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I'm Italian and I've been living in the UK for almost 6 years now, I've applied for ILR last year and it went through successfully. I think the next step now should be me applying for citizenship.

I looked into this a while ago and I think the process is essentially apply for citizenship and then do the life in the UK test.

According to this page there's a 1,330 £ to pay for the application, which is quite a lot of money. It is not specified however what happens if you don't pass the test, would I need to pay that amount in full again (which it might obvious actually because they're different applications).

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You should urgently apply for settled status. ILR means nothing anymore (except it means that you will get settled status without problems). If you don't have settled status by the end of 2020, you are in trouble. Even if you could have got settled status without problems if you only had applied.

Apart from that, you must have evidence that you passed the "life in the UK test" before you can apply for citizenship. You can't pass the test or fail the test after you apply. So the problem that you fear doesn't happen.

The test itself is £50. Refundable if you cancel more than three days before the test; if you cancel too late or fail the test your £50 is gone. You have to wait a week before you can take the test again. You get booklets with all questions, around 1000, and you need to get 18 out of 24 right. It's tricky without preparation, so prepare (they say less than 50% of 18 year old Brits would pass). I'd say get an app for training and take the test when you pass 10 training tests in a row.

(PS. I mentioned settled status because apparently many EU citizens who live in the UK haven't applied yet. Some because they incorrectly believe they don't need to. For example pensioners who lived in the UK for 50 years, children whose parents need to apply for them, and EU citizens having permanent residence status. )

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  • You just scared me... I've applied I think,. I just checked an old e-mail I received in October, which I quote: I am pleased to inform you that your application to the EU Settlement Scheme has been successful and that you have been granted Indefinite Leave in the United Kingdom, under Appendix EU to the Immigration Rules. This is also referred to as settled status. I think I got ILR as consequence of the settlement. May 25, 2020 at 23:26
  • I quibble with your last sentence. You received ILR because your application for ILR was successful. May 25, 2020 at 23:31
  • I've applied to EU settlement scheme last October and according to that letter (of which I've quoted a bit) it was successful and I've been granted Indefinite Leave, this is also referred as settled status. You're saying I should urgently apply for the settled status, but apparently I got it already together with the ILR (but I thought they were the same thing anyway). Unless I'm missing something. May 25, 2020 at 23:52
  • @DavidSupportsMonica settled status technically is a form of ILR, which is in any event permanent -- it is analogous to having a green card in the US.
    – phoog
    May 28, 2020 at 3:45
  • Gnasher: pensioners who've lived in the UK for 50 years probably already have ILR, in which case there is no need to apply for the settlement scheme. The UK's accession to the EU did not cancel their leave to remain.
    – phoog
    May 28, 2020 at 3:49

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