After joining Good Reads I've honestly been having a grand time listing the books I've read and reviewing them. I have seen others reading books I want to read and had a recommendation from Genie. In short, I'm loving the website.

I haven't forgotten about the virtual book club, either, and will have a few options for reading in a week or two. But first, I have been directed to something I have to read, and not in that "Oh my God, if I don't read that then I might just die!" kind of way. I mean must read in the "I cannot fail this test kind of way." Also it falls into the "Christ this is boring" and the "I'd rather be visiting the dentist" categories.

I'm reading this book.

And I'm reading it because I take my Life in the UK Citizenship test on the 3rd of March.

As of March 6th, I will have been in the UK for 5 years. This is the qualifying residency period to go to the next step - Indefinite Leave to Remain or UK citizenship. When I entered the UK I did so under an HSMP visa, a visa scheme that has now been phased out. My visa is good until 2011 but I am aware of a movement to start purging these fair shores of the dreaded foreigners who are taking British jobs.

Additionally, the government is making noises to change the way people can enter and stay. Later this year people who seek citizenship will be facing probationary periods and "good character" requirements that include X hours of volunteering for the community. Volunteering is such a practical option for someone like me, who works full time, has a house that needs attention and then there's the small matter of the two toddlers I'm raising.

I now qualify for indefinite leave to remain, a little matter which will cost me £750 and passing the Life in the UK test. Alternatively, I could pay £655, pass the Life in tke UK test, and become a citizen. Bargain.

The truth is, it's important to me to try for citizenship for two reasons:

1) I have a real concern that they're going to start clamping down hard on foreigners coming and staying. They're overhauling a lot of the current rules and schemes and making it that much harder to get in.
2) It's important to me to have the same passports as my children, who are also dual citizens. If I get UK citizenship then I am also a member of the EU. Should things get really bad here then as a family we can move and work anywhere in the EU. This kind of flexibility is important to someone as paranoid as I am.

I will keep my US citizenship, by the way. They allow dual citizenship here and I would never revoke my US citizenship. But it's strange - I feel as though if I can get UK citizenship then the future has a lot more in the way of options.

My application (and £655, which is not something I can really afford right now) and whole swath of supporting documentation and paperwork head into the government on the 6th of March.

I take the test the 3rd of March. I'm both worried and not worried - I want to pass, but seriously one of the lines in the official study guide was "In the UK, homes are serviced by running water in the kitchen and bathrooms."

Oh Jesus. That's what that shiny silver thing in the sink is then. As though people who have been living here for 5 years now hadn't worked that one out yet.

Here's to hoping it's all smooth sailing, unlike the last time I had to apply for a visa.

-H.

PS-thanks to everyone who pushed me over the 25,000 mark yesterday. The 24,999th comment was made by the wonderful Vicki, and the 25,000th comment was nailed by March 31st birthday girl Mitzi. Love to both of you, masses of respect, and I'll think of some kind of reward, Mitzi.

Update - fuck. An extremely helpful email from T (hi T!) enlightened me a bit. As I'm here under an HSMP visa - which means I have to work, have no access to services, and contribute a large portion of my salary to taxes - I have to get indefinite leave to remain first. And I have to have it for 12 months before I'm allowed to apply for citizenship. I have to pay both the £750 and the £655, and I have to wait another year. Three years ago they moved the requirement for residency from four years to five. Now it's five to six. I'm just chasing moving goalposts.

Fuck.

Posted by: Everydaystranger at 09:54 AM | Comments (15) | Add Comment
Post contains 815 words, total size 5 kb.

1 Phew!!! I missed it by one!! I can still play the lottery! Congrats on 25,000! I think 24,999 was the REAL milestone personally! :-)

Posted by: Vicki at February 20, 2009 11:52 AM (2VoLW)

2 Wear a low-cut shirt to your test. It's the only reason I have a California drivers license. I mean seriously, they ought to avoid asking people from Boston when U-turns are legal. The answer is "when I fucking feel like it, and if it's going left in a one-way street, I can do that, too, because I'm a Masshole."

