EEA national applying for BC without PR

[ohojska]

Dear All,
having read the forum I'm concerned about the EEA national who are applying for the BC after 6 years exercising Treaty Rights without formal approval of their PR... Are our applications really complicated to process or what is the other reason for their long delay? Any thoughts?

[mariof]

I asked the exact same question a few days ago on this forum but got no replies. I applied on the 4th of August and still haven't been approved.

From what I've been reading here NO ONE in this situation (EEA citizen without PR) has received approval since around May.

If you are a EEA citizen without PR, can you please post on this forum what's your status? Thanks.

[ohojska]

I asked the exact same question a few days ago on this forum but got no replies. I applied on the 4th of August and still haven't been approved.

From what I've been reading here NO ONE in this situation (EEA citizen without PR) has received approval since around May.

If you are a EEA citizen without PR, can you please post on this forum what's your status? Thanks.

Dear Mariof,
I'm a Polish national, continuously working in UK since the end of July 2008. I applied for BC not so long time ago, on the 30.09.2014 and seeing that already many applications from September are being approved was hoping for a quick result but now I think it will take even 6 months...At some point I was regretting that I didn't apply for the PR because I thought it will speed things up but now I think at the end it wouldn't change anything. If I would go for the PR application would be waiting min 3 months for reply and later on another 3 months for BC so in total still would be 6 moths unfortunately...

[Sani838]

Hi, I'm not sure if this will help anyone, but I have just received my citizenship approval and was suggested by another member of the forum to give my details here.
I'm a Latvian national and I applied for the citizenship with the PR card (PR card after 5 years and citizenship application after 12 months of PR issue date). Last year I spoke to the Home Office and they actually advised me to go for the PR card first before moving on to citizenship application as that will make the citizenship application much more safer. The lady to whom I spoke to said that even if one paper is missing or some date or details is not covered in the paperwork/evidence, the citizenship will be refused and I risk £906. She said that the citizenship applications are reviewed much more seriously than PR, not sure why but that's what she said. So I took the advice and went for it, it took 4 weeks to receive my PR last year September and it took 6 weeks now to get my citizenship approval.

[assa81]

Hi,

I am in a similar position. I have been living continuously in UK since late 2006, applied for PR twice in early 2012 but was refused (I found out that both times I applied too early, as the 5 years starts counting from when you received your WRS and not from the date you actually entered UK fro the first time, and for me that was a year difference). My cousin, and my friend in the mean time applied for UK citizenship without PR and got swiftly approved (they had to prove 6 years rather than 5), so I decided that after all I will do the same. So I applied on July 29th, 2014, which was jut over 7 years since I got my WRS card, and I hope it will be approved sooner or later. So far heard nothing though...

[MSaxp]

I am also in a similar position but i am not sure i understand what 'safe' or 'unsafe' means.

An application might take longer to be processed, but it cannot be rejected without any reasonable grounds. These grounds cannot be that you didnt have PR. If HO need more evidence, they can request that.

On top of that, I am not sure I understand how applying for PR would make it any quicker, as the checks are exactly the same. Effectively the same checks that now need to be done for your BC application, would have to be carried out anyway, so i dont see any benefit. The total time should still be the same. Plus i think that if you apply for PR, you have to wait a whole year to apply for BC.

Finally, I dont see how PR makes any difference to proving your residence. At least in most cases. Assuming you have a fulltime job and P60s, payslips, etc, it shouldnt be that hard for the HO to work out you were a permanent resident for the required period.

I would guess that the lack of information regarding EEA approvals is due to 2 factors. 1) EEA applications are far fewer than non EEA and 2) people who are worried about their applications tend to post, while people who get their approvals quickly, dont bother coming back.

