 years in the UK
• EU Settlement Scheme settled status for 4 years
• Continuously employed and renting throughout
• Life in the UK Test passed, English language requirement met
• Absences: ~460 days over 5 years (10 days over the 450 guideline, but within the 30-day automatic discretion band). Last 12 months: 84 days (under 90).

The issue:

In March 2025, I was convicted of a TfL Railway Byelaw offence — exiting through a barrier without tapping out. My phone had died and I followed my girlfriend through the barrier. Fine of £146. No other convictions or cautions ever.

I know the good character guidance says non-custodial sentences within 3 years of application will "normally" result in refusal. But this is about as minor as it gets — a £146 byelaw fine, no criminal intent, no victim.

My questions:

1. Has anyone been approved (or know of cases approved) with a similar minor byelaw/fixed penalty conviction within the 3-year window?
2. Is it worth applying now and arguing discretion, are there any chances of the application going through?

The reason I'm in a rush is I'm about to take a career break with 6 months abroad, which would push my absences well over the limit. So ideally I'd apply before leaving.

Any experiences or advice appreciated. Thanks!

Hi! I am a US citizen applying to get a student Visa. I was hoping to get some guidance on answering the question: How many times have you visited the following places in the past 10 years?

• Australia
• Canada
• New Zealand
• USA
• Switzerland
• European Economic Area (do not include travel to the UK)

My answer options are:

• Zero
• Once
• 2 to 5 times
• 6 or more times

While I am pretty confident that it is not counting the traveling I have done within the US, I am wondering if I need to include the times that I have traveled out of the country and then returned to the US. I have traveled to Canada twice and Australia once but I have traveled to other places not listed. Should me coming back through customs and re-entering the US count?

Maybe a dumb question but should I include a criminal record certificate with my visa application, even if it shows no criminal record, or is this not mandatory?

i got my tb clearance certificate back and they printed the wrong residential address.

i have an eu passport but i live in india and have an oci card with my address. the clinic said they only wanted to my eu address (my old house) and i said sure but made it vv clear i do not live there.

got my certificate and it says my eu address under residential 😭 should i address it and ask for the certificate to be reprinted? or is it fine?

Hi all,

I need to apply for ILR by Friday to keep my job, but I'm still waiting for my ECCTIS outcome. I applied for ECCTIS on July 6. However, I didn't realize that they also needed to verify my passport, and that wasn't completed until July 21.

I'm feeling really desperate at the moment and was wondering if anyone has any advice. At work, I was told to go ahead and apply for ILR without the ECCTIS certificate, but I thought it was a mandatory requirement.

The current status of my ECCTIS is "reviewing" and I do not believe my English proficiency will be completed by Friday.

Of course by law, EU/UK dual citizens who held the EUSS before obtaining UK citizenship are allowed to use their EU passports to enter the UK, provided their eVisa account is still active and showing the EUSS.

But I haven't seen any testimonies to this since that change has been implemented. I'm not as worried about the border crossing, but more about airlines refusing to board such passengers. It's likely I'll be travelling at the end of August/beginning of September, and with awaiting the official confirmation of approval for citizenship, I have two options:

- arrange the ceremony before the holiday and take the gamble that the above law will allow me to enter the UK without a UK passport

- arrange the ceremony after the holiday and obtain the UK passport then

Has anyone with EU SS/UK citizenship tried to cross the UK border since that change has been put into place?

Have you provided evidence of your English language ability in a previous application?

Did you meet the knowledge of English requirement as part of an indefinite leave application made on or after 28 October 2013?

I have answered yes to both these questions as I entered with a tier 2 skilled worker visa using my OET back in 2020 and an ILR approved last year july.

What confuses me are the next 3 questions. I think i should answer no to all of them right ?
I have searched on reddit and online and I get conflicting answers would appreciate any help.

Do you have a degree that was taught in English?
Have you passed an approved English language test?
Are you claiming an exemption from the English language test due to a medical or mental condition?

