If I am married to a UK citizen, what is the total number of years and what are the steps until the acquisition of the UK passport/citizenship?

With all due respect, I think this question s/b addressed to the British authorities. There could be a few people on this board with first hand experience, but for the most current info you need to go straight to the source. I can't speak for the UK, but I know that the US has tightened up greatly in recent years, and it's entirely possible the UK has done the same.

OK - karlik. You register to ask very important citizenship/passport questions (your other thread is about how to re-claim your Russian citizenship).

No one on Fodors can give you the sorts of advice you need. It sounds like you are weaving a very complicated life story . . . . .

Since apparently you are resident in the States you need to contact the Russian and UK Embassy/Consulates.

Are you really asking, "how long do I have to put up with them?"

LOL, L84SKY!!

I posted my reply before seeing the other thread about Russian citizenship. karlik, if you've lived in the US all these years, it would seem you are eligible to apply for US citizenship. Is that not an option for you?

I don't understand why people who don't know the answer to this reasonable question have responded. I'd guess that one or more Fodorites may have actual experience with this and can describe what their experience has been.

I believe janis and I did give a reasonable answer and that was to contact the proper authorities. As I stated above, even if someone on this board does have such experience, it's always possible the process has changed recently.

Being married to a UK citizen does not of itself give you the right to UK citizenship.

Assuming marriage is your only connection with the UK, you need in most cases to have lived legally in the UK for three years, to be of good character, to be fluent in English, Welsh or Scots Gaelic, and to demonstrate knowledge of the UK. To do that, you need to have applied for, and got, leave to remain in the UK.

British Embassies and consulates are often unhelpful, or mainly offer expensive premium rate advice lines. The first step is to write to the Home Office for advice (http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/app...ity/advice/bn1). Getting a reply might take several months, so download Guide AN from http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/app...msandguidance/

Be fluent in English? Now there's a thought.

Actually that's not quite right, flanner.

You need to have been entitled to be here and to have been here for 5 years before you can apply.

so:-

1. Marry a Brit. Timescale for that is up to you and him/her.

2. Get Brit to move to Britain. Ditto.

3. Apply for visa in your home country on grounds of marriage. Normally granted subject to caveats flanner expressed, for 2 years.

4. Stay in UK for 1 year 11 months, and then apply for ILR.

5. 3 years later you can apply for naturalisation.

The detail is buried in here

http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/

which also provides a link to UK visas web site.

That'll be 10 guineas, please.

Sheila,

If by ILR, you mean Indefinite Leave to Remain, you don't need to live in the UK for 1 year, 11 months, before you get it. My "Settlement Wife" visa with ILR came before we had officially moved to the UK. However, we have been married longer than 17 years (an odd number to pick, but that's the one everyone talked about). And my husband isn't even a UK citizen, although he is Canadian with UK Right to Abode. We have both been told we need to have lived in the UK for 5 years before getting UK citizenship and that we also shouldn't have left the country for more than 28 days at any one time during those 5 years.

If the OP has been married to her British husband for a fairly short time period, the immigration people may not give her ILR. If they've been married for many years, she may get ILR immediately, as I did. Also, the OP's husband has to submit a letter indicating she is the ONLY wife he plans to bring into the UK...apparently having other wives is ok, but you can only get visas for one at a time ;-)

In our experience with dealing with British authorities, you need to be wary that the answer someone casually gives you over the phone, etc., might NOT be the correct answer. We were first told I could apply for my UK passport after 3 years; I said that seemed odd since my husband was told 5 years and he's the one who already had the right to be in the UK. There was some back and forth chatter for a bit and then we were told, yes, it's five years for both. (The stuff happens with most countries' consular/visa staff...always check to see if the first answer given is in fact the correct one.)

Sheila and BTilke are almost right in what they say.
If you have been married to a British citizen (or someone with Right of Abode, as in BTilke's husband) for less than 4 years, you can only get a leave to enter for an initial period of two years, and during the last month of its validity you can apply for settlement (ILR). If you have been married for 4 years or more, you can apply for settlement straightaway. In either case, you can apply for naturalisation on account of marriage to a British citizen after 3 years' residence in UK, with a restriction of how many days you can be away during that period (it's more than 28 days a year - no more than 270 days in total during the three years, and no more than 90 days in past 12 months). Also you must have ILR (settled status) on the day you apply. For someone not married to a British citizen like BTilke, the qualifying period is 5 years' residence, no more than 450 days' absence in total and no more than 90 days in past year, plus at least a year on ILR.

I did not say only 28 days per year, I said 28 days absence at one go (i.e., no month in Paris for us). We were told about this particular rule by several authorities and an immigration lawyer, so we intend to stick with it.

Other than flannersUK's Home Office site, there is a handy summary of rules by immigration lawyers at http://www.workpermit.com/uk/naturalisation.htm
Currently, an application for naturalisation is taking around 6 months to process, and it should be noted that naturalisation is at the discretion of Home Secretary, not a right, and there is no right of appeal for refusals. Criminal record checks will be made of applicants, and you have to provide two referees who are British citizens. And you have to pass computerised test on the knowledge of Britain, and attend a citizenship ceremony (like in US, Australia etc).

BTilke
I don't want to disagree with you, but I think you are mistaken. It is, in your case, no more 450 days in total for the five years, and no more than 90 days in aggregate during the final year before applying.
You have to show, as someone not married to Britsih citizen, that you intend to live permanently in UK (i.e. making UK your home) after naturalisation (or working abroad on Crown service, for British company and so on), to demonstrate your continuing commitment to UK.

My wife (South African) did this some years ago. At that stage she could apply for permanent residence after 1 year. Once this was granted, she could have left me (She didn't ).

After another 3 years she applied for, and was granted citizenship. This involved swearing an oath including alliegeance to the monarch. So if "her maj" pops in for a cup of tea, I can be abusive, while my beloved has to behave herself !

As Flanner and others have pointed out, things have changed.

Swearing oath of allegiance is still there, for non-Commonwealth citizens seeking naturalisation - it's now done during the Citizenship Ceremony. Plus singing of National Anthem (all about the monarch!) and promising to uphold Britain's democratic values.

P_M, the posts from flanneruk, shiela, alec, etc. provide information that's helpful. You provided advice that didn't respond to the question.

Joe18: They <i>may</i> have helped, but the ONLY sure advice is what our friend karlik gets when he contacts the Embassy/Consulate/Home Office.

Getting this sort of advice from an internet forum is a sign of either a troll or someone afraid to contact the authorities. When you look at both of his threads - I think it is more likely the latter than the former . . . . . .

Alec, if there's a mistake being made, it's being made by the British authorities we've spoken with and not us. Unless you're suggesting that when a British authority says that we can't be out of the UK for more than 28 days at any one time, we are too stupid to understand what they're saying...?