All this , until I am proven wrong

[ban.s]

FOR APPLICANTS FROM SWITZERLAND OR THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA

Evidence that you are considered permanently resident in the UK
• A document certifying permanent residence or a permanent residence card issued by the Home Office

Please Note: Whilst the submission of a document certifying permanent residence or a permanent residence card is not mandatory, failure to submit one may lead to delays in reaching a decision on your application. If you do not provide a document certifying permanent residence or a permanent residence card then you must provide the following for consideration:

• Evidence of exercising Treaty Rights for 5 years for the relevant EEA national. This may include:

[francesca_]

HI there,

I have Italian passport and I have been living in UK since March 2008. In May 2014 I have received my permanent residence card and in June 2014 I have applied for naturalisation. Unfortunately I am still waiting for a response. I thought having the PR would speed the process but not luck at all! I have found out that even people applied in April still have not receive it. Does anyone know about any rejection? If so for which reason? Thank you.

[wiktorszary]

Dear All,
having read the forum I'm concerned about the EEA national who are applying for the BC after 6 years exercising Treaty Rights without formal approval of their PR... Are our applications really complicated to process or what is the other reason for their long delay? Any thoughts?

Cześć ohojska, przepraszam, że Cię tu niepokoję - jestem dziennikarzem Reutera, i po sześciu latach w Londynie właśnie otrzymałem brytyjskie obywatelstwo (ceremonia w grudniu ). Obecnie pracuję nad materiałem o tym, dlaczego Polacy decydują się zostać Brytyjczykami. Czy udałoby Ci się znaleźć dla mnie chwilę na rozmowę? Bardzo dziękuję i pozdrawiam! Wiktor Szary

Hi ohojska, hope you don't mind me approaching you here - I'm a Reuters journalist who, after 6 years in London, has just got his British citizenship (the ceremony's in December ) and I'm currently writing a story about why Poles decide to become Brits. Do you think you could find a bit of time to chat about it? Many thanks! Wiktor Szary

[assa81]

Dear All,
having read the forum I'm concerned about the EEA national who are applying for the BC after 6 years exercising Treaty Rights without formal approval of their PR... Are our applications really complicated to process or what is the other reason for their long delay? Any thoughts?

Cześć ohojska, przepraszam, że Cię tu niepokoję - jestem dziennikarzem Reutera, i po sześciu latach w Londynie właśnie otrzymałem brytyjskie obywatelstwo (ceremonia w grudniu ). Obecnie pracuję nad materiałem o tym, dlaczego Polacy decydują się zostać Brytyjczykami. Czy udałoby Ci się znaleźć dla mnie chwilę na rozmowę? Bardzo dziękuję i pozdrawiam! Wiktor Szary

Hej Wiktor,

A czy ty miales PR zanim aplikowales na obywatela? Jak dlugo czekales na decyzje?

POzdrawiam,

JOanna

[wiktorszary]

Hej, PR miałem, czekałem około 2.5 miesiąca. A na jakim etapie jest Twoja aplikacja?

[assa81]

hej Wiktor,

szczerze mowiac nie mam pojecia. Zostala zlozona pod koniec lipca, wiec oficjalnie maja czas do konca stycznia aby ja rozpatrzyc.
Nie kontaktuje sie w tej sprawie bo chyba nie ma sensu, dopoki nie minie 6 miesiecy.

[Samaralady]

I asked the exact same question a few days ago on this forum but got no replies. I applied on the 4th of August and still haven't been approved.

From what I've been reading here NO ONE in this situation (EEA citizen without PR) has received approval since around May.

If you are a EEA citizen without PR, can you please post on this forum what's your status? Thanks.

Indefinite leave to remain is awarded automatically, no need to apply for it separately but they stated the lack of the card can cause delays. Which it obviously does.

Having said that, I'm one of those cases, applied in June, current nationality German, not heard from home office since. Woohoo. Best of luck with your application!

[Julian11]

Just bumping this up so any who get an approval can spot it. Fingers crossed!

[paperthin]

A friend of mine, an EEA national who applied in September with a PR issued less than a year ago, has just got approval.

[ohojska]

A friend of mine, an EEA national who applied in September with a PR issued less than a year ago, has just got approval.

