To think no she shouldn’t get a British passport

[Lillonely]

I’m prepared to be told I’m BU here

you might have read my other MIL threads here, feel free to search.

the bare bones are, asian family (Pakistani, myself included) MIL cant speak English, never worked, never made any attempt to. FIL is a Prince and brought her here and in affect ditched her to swan off with second wife (cough mistress cough. Both MIL and FIL left dh from early teens to earn for the house hold and then be the breadwinner at 16. The boy had holes in shoes and an empty tummy and she never attempted to work. Still wants to be provided for, won’t do anything.

but now she wants a British passport, and there are loopholes. I actually think no, you shouldn’t have one, settled status fine but not citizenship. My parents and grandparents were grafters, integrated, and didn’t expect anything for free and took pride in taking the citizen ship exams and studying and passing not just wanting handouts. I mean I wouldn’t expect to go to France, Germany, uae and them to hand me a passport and citizenship and not bother to even learn the language. Aibu to think get it the legit way or don’t bother. She’s got nothing nice to say about Brits or British culture or anything so why would you want a part of it? I feel it’s crap like this that gives British Muslims a bad name.

aibu and am I letting our history (she’s not very nice to me or my family despite us trying to help her) cloud by judgment?

Aside from my grandparents, no.

Not all routes have the 'Life in the UK' at ILR stage - some are deferred till naturalisation. I should know since I worked in immigration law. Though I agree, OP is doing the dog whistle

No because they don’t, my grandparents didn’t, and most don’t but some cheating used to happen in the 90s/ early 00s.

MIL is already here with IRL

Op most people really aren't going to understand. Does MIL want to be here so you and the state can look after her. I have in laws like this, they don't understand people who are honest. They think we are mugs. Very hospitable but have no qualms about cheating, lying, manipulating to get something. It's an automatic process to find a way rather than accept you aren't supposed to do or have something. I have in laws who have degrees from Pakistan that were bought not earned. Want to bring extra baggage on flight bribe the airport staff.

For them it's obvious to look for someone to sit and pass the test. To lie on cv's to have people do assessments for them. To move money around and loan it to each other to show as proof of funds for visas etc. I know of immigration solicitors being crooks and are clearly doing quite well on it. A gp writing prescriptions they shouldn't for people they shouldn't. It's been quite eye opening marrying into this family.

My DH just got his citizenship and there is no hope of her passing it. Inobviousot wasn't witness to the English exam but he had to basically have a conversation where his ability was assessed. So that would have her fail for starter, not to mention how difficult "life in the UK" is. Absolutely no way around it. YANBU,in my opinion...she sounds awful.

The family member routes do. Which is the one MIL would presumably be on.

Ok, so do you know that in the U.K. we have many Irish, Welsh and Scots that also do not speak English but are still British citizens?

I must admit your post does not put immigrants in a good light.

They already have enough negative press.

OP, how old is your MIL really? From what you say, it sounds like she's under the max age for the tests.

Not a dog whistle as by many im an immigrant too. So actually pretty ardent against any sort of anti immigrant rhetoric as well it’s normally aimed at me too!

she would need the language assessment and the life in the UK test/ exam. We’ve already been told this

If MIL already has ILR (assuming IRL is a typo), then she is already entitled to all the benefits that a citizen would be entitled to.

None of your business.

aibu and am I letting our history (she’s not very nice to me or my family despite us trying to help her) cloud by judgment?

Yes.

Frankly the test is bollocks and most British people couldn't pass it either. I certainly couldn't get a passing grade. Because I wasn't great at history and I don't actually care about the Battle of Trafalgar and who was on the throne when the Magna Carta was signed.

It's a set of irrelevant facts about history, rather than important cultural truths.

Regardless, just ignore it OP. It's not actually up to you.

She and especially your FIL sound like horrible people, and terrible parents. So I wouldn’t be inclined to help her with anything much (in the same way she didn’t help your DH when he needed it)

But aside from that, I don’t really care if someone in her shoes gets citizenship or not, as I can’t see what it would change practically speaking if she has ILR - at least in terms of the effect on the rest of the population.

I’m a child of them, so it’s definitely not my intention and dh is too so it’s not about that, just the pressure to do something that’s a) Ill conceived b) probably not even possible c) something that someone has just told her I should do

Really? She doesn’t qualify for any of these exemptions because your OP indicates she would tick off several of them:
https://www.gov.uk/english-language/exemptions

Yes she does have it, yes it was a typo, she has all the benefits of citizenship but she wants the British passport

I helped my partner revise for his test in 2013, it was so hard and i failed it. She needs to be told how it is. Can’t remember any of questions off the top of my head but I’m sure you can find examples to test her on.

Yeah, dh asked a family friend who is a solicitor and they said she needs them, she might be able to get some exceptions maybe with a letter from the GP according to DH (but he thought knowing her that there might be some blagging in it

I remember your previous posts on your in-laws they haven’t treated your DH (their son) or you well and you certainly shouldn’t do anything illegal to help your MIL gain citizenship. I’m generally sympathetic towards elderly relatives, but she needs to do it properly.

Plus it’s not even your issue to deal with. If your DH wants to assist his mother with her application, he can do it!

I tried an online version of the test for a laugh, and failed. Luckily they haven't taken away my passport! She'd never pass it, there is some odd stuff in the questions. Several colleagues have done it and had to revise really hard, and we work at a university and they are researchers with fluent English. She needs to do it on her own, I would just step back, definitely don't get your sister involved.

If she’s over 65 she doesn’t need to sit the language test.

I went through the naturalisation process last year, the security before sitting the Life in the UK test was extremely tight, my impression was that they actively look out for anyone using an impersonator (as maybe it’s common). Do not at any circumstances offer to do this for her.

Can you make vague non committal "I'll have a look when I get round to it" or "I'll have to speak to DH" responses when she asks and move on to something else and wait for DH to respond?

Or if she really won't let it go just keep saying "looking into it" and ignore her?

With the Home Office backlog, it is at least a one year wait anyway from submitting the documents & biometrics for naturalisation. I have a family member going through it now and a family friend just got theirs in March.

There is.
Not sure what the official name is but you do have to pass a test. My husband had to take it.