I know I have not posted for a while so in the interests of getting my post count above 0.5 per day (still a long way off at 0.43!) I would like to announce that I have just applied to become a British citizen after living in England for 3 years. Average processing time is about 7 months so I will let you know when to help me celebrate! :wasted: Assuming it is granted (can’t see why it wouldn’t be, I did pay the £214 pounds and I work for a fairly decent law abiding organisation :rolleyes: ), I will be a national of 3 countries (Australia, The Netherlands, Britain) and hold 3 passports. Can anyone beat that record?
On a side note, I was astounded by how relatively simple and cheap it is to apply to be British and there are no entrance quotas; there was not a whole lot to fill in either. I know it was slightly easier for me already being an EU citizen and not having to get a visa, but you have to hope they do a lot of checking of the information they do ask for. To get into Australia there are quotas and it costs between £500-600 :eek: for a spouse visa and another £55 to become an Australian citizen after 2 years. There is a points based entrance system and you have to get a photo of yourself certified by a lawyer and a whole lot of other documents. It is no wonder so many people apply to be British!
Yeah, tell me about it, a mate of mine is trying to get in now. Had to get written references from loads of people who he works for. He’s going through an agency also, so has to pay their fees on top. Plus, when he gets over there, he has to give the Aussie govt a lump sum of about £40k to hold for 1-2yrs so he doesn’t just bunk off plus he can’t buy a house for 2 yrs either so he has to rent!
Don’t discount it just yet, much easier and cheaper to get in if you can get one of your relatives to ‘sponsor’ your entry (they have to promise to pay back the government if you take any benefits in the first two years, depends on how close your family is), or better still, marry a local. If you are planning on moving to Oz it is best to go before you are 35 if you are going in via the skilled migrant route, you get more points that way, and after that the younger the better. Otherwise start saving…
You get the money back, but you just have to be able to live without it for a couple of years. At least the aussie govt is decent enough to put it to good use and even give you a decent interest rate on it the whole time they have it.
That’s weird! My wife is a law abiding member of the EU, yet when I tried to find out about getting UK citizenship, I was told 6 years was the minimum before if could happen.
As it stand sshe wanted nothing to do with a UK passprt as ITalian is good enough, but is it easier for non EU countries to get citizenship?
£40K 
… But i am skilled and i do have 20 odd years experience and even though I say it myself… I am good at my job!!!