Unfortunately still lacking of examples of those without official PR...

[paperthin]

A friend of mine, an EEA national who applied in September with a PR issued less than a year ago, has just got approval.

Unfortunately still lacking of examples of those without official PR...

My understanding is that a PR issued less than year ago = no PR at all, as they need to carry out the same checks again. However, I may be wrong

[ohojska]

A friend of mine, an EEA national who applied in September with a PR issued less than a year ago, has just got approval.

Unfortunately still lacking of examples of those without official PR...

My understanding is that a PR issued less than year ago = no PR at all, as they need to carry out the same checks again. However, I may be wrong

Unless it was a year from the time when that person got the automatic PR which would be at least a few weeks earlier then the issue date of the official one after the EEA3 application...lets hope for the best

[Jersey]

I'm applying for naturalisation in 2 weeks. I have started to exercise treaty rights in December 2008, and applied for PR in December 2013. I got my PR in February 2014 but I will be aplying in December 2014 for citizenship as the PR is acquired automatically if you live 5 years and exercise treaty rights. I'm planning to send them my PR certificate plus a copy of my original registration certificate so they can see on what date I started exercising treaty rights and count 6 years from that date.

If you exercise treaty rights for 6 years as EEA and send them all relevant documents, than you get BC.

[kelley2014]

mariof wrote:
"I asked the exact same question a few days ago on this forum but got no replies. I applied on the 4th of August and still haven't been approved.

From what I've been reading here NO ONE in this situation (EEA citizen without PR) has received approval since around May.

If you are a EEA citizen without PR, can you please post on this forum what's your status? Thanks."

Sorry for the delay in responding but Mariof, I am in exactly the same position as you. My naturalisation application was processed Aug 1st, 2014 through a Nationality Checking Services and she said that I did not need IDLR or PR as we met the criteria. So when I attempted to contact the HO due to an additional issue with my visa/work eligibility (another very long and frustrating tale) and had to go through my local MP, as I could not get an answer/response from the HO. The HO then did respond to my MP by saying I needed IDLR, however my decision would still not be made prior to February, using every bit of the 6 month waiting period as possible. If I am refused on these grounds, I am going to fight the decision as it clearly states in the Home Office guides the following:

6. EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA NATIONALS AND SWISS NATIONALS
This section covers you if the country to which you belong is part of the European Economic Area or Switzerland.New immigration regulations came into force on 30 April 2006. If you are a national of a country which is a member state of the EEA or Switzerland, or the family member of such a person, you will automatically have permanent residence status after exercising EEA free movement rights in the UK for any continuous period of 5 years ending on or after 30 April2006, and therefore will not have to apply for indefinite leave to remain. But remember that, unless married to or the civil partner of a British citizen, you should normally have held permanent resident status for 12 months before applying for naturalisation. This means that you may need to wait until you have been in the United Kingdom for 6 years before you can apply.

I am beginning to believe it is a money making scheme, to take the £906, refuse the application, have you apply for a more expensive IDLR for £1096, then reapply for naturalisation at £906 again! They don't even follow their own guidelines!

[Samaralady]

Joy in the morning (or evening, as the case might be), my letter is in the post.

After 7 months.

Mind you, they didn't say it was an approval.

[Julian11]

Let us know! Would be great to finally get a non-PR EEA BC approval.

[emfrench]

I am on the same boat as those EEA without PR, I applied in June and I am still waiting... no news after more than 6 months...

[Notjustok]

Joy in the morning (or evening, as the case might be), my letter is in the post.

After 7 months.

Mind you, they didn't say it was an approval.

Congrat Samaralady, am happy to hear that ur letter is in the post. can u pls update us as we cant wait to share ur good news with you as we await ours.

Cheers

[assa81]

oh well, Next week it will be 6 months since I have applied and I have heard nothing so far.
I am not even sure if it is worth chasing..

Anyone else have actually had any progress?