To be worried about my indefinite leave to remain. Should I get British citizenship?

[Milliemoons]

I know it hasn’t happened yet and may not happen. But I’m worried about the security of my indefinite leave to remain. Anyone else out there? Or am I worried about nothing? I understand that legally they cannot really do much to jeopardise the status of people who have acquired legal settled status already but I’m worried more about pressure and complications should anything change.

I was born in the UK and have always lived here, except for 4 years as a child in my parents’ home country. I have the same citizenship as my parents because originally as a child you had to be on a parent’s passport. I think I therefore have easy-ish access to British citizenship but it’s not something I ever imagined applying for.

I find that quite sad actually. You want to live here but not be British is what you're saying basically :-(

I get that there is a heritage you want to celebrate but if Britain is your home and has been practically all your life how can you not want to be British?!

I’m glad someone has said this. I can’t understand being born in a country and living your whole life in it and not wanting to have the citizenship of it. I am speaking as someone married to a naturalised British citizen and the mother of three dcs who have dual nationalities (two were born abroad), so obviously not a racist anti immigrant.
I was recently talking to a colleague of my dh’s, who moved here from the Middle East for work a couple of years ago. She said she couldn’t wait to apply for ILR. I said ‘So you must like living here’. She said ‘no I hate it, I just want the ILR’ and move back home. I think it’s this kind of attitude towards the ILR and even citizenship that is making people resentful and I know it’s not an uncommon attitude
as I know a people who immigrate here through my dh.

Are you clinging to your ancestral home… or rejecting Britain as home? You can have both so I don’t see why you wouldn’t unless you don’t wish to stay in Britain forever. And if you do wish to stay forever why are you pushing Britain away?

The kind of people that would feel this way about what OP said are the type that would never see OP as a Brit anyway. Not really (especially if not white.)

Why would it be seen as her “using” the country. I am sure the contributed in return.

I think that’s an emotional response whereas for many people obtaining legal resident status is purely pragmatic.

I don’t “hate” Australia but also don’t feel in anyway Australian. I got my passport for practical reasons. Unless they are causing active harm.

Besides at least they are leaving.

Whilst it’s nice to think that anyone who thought that is irrelevant, in reality I don’t agree. The reason why Reform are gaining so much traction is because there’s real concerns out there that Reform are exploiting.

It really isn’t my view as I genuinely don’t care what nationality people are as long as they contribute to the greater good of society, but I can see how it could come across as a little ungenerous to take all of the advantages of a country and still not to become a dual citizen as the person doesn’t count it as a “home”. Whether that’s the UK, US, Europe or anywhere else in the world.

“Irrelevant”?

Why do you just see it as “taking”? Why do you assume there was no “give”?

It's absolutely ok to want to live in the UK but not want to be British, what an odd way to think.
I choose to live here but I also don't want to be British, quite happy being something else. I pay (a great deal of) taxes, I can vote, I contribute to society in a number of ways, I have assimilated. None of this means I should be grateful to have the opportunity to become a citizen

It's absolutely ok to want to live in the UK but not want to be British, what an odd way to think.

Is it still odd if a majority (say they) think it ?

ungenerous to take the advantages of a a country and not become a citizen?

what does this even mean?!

sure, as it's my opinion.

A “majority”? Hyperbole much?

In any case.
I've been practicing the test of Britishness (now there's a separate thread on the ridiculousness of the requirement to even take this test) and I'm passing most times. Failing most on ancient royal history.

It was a question, not a statement.

You wouldn't believe how English it is to know very little of your own countries history - and to be selective about that.

If you don't know much British history, you'll fit right in 😀

Even as a question it’s a little extreme. There will never be a case where most people in Britain don’t see themselves as such. And even if this extreme circumstance happened - unless they cause harm I don’t see why their feelings matter.

Because she is rejecting being British whilst simultaneously wanting all the rights that go with British.

it is her that is saying that for her there is a hierarchy of importance of citizenships/identities and she puts British second - whilst wanting all the rights of being British.

I have dual citizenship - I don’t think there is a hierarchy and i think both my citizenships are important. However, the OP agrees with Reform that there is a hierarchy. She can’t have her cake
and eat it too.

Because she is rejecting being British whilst simultaneously wanting all the rights that go with British.

What could be more British ?

You absolutely should. And I don’t buy into “people with settled status are safe bc of withdrawal agreement” rhetoric. I encouraged all my friends to apply.

Of course it’s okay to want to live in the UK but not be a citizen. But it also means that you can’t expect to have the right to live in the UK for ever and ever and that residency rules won’t be changed.

The OP wants the right to live here forever without being a citizen. And her specific reason is because she doesn’t want to be British.

i don’t expect to be able to go and live in say say Mexico just because i want to.

Because British citizenship is not acquired simply by being born in this country. Unlike in the U.S.

Yea, and then they can hit you up for tax too.

I have an American friend living here for 50 years already. She still has to fill in her American tax return.

I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure that being born in the UK + 10 years continuous residence as a minor qualifies you as a British citizen. You'd have to register, not naturalise.

We were in the UK for 19 years before naturalisation. And we have dual citizenship as I would never give up my birth one.

Citizenship can for many be a very emotional thing, regardless where you were born and how long you live in a place. So, if not needed, it doesn't have to be acquired.

We took British citizenship after Brexit because I didnt' trust and still don't trust politicians not to renegade on the Withdrawl Agreement. I also saw the pain of the Windrush scandal when a friend had to pay a fortune to get her mother's legal status checked out and confirmed. I wasn't prepared to have a digial footprint with a civil service who has plenty of IT scandals.

@Milliemoons If you can keep your birth citizenship and want to keep it, then I would definitely look into naturalisation.
If you can't keep it, I would make a hard decision to loose it in your case as your whole life is very different ot lots of other immigrants who come over as adults.

I have a dear friend I've known for 30+ years. She's French. She's lived in the UK since her 20s, married a British man (now divorced), they had 2 kids who are British. She never intends to live in France again, she doesn't have good memories of it.

After Brexit, she was asked to fill in a form, she can become a British citizen just by doing that, she has all legal rights to stay here. But she's refusing purely because she's annoyed at having to do it at all, she doesn't think she should need citizenship. She'll either fill the form in eventually or get it automatically on retirement but I genuinely don't understand her attitude.

She wouldn't have to give up her French citizenship and she has benefited de facto from UK citizenship for many years. If I were in her position, I would absolutely expect to make the commitment of taking out French citizenship alongside my British citizenship. I've had to really zip my mouth on this issue with my friend.

She's a first generation migrant, it's still less understandable that second generation migrants would not want citizenship of their country because of a cultural allegiance to their parents' country unless the parents never intended to stay and everyone always intended relocating to the original country.

I lived and worked in Scotland during the time of the independence referendum, so would have been entitled to Scottish citizenship had the vote been yes. I am English and I didn't support Scottish independence for a number of reasons. But had the vote been yes, I would have taken Scottish citizenship alongside my British citizenship because I would have been living and working in a nation who had made that decision, and I would have respected it.

Citizenship is a privilege, bringing rights and responsibilities and generations of migrants have made the commitment to become British, even where they have been discouraged or had an unknown future ahead of them and I hugely respect that.

I didn't vote for Brexit, but I think the EU system seems to have undermined the idea of national citizenship with a belief in borderless movement, picking and choosing to suit individuals.

Of course you should make the material commitment to become a British citizen unless your heritage identity means more, in which case, you will need to live with uncertainty.