This is for the citizenship application

Hi all - I just got my SWV refused today. I'm looking for help, but also to show what happened to me in case anyone else was confused like I was.

I have a flat, a car, a life here. I've been here since September 2020 on different visas. I just can't wrap my head around leaving right now and I'm devastated. Please, any help is appreciated.

My previous visa expired on 14 July 2026, so I was on Section 3C leave while waiting for the decision.

My details were:

• SOC code: 3554, Advertising and marketing associate professionals
• Salary: £34,650 per year
• Hourly rate: approximately £18.01
• SOC 3554 was listed on the Temporary Shortage List
• Published going rate for SOC 3554: £33,400 based on 37.5 hours per week
• My CoS stated that the job was on the Immigration Salary List or Temporary Shortage List
• My CoS stated that I was not a new entrant

My application was refused on 22 July 2026 under SW 4.2, SW 4.4 and SW 8.1, with reference to SW 17.1.

The Home Office awarded me:

• 20 points for sponsorship
• 20 points for the appropriate skill level
• 10 points for English
• 0 points for the tradeable salary requirement

The refusal said that under Option A, I needed to earn at least £41,700 per year as well as meet the going rate for SOC 3554.

They accepted that the going rate for SOC 3554 was £33,400, but said my salary of £34,650 did not meet the £41,700 general threshold.

They also said they considered the other tradeable-points options but that no alternative option applied.

What confused me is that SOC 3554 is shown on the Temporary Shortage List with a salary figure of £33,400. I believed that earning above this amount meant I met the salary requirement. I now understand that the Temporary Shortage List apparently only makes the occupation eligible for sponsorship and does not provide the reduced salary threshold available to jobs on the Immigration Salary List.

There also appears to be an issue with the refusal saying I failed SW 8.1. My salary seems to exceed the pro-rated going rate for SOC 3554, so it appears that I met the occupational going rate but failed the separate £41,700 Option A threshold.

My employer may be willing to raise my salary to £41,700 and issue a new CoS. I understand that a salary increase after the refusal probably cannot fix the original application through administrative review and that I may need to make a fresh Skilled Worker application.

My main questions are:

1. Is the Home Office correct that SOC 3554 being on the Temporary Shortage List does not allow me to use the £33,400 Option D threshold?
2. Is the reference to failing SW 8.1 a caseworking error if I met the pro-rated going rate? Is that error worth raising in an administrative review if I still failed the £41,700 Option A threshold?
3. If my employer raises my salary to £41,700 and issues a new CoS, would a fresh application be the correct route?
4. If I submit a fresh application after refusal, what happens to my Section 3C leave and right to work while the new application is pending?

My refusal letter gives me 14 calendar days to request an administrative review, so I am trying to understand the safest route before the deadline.

Sharing my timeline in case it helps anyone applying for their first British passport after naturalisation.
I submitted the application on 9 July, my documents were received on 14 July, and the passport was approved and printed on 22 July.
I sent:

-My original naturalisation certificate
-A colour photocopy of my current EU passport, rather than the original passport
-No cover letter

Everything was accepted without any issues or requests for further information. Much quicker and smoother than I expected!

Hello all! Just wanted to share my Life in the UK test experience for anyone else who is preparing to sit it.

Questions:

All 24 questions were either exactly the same or some variation of the questions in the 17 Life in the UK test exams (https://lifeintheuktestweb.co.uk/exams/). The ones I remembered were:

• What are your two responsibilities as a UK citizen? (Look after yourself and family; respect and obey the law)
• When is St George's day? (23rd April)
• What kind of award is the Booker prize? (Literary)
• What flower is associated with Scotland? (Thistle)
• How many members of the jurors are there in Scotland? (15)
• Which was one of the tribes that invaded the UK after the Romans left? (The Saxons)

I only practiced using the above Life in the UK Test exams. I did all the exams about 3-4 times until I was getting 100% or almost 100% on all of them. I didn't buy any of the official books/apps.

