When do-it-yourself citizenship leads to deception

I wanted to take a moment to share with you the brief story of our client who had attempted to sort out their citizenship application without seeking legal advice.

The Home Office refused our client’s citizenship application which was completed by herself on the basis that they alleged she was not of good character and that she had in some way deceived the Home Office. They had based this decision on incorrect information which was inadvertently provided by our client. She had completed the application form stating that she had worked during a period of time when she was not allowed to work under the immigration rules.

However, this misinformation had resulted from circumstances which were beyond her control namely that she had been in a difficult marriage, suffering from health issues and unbeknown to her, she was still being paid a salary by her husband despite the fact that she was not working for him. When completing the citizenship application form she simply inserted the date on her p60 as her leaving date without realising that she had in fact stopped working for her husband several months earlier.

Allegations of deception by the Home Office in citizenship applications are becoming commonplace. It is imperative to ensure any application for citizenship is completed as accurately as possible and with appropriate representations as well as supporting evidence.

Once our client sought our advice, we made detailed representations supported by documentary evidence to the Home Office as to the circumstances of her case which led to her being granted citizenship. Without our intervention, the Home office had said she would have to wait 10 years before they would consider her application for citizenship again due to the alleged deception.

If you would like to discuss this topic further, or have any other questions, please contact any member of the Immigration team.

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