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Thomas
Thomas, Lawyer
Category: Immigration Law
Satisfied Customers: 7676
Experience:  UK Lawyer holding practising certficate for England & Wales.
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Hi, I am a malaysian citizen, have been in the UK for the

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Hi,
I am a malaysian citizen, have been in the UK for the last 8.5 years, medical school for 5 years(on student visa), 2 years of junior doctors (tier 4 visa) and 1.5 years of surgical doctor (on tier 2 visa atm, ending in august 2014). Am I eligible to apply for UK permanent residence/citizenship?

Thank you
Thomas
Hi

Thanks for your question.

Are you on a tier 2 general visa?

Kind regards

Tom
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Customer: replied 4 years ago.

yeah, tier 2 general visa

Hi

Thanks for your patience.

I am afraid that you cannot yet apply to naturalise as a uk citizen because you do not have to indefinite leave to remain.

If you are on a tier 2 visa then you will qualify for indefinite leave to remain once you have spent 5 years on this visa. However, because you have already been in the united kingdom for a period of 8 and a half years you will qualify to apply for indefinite leave to remain on the basis of long residence in 18 months.

This is because a person can apply for indefinite leave to remain once they have been in the united kingdom with continuous leave to remain for 10 years.

So, once you have reached 10 years in the united kingdom with continuous leave to remain you should apply for indefinite leave to remain. You must and wait a further 12 months and then you can apply for naturalization provided you meet the requirements of the following page:
https://www.gov.uk/becoming-a-british-citizen

Kind regards

Tom
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