I finished the exam in about 6 minutes including double-checking

Pre-exam ID checks:

I registered using my eVisa. I brought my Sharecode on my phone but they didn't need to see it as it's all "on the system" apparently. Didn't bring my passport as according to the Test Booking FAQ link (https://www.lituktestbooking.co.uk/lituk-web/faq), you don't need to bring another form of ID if you register with your eVisa. However, they later say on the website that they will validate your signature against a form of ID if you use your eVisa, (e.g. bank card), so I had my driving license and bank cards with me. With that being said, they didn't validate my signature against any other forms of ID. They just did security checks of using a metal detector wand, looking at your palms/ears etc, and let me proceed to the Test Room.

Good luck everyone! Practice the 17 exams and you will be fine!

this is the mail that I have received.

Please provide the following documents:

Official, verifiable documents to demonstrate what you used to obtain sponsorship to study in the UK.

This should be in English or a certified translation and for example be in the form of: Payslips / employment letters with contact details on them / bank statements with regular salary being deposited / employment contracts / further education certificates and should not just be a CV.

Your documents do not need to cover the entirety of the period referred to, but should be reflective of what you have done during this time.

So if my parents are sponsoring my education do I have to attached their payslips? or is this referring to something else.

Hi all,

I'd really appreciate some advice from anyone who's been in a similar situation.

I'm a Sri Lankan living and working full-time in Ireland. I was granted a 6-month UK Standard Visitor Visa in December 2025 to visit my long-distance boyfriend (also Sri Lankan). When I applied, I only mentioned my planned trip from 23 December 2025 to 5 January 2026 as I thought I’ll be given a single- entry visa. 

I didn't realise the visa would be multiple entry, so after it was issued I made three additional short visits during its validity, always complying with the visa conditions and returning to Ireland after each visit.

I'm now applying for a new Standard Visitor Visa and want to be completely transparent. In my cover letter, I plan to explain that I made those additional visits and that, if granted another visa, I intend to continue making occasional short visits to see my boyfriend, mainly over weekends or bank holidays (roughly one weekend every two months), as I work full-time in Ireland. Would this be a matter of concern? (Any chances of rejection because of this?) 

My second concern is my Irish Residence Permit (Stamp 1G), which expires on 16 December 2026. I hope to visit the UK in August 2026, but in Ireland I can only apply to renew my residence permit within 12 weeks of its expiry, so I won't be able to renew it before applying for the UK visa.

I can provide:

• A letter from my employer confirming I have a 3-year employment contract.
• Evidence that I'm employed full-time in Ireland.
• Proof that I'm pursuing my professional accountancy exams.
• Payslips, bank statements, and any other supporting documents.

Again, will be this an issue for UKVI?

Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance! 😊

Can we take our 4-y/o daughter (not an applicant) to our naturalisation biometrics appointment.

3 out of a family of 4 have applied for naturalisation and have our biometrics appointment in Wandsworth London next week. Our 4 year old daughter is already a citizen (born in UK and became citizen when we received settled status / ILR). Our appointment letter has three bar codes for entrance to the centre. My question is whether we can take our 4 year old daughter with us (she is not an applicant). Not sure what to do with her if we can’t take her with us.

I myself (mother) was born in Australia. So is my partner (father), however he is a citizen (British - by DESCENT). Our little girl was 10 months when we moved to England (April 2022). We have lived here continuously for now almost 4.5 years. Is our daughter entitled for citizenship through form MN1?

Originally we always had the understanding she could apply for citizenship after us being in the UK for 3 years. However, we recently saw a clause that BOTH parents had to be citizens. Or could only apply with one parent being British if the other had died/didn’t have custody. We put a stop to this and we’re going to go through visa/naturalization route (she is attached to my visa - ancestral visa).

