Anyone taken the 'Life in the UK' test?

[NotQuiteCockney]

I am thinking (once again) about getting my UK citizenship. Now I have to take a quiz to do this.

The sample questions look severely assy. I mean ... 'what, exactly, does U mean on a film rating?'. 'How many people live in Scotland?'. How on earth are these important questions? (And they'd left 'I don't give a fuck' off the multiple-choice options!)

Do I need to buy and read the stupid book? Or will I be ok?

mmmmm don't have a clue. instead, did you go to Amsterdam? what was the sex museum like?

You need the book
Some of the questions are hard - I had no idea of the answers!

Doesn't it cost hundreds of pounds to take the test?
I would be interested to see the questions.
People in Scotland. Ummmm?

I didn't go to the sex musuem, I saw it from the outside, but it looked alarming - it was right in the middle of the red light district, and I was worried I'd make new friends.

Amsterdam was good, though, generally.

OMG, hundreds of pounds? Really? It's a test you take on a computer, wtf is up with that?!?

No no, wait, it's £34. Which is still high, but not outrageously so ...

Why do you have to know about the sex museum in order to live in UK

Anyone know the other questions?
£34 might be worth it!

The book is £10. So I'll probably get it, it just seems so pointless, I've been here for 10 years, I read the papers, I'm not totally clueless, but the questions were weird and pointless ...

is there a website with all the questions? (daft question)

Would be really interested in hearing the qs.

because they don't WANT people to have UK citizenship. Easy really.

Now go get the book and tell us how many people live in Scotland.

I think there's a website with sample tests, but for anything longer than 12 questions (the same 12 every time, I checked), you have to pay.

I wonder how many people can actually answer these questions... after how many yrs can you take the citizenship?

WTF? I have just flicked through the first half a dozen of those questions. I would fail as a UK citizen. Actually, I haven't lived there for past 11 years but I am British and have no clue as to the members of the House of Lords or of constitutional rights.

I think it's 3 years by marriage, or 5 by not. The questions look bloody hard, don't they. I will just have to cram, I guess. I really bloody well should have done this years ago, and then I wouldn't have had to take the test.

I did. It's not so bad at all. Just use the Study Guide to revise. Don't bother with the book.

It's mulitple choice and two of the choices are beyond stupid.

There were 15 people when I took it and the only two who didn't pass did not have a very good grasp on the English language at all.

It's 3 years by marriage, but it's 6 years by some others - work permits, HSMP, etc.

It costs £34 for the test.

The fee to naturalise is now £655, up from £268 before 1 April.

A new British passport - first time, adult - is £66 (plus £3 for them to send back your 'supporting documents', e.g., your passport from your native country and your naturalisation certificate, both of which you must submit with your application, via Special Delivery).

Do it now, before they start requiring ALL first time adult applicants to present themselves for interview in order to get their passports, too - it's being phased it.

I sat on my duff and didn't do it when I was first eligible. Luckily, I got in before the fee hike.

If you wish to hang onto your passport - and your spouse's and your marriage certificate - you can make an appointment with your nearest National Checking Service and for an extra £40 they will forward your naturalisation application on whilst you keep your documents.

Here is one of the qs:
What languages other than English are spoken in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales?

Umm. Urdu, Welsh, Polish, Czech, Russian? Every language under the sun? Do we not live in a multilingual society?

I don't think I would pass, looking at the sample qs. Perhaps the government could solve the housing crisis by testing everyone and sending anyone who fails to some outpost in the commonwealth?

Oooh, thanks for the Checking Service information. I don't need to use my marriage certificate or DH's passport (thank god! He needs his passport all the time, thanks to travel or using it as ID!), but doing without my own passport is a hassle, that really puts this off the whole process.

I consider doing it every time I come back to the country, and then get annoyed by the whole process ...

mind you, that British passports do look tres chic, I might be really tempted...

With the Checking Service, for some reason, it seems that these applications are also processed wicked fast.

I don't really care about getting it done now. (Ok, I lie, I kinda do, so I can do annoying things like get a driving license without going through hell etc etc.) I need to do the test before the rest, I'm guessing?

Yes. You need to have passed the test in order to even apply to naturalise, because you have to show your pass certificate.