Posted by: D at February 20, 2009 12:39 PM (Nim4v)

3 You will do fine! I was freaking out about the test and so totally studied up the ying yang. Even bought a supplement question study book. Some of the stuff the books cover are hilarious. Like did I really need to know they recruited bus drivers from the West Indies in the 50s?? And why did I quiz my British friends and co-workers and they didn't even know half of it!?! (Although fair enough - I know I would fail the US citizenship test - it is so much harder!) The day of the test I finished it in like 4 mins and when I applied for my ILR they told me I got all of them right. Sweet! I wanted to apply for my citizenship asap (for all the reasons you mentioned above) however I didn't quite make the residency qualifying time (visa break...).

Posted by: Lee at February 20, 2009 12:53 PM (yUcAa)

4 I can't remember if you are married or not - but I think not - assuming they haven't changed the law recently it would be quicker I think if you were. A step too far?

Posted by: Betty M at February 20, 2009 02:11 PM (q0m9f)

5 Good luck, Helen.

Posted by: Jen R. (aaron-n-jen.com) at February 20, 2009 04:01 PM (OpFYt)

6 The whole overhaul of the British immigration system is just ridiculous - it pisses me off that we're going in the direction of, say, Canada or Australia, with their fundamentally deeply xenophobic immigration systems. Has anyone ever thought of the fact that the most basic services in this country are run by immigrants, because UK/EU citizens don't want those jobs? Or has anyone ever considered the huge contributions (in terms of tax) made by immigrants like you? ARRRGH. Sorry for the rant, but I seriously feel for you. The research I undertook for my thesis had to do with immigrant (migrant domestic workers, to be precise), so I feel quite strongly about the whole thing! Good luck with it! I hope the Home Office will suck a bit less than the usual for you...

Posted by: Vanina at February 20, 2009 06:15 PM (/HHdG)

7 I have ILR, and if you want it, I'll sell it to you for £749 for the first instalment, and £654 for the second. I think it's a fair deal.

Posted by: MsPrufrock at February 20, 2009 11:17 PM (CA+L6)

8 Agghhh - so expensive and tedious! We're kind of going through the same thing in reverse, my english partner's trying to get american greencard. So many silly rules. He had to have $250 worth of lab tests to make sure he didn't have any contagious diseases. Interesting, since the test came AFTER he'd already been living in the US for 4 years! Bureaucracy's a bitch. Best of luck to you, I'm sure it will work out fine.

Posted by: Jungletwins at February 22, 2009 08:46 AM (wyPEC)

9 Sorry about the moving goal posts, I know you have been through all kinds of shit to get the visas, etc. Hang in there, and ifyou like, I will send a sternly worded letter to the asshole of your choice.

Posted by: sophie at February 22, 2009 09:07 AM (XxDnO)

10 Wow...amazing....I honestly think getting to read your blog is reward enough.

Posted by: Mitzi at February 23, 2009 02:43 AM (zTrKx)

11 The Life in the UK test is pretty easy! I'm eligible for citizenship in August but not sure if I can afford it yet!

Posted by: Juls at February 23, 2009 11:23 AM (Iqz8+)

12 Bummer on the moving goalposts. But you'll get there eventually.

Posted by: physics geek at February 23, 2009 06:30 PM (MT22W)

13 Argh. But we Brits WANT you. Yes we do. Take me along and I will batter them with my old (navy, in a PROPER cover) British passport and bellow plummily (you know I do plummy), 'She is staying, do you hear me young man? STAYING! And let us have no more nonsense!'

Posted by: May at February 23, 2009 11:43 PM (3jesX)

14 Good luck. BTW checked out good reads website and joined. Looking at you books seems we like many of the same books. Thanx.

Posted by: Charles at February 24, 2009 02:20 AM (maQJG)

15 Well that's rubbish! ILR used to be free and I have a stamp in my old (US) passport saying I have it, but I'd now have to pay huge wodges to transfer it to my new one - or carry my old US passport if travelling on my new US passport. So I carry the old one (or travel on my UK passport).

Posted by: Katie at February 24, 2009 08:09 PM (UaL+O)

Hide Comments | Add Comment