However. We have done more research and think she IS eligible for citizenship after 3 years with just ONE parent being British (even by descent) via form MN1.

Has this been anyone’s situation? Is this correct?

I have a trip to the UK booked with friends for this summer. We booked it months ago, but I just realized that a stupid mistake I made when I was 18 might get me denied at the border.

It happened 10 years ago: I committed a robbery offense, was arrested, and received a 2-year suspended sentence (no actual prison time). Those criminal records are now legally expunged/cancelled in my home country (Spain).

My questions regarding the ETA application are:

• Do I have to answer 'Yes' to the conviction question, even though I didn't go to prison and the sentence was suspended?
• If I answer 'No' (because I wasn't in prison and my record is legally clean here), will I be able to enter, or does UK Border Force have access to my old arrest records anyway?

Thanks in advance for your help

Hi, i am so worried right now. The mistake is that I accidentally submitted my old IELTS certificate instead of my new one with my UK Student visa application. If UKVI notices that the IELTS certificate doesn't match the details on my CAS, will they usually contact me to request the correct certificate, or could they refuse my visa without asking for additional documents? And yes, I only realized my mistake after I had attended my biometric appointment

My old IELTS was UKVI IELTS with an overall score of 6.5, but my Speaking score was only 5.0 (the requirement is 5.5)and the test date was 31/12/2025. My new IELTS is also UKVI IELTS with an overall score of 6.5 and a Speaking score of 6.0 and the test date is 08/07/2026.

Omg i feel so stupid right now 😭

Hi guys. I am a international student who will be attending a phd in the UK from this fall. I submitted my application, paid the visa fee and I have my biometric appointment in next week monday.

The problem is that I found a mistake in my VISA application. Under this question, I should have selected Government(As a Korean male, for my mandatory military duty I worked at a public train station as my alternative military service.)

As I noticed this after I submitted my visa application, I sent a enquiry to UKVI(the one with a fee), and they answered like the image. I am wondering is withdrawing my application and redoing it my only possible way, and do you know cases where the applicant corrected their answers(not only this question) after submitting the visa application.

Thank you.

Hi all,

Just a question as I am a bit confused about this:

"Normal permitted absences in final 12 months of your qualifying period 90 days".

I have been living in UK for 13 years and I want to apply for citizenship but I have been traveling abroad for 6 months over 2025/2025.

Does the 90 days apply for my most recent years or it takes into consideration when I turned 5 years here?

If so, I returned 1st of March 2026 from traveling. When would you say I will be eligible to apply?

Thanks

Hello all! I was recently rejected for a standard visitor visa but the reasons were pretty straightforward. #1.) My work contract expired while I was waiting for the review, and since it was a new job I didn’t have any paystubs, so I had minimal proof of income. That is now fixed and I have a work contract and paystubs.
#2.) I didn’t provide proof of expenses. I had only included a bank balance confirmation letter as I assumed they didn’t care about expenses, this time I would include 2-3 months of my bank statements. These show approx 250£ in income, 950£ in German blocked account income (required for my German residence permit), and ~900£ in expenses.

Now that the issues brought up by the immigration officer have been fixed, will the application be approved or will they find another minor thing to reject it. I’m just a student, so I do not want to pay ~175€ plus 3 figures to translate all of the new documents if they’ll just say no again.

My background:
- Iranian student in Germany for 3 years
- Applying for U.K. standard visitor visa
- travelling with British boyfriend to visit his family. Most costs covered by him/his family

If anyone has advice on whether or not it’s worth applying again or if there’s anything I can do to strengthen my application please let me know!

Hello guys, i am an upcoming student from India. I have got an unconditional offer letter from Durham university and ready to apply for student visa but I don't know how to pay for the application as the visa application fees is almost 1.5 lakh(in inr) (it also includes health surcharge) and my debit card limit is just 1 lakh inr. How did you guys from India paid for your student visa application fees. Please help me on this.🙏