UK citizenship application - friend wants me to be a referee and say I've known her longer than I really have

[northernstar0412]

Hi,
A friend from overseas who is applying for British citizenship asked me to be a referee.

My job is included in the list of acceptable occupations but I have only known her for 2 years and 8 months. The government's website says we need to have known each other for at least 3 years.

My friend said - "You can just say you've known me longer - how can they prove it?"

I can be fined £5k or receive a prison term if I knowingly give false information, according to the official website. So I told my friend I was happy to be a referee but I would be stating on the form that I'd known her 2 years and 8 months.

She doesn't want to delay her application for four months and is now looking for another referee, but doesn't know many people here.

Am I BU?

I am a bit annoyed at her asking me to lie, to be honest.

There's no benefit to me whatsoever in agreeing to be my friend's referee. She is struggling to find someone else though and doesn't want to wait four months to submit her application.

I think it would be a really bad idea to do it. YADNBU. If she is really your friend she will understand. I get that it may be upsetting for her but really.? You could lose your job, get a huge fine and/or end up in prison or at least with a criminal record.
You know all this and you also know that it is her that is BU.

Would a friend really want you to lie on official documents, presumably knowing the consequences if you were caught out?

She simply doesn't believe that I would be caught out because, she says, no one can prove it.

I wouldn't lie in this case. They will check. I wouldn't 'report' her though.

I don't think your friend has properly taken the political temperature of the country she's choosing to become a national of.

She is struggling to find someone else though and doesn't want to wait four months to submit her application.

She doesn’t have a choice, really. She doesn’t meet requirements yet; she has to have a referee that has known her for three years and if you are her best option, you haven’t known her for long enough yet.

I can appreciate concerns around Brexit etc, but there are no alternatives. Lying is not a feasible option.

Don't worry, I would never report her! She doesn't want to wait four months because she wants to be able to travel overseas as soon as possible.
The requirement is that she must have been in the UK for 90 days continuously, which she never has as she is always travelling abroad on holidays and short breaks.
The coronavirus has forced her to remain in the UK for 90 days so now she is eligible but wants to get the application in ASAP so she can travel again.

The requirement is less than 90 days outside of the UK in the last 12 months, not 90 days continuously, so she better check she's eligible anyway!

Ok Horizon, thanks - maybe I misunderstood her, as I didn't check that on the government website.

So she wants citizenship without actually having to meet the requirements. They may be morally wrong and unfair, they may be draconian, but they are what they are. Not a good start to being a citizen, is it?

You shouldn't lie on official documents, in principle, and it could be that questions are asked later. It could be that your friend twists the truth about a subsequent official application, gets challenged by the authorities, and decides to say that they thought it was ok to bend the rules a little, and that their friend, a reputable person, had gone along with it the first time - making them feel such practice is ok. There is no way of making this one ok. If you lie about a little child's age to get a discounted trip to a theme park, for instance ( a different post about such s situation) you can set out to spend more on snacks at the theme park to compensate. But your friend shouldn't put you in this tricky situation.

People lie on these forms all the time, I guarantee you they don’t check. If you don’t want to round up that’s your prerogative but I could never take something like this so seriously. Do you really think someone shouldn’t be able to get citizenship just because they haven’t known someone from a specific set of occupations for three years?

she sounds like a self-indulgent hedonistic flakey person.
certainly do not lie, it's tantamount to perjury, with all that follows from a criminal conviction, on yr career, profession etc.
why waste your good name for someone who probably a mere acquaintance, and just uses people to get what she wants.
as to the pp who said even the home office would not be that draconian, have you actually had any dealings with the home office, immigration. thy are far far more draconian than that.

just put the truth on the form, and tell her that is what you are going to do.

or she can wait until the 3 years applies. The silly cow does need to learn that generally officialdom was not born yesterday.

Nope, don't lie.

I was called as a referee for someone on a passport application. Would you really want to lie over the phone?

How does your job come into this? is your relationship somehow official that it could be traced when you met? I.e. was she even in the country at the time?
I'm thinking of my own friends - i can't really remember the dates i met them.

And this is precisely why there is a list of “acceptable bodies/people” that can act as referees. Because those people know that they can lose their job/qualification for lying, not to mention prisons/fines.

Another for courting your friend to wait for four months or find another friend who has 'known her' for the required period, OP.

PMSL at the notion of a 'laid back, happy go lucky' Home Office. Did Teresa May manage to encourage and inculcate that culture before she left.

She doesn't want to wait four months because she wants to be able to travel overseas as soon as possible

In that case, no.

If she was going to lose a job over it, or it would hamper her application in the long term I'd probably consider doing it, but lying because she doesn't want to be inconvenienced, no, I wouldn't do that.

If she is asking you to lie for no good reason, she's not a very good friend and probably not someone you should referee anyway. If she gets arsey about you saying no it would be a no forever from me.

So she wants citizenship without actually having to meet the requirements. They may be morally wrong and unfair, they may be draconian, but they are what they are. Not a good start to being a citizen, is it?

if you read the current thread: lying about a child's age to go to Chessington, on the contrary you'll see she'll fit right in

No way would I lie about the time I’d know her.
And I’d think less of her for asking you to lie.

I would not lie. She's pretty selfish for suggesting you risk a 5K fine or prison because she can't wait 4 months and needs a city break pronto.

If it was for some urgent reason like her job or housing etc then I'd consider it but the fact it's so she can go on a jolly instead of just waiting a few months I'd say you're willing to do it in 4 months time.

How well do you know/trust her ?

If she's stretching the truth about this, what else is she putting on the form that might not be 100% truthful ?

She's applying for British citizenship and the whole point of an application supported by references is to try weed out less desirable individuals such as..........well tbh, the sort of people who lie on important application forms.

She asked you to lie for her benefit. You said no thank you and offered her the best you have ( wait 4 months so you can do it truthfully).

If she's a decent friend that should be the end of it rather than her chipping away at you to change your mind.

For the sake of 4 months, I'd help her. Whoever said report. - nice.