EEA citizen with HUGE (JobSeeker+JSA) employment gaps

[RedBarron]

Dear advisers,

I`m new here and I`m writing because I`m a bit in a panic mode after reading some literature on Immigration and Naturalization. I am an EEA (German) citizen, working on and off in UK since 5 years.

- I entered the UK February 2009,
- Job: worked for 1 year
- JSA: jobseekers allowance 8months
- Job: worked another 2 1/2 years
- JSA: jobseekers allowance 1 1/2 years
- Job: currently with a new job since October 2014.
meaning = I have only worked about 3 1/2 years in the UK and been on JobSeekers Allowance for 2 years

Therefore 2. Questions:

1. Eligibility
a) Will it be possible to apply for British Citizenship even with these huge employment gaps?
b) Is it possible to count the entire JobSeekersAllowance period (or some of it) into the 5 years of residency or do I have to wait another 1 1/2 year complete employment history?
c) How are the employment gaps going to affect my eligibility/ calculating periods of continuous residence/ exercising EU treaty rights etc., to apply for BC?

2. Expired ID-card
We Germans usually dont have a passport, but a German national ID card. My ID will expire in December 2014. Will it still be possible to apply for British Citizenship with an expired German ID-card in February 2015?

Cheers and kind regards

[LilyLalilu]

Usually, long periods as a jobseeker (>6months) count against you when applying for PR.
However, if you were made redundant or were out of employment because of an illness, you may have retained your worker status during some of these jobseeking periods.
If not, your application is likely to be rejected...

I'm not sure whether one can apply with an expired ID card - maybe one of the gurus could help here?

If you can't, just get a new one; even though you're exempt from the Ausweispflicht because you no longer live in Germany it's probably good to have a valid travel document anyways.

[RedBarron]

Usually, long periods as a jobseeker (>6months) count against you when applying for PR.
However, if you were made redundant or were out of employment because of an illness, you may have retained your worker status during some of these jobseeking periods.
If not, your application is likely to be rejected...

I'm not sure whether one can apply with an expired ID card - maybe one of the gurus could help here?

If you can't, just get a new one; even though you're exempt from the Ausweispflicht because you no longer live in Germany it's probably good to have a valid travel document anyways.

Alright thanks very much LilyLu,
I guess then my question extends to...

1. Will I be able to apply in 1 1/2 years (when I have a 5 years working history) or do I have to start the 5 years all over again.

2. Regarding my Ausweis... the reason I asked is because the HO leaflet only states "passport I entered the UK with", but it doesnt state anywhere that the passport or ID has to be valid. Anyway... I guess making a trip to the German Embassy in London to extend it wouldnt be the biggest deal.

[Jambo]

1. It needs to be 5 continuous years.
2. The ID (or passport) doesn't need to be valid.

[RedBarron]

1. It needs to be 5 continuous years.

alright. But with both my jobs I was made redundant. Can I still count some of that time towards the 5 years?

[Jambo]

You should. See Regulation 6(2)(b).

I suggest you apply for PR Confirmation using form EEA3. I suggest you attach a cover letter explaining why your periods of unemployment were so long. The fact that you actually secured a job after the periods should be in your favour.

[RedBarron]

You should. See Regulation 6(2)(b).

I suggest you apply for PR Confirmation using form EEA3. I suggest you attach a cover letter explaining why your periods of unemployment were so long. The fact that you actually secured a job after the periods should be in your favour.

Thanks very much Jambo,
Any precedents/ people who have been sucessfull in these (or similar scenarios)? The reason I`m asking is because I browsed this website and the internet up and down and couldn`t find any similar sucessfull cases.
cheers