Written question asked by Lord Laird (Ulster Unionist Party), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Baroness Browning (Conservative) on Tuesday, 24 May 2011.

Visas

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Jones on 16 February (WA 201), what are the relevant statutory guidelines that enable time spent in the United Kingdom on a student visa to count towards the residence requirements for naturalisation as a British citizen.

Answer: The residence requirements for naturalisation as a British citizen are in Schedule 1 to the British Nationality Act 1981. These provide that a person should have been in the United Kingdom for a qualifying period of three or five years, with a limit on the number of days that should have been spent outside the UK. That schedule provides that presence in the United Kingdom should have been legal, but does not specify that a person should have been here in a particular capacity.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 9210; 727 c427-8WA
Session: 2010-12
Related items: Visas
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
Written questions
House of Lords; British Nationality Act 1981
Monday, 11 July 2011
Written questions
House of Lords
Subjects: Naturalisation Overseas students Visas
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk