5 Year rule

[LIUFA]

Hi,
One of rules then applying for citizenship is:

The residence requirements:
1. You must have been physically present in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern
Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands on the day 5 years before the
application is received by the Home Office.
For example if your application is received on 20/1/2010 you should have been
physically present in the United Kingdom on 21/1/2005.
Most applications that fail do so because applicants have applied even though
they cannot satisfy the residence requirement to be present in the UK at the
beginning of the residential qualifying period.

I then read 5 posts here on what does it mean 5years + 1day from application received, and emphasis on that it is essential to be present on that day in UK.

What I cant seem to find is how does one goes about proving that he was present on that day, I mean Brits do not track who leaves the country only who enters. So one could take day of his first entry and from that point claim that he was present all the time, and always left for one day in case there are re-entries.

I don't think anyone would leave such a hole, so for them to know that I was on some specific day present in country I would assume I would have to provide some sort of proof (like bill or appointment). How is this being handled ATM?

Thanks.

[lalpind]

Exit is not tracked. BUT your passport will have entry stamp into another country, that will speak the truth.
That's the reason why they require present passport.

Don't lie

[secret.simon]

There will be entry stamps for other countries in your passport, which is why you need to submit all passports (of all nationalities) held by you for the period of five years.

It is more difficult to prove if you are an EEA citizen and travel within the EEA. However, even then, it is possible to ask for your EEA passport to be vised on passing through sea and airports within the EEA.

Remember, it is your responsibility to satisfy the Home Office that you meet this requirement, not the Home Office's to investigate and discover. If it is not satisfied, the Home Office can simply decline the application on this basis.

I faintly recall reading somewhere that this is one of the few requirements that is mentioned in statute and that the Home Office can not change, but I could be wrong.

EDIT: Posted simultaneously with lalpind. Apologies for repetition.

[LIUFA]

Hi secret.simon thanks for your answer

It is more difficult to prove if you are an EEA citizen and travel within the EEA. However, even then, it is possible to ask for your EEA passport to be vised on passing through sea and airports within the EEA.

I am EEA citizen and I have first entered UK on 01/11/2010 I got my NIN face to face appointment sometime after and worked as contractor starting 12/12/2010. Would this be proof enough that I have been in UK all that time. I have left and re-entered UK numerous times (1-2 week trips mostly) at least twice a year (no visa stamps) all travel in Europe, would this be a problem?

[milan69]

I think it will be Fine. By continously working you are proving your residence should HO ask for proof.

[milan69]

Your continuos employment should be enough to prove your residency should there be any doubt. You need to send your passport ascwell.

[abBY20]

HO can also check your NI contributions through HMRC for the residential qualifying period

[happyguy82]

Exit is not tracked. BUT your passport will have entry stamp into another country, that will speak the truth.
That's the reason why they require present passport.

Don't lie

not necessarily because if one returns to their home country their passports are most likely to be 'stamped' electronically i.e. on the database. in fact foreigners who enter the UK using the previous IRIS system wouldn't have their passports stamped either.

[Manka10]

HO can get all the info they want about absences from APIS whether your passport is stamped or not.

[secret.simon]

I am not entirely convinced that the Home Office accesses APIS for the purpose of verifying presence or absence from the UK. It would then not need to ask for your passports as it would have all the data already and would only be trying to make the application more onerous.

Besides, Europeans in general, though perhaps not the UK in particular, take data protection seriously and I'm fairly certain that there would be EU rules about how API data is used, for security purposes and not for citizenship enquiries.

It might be, and I'm going out on a limb here, that given that EEA citizens already have the right to settle and stay as long as they like-i.e. that they have no imperative reason to apply for British citizenship-that the Home Office relies on them being honest.

[Manka10]

I am not entirely convinced that the Home Office accesses APIS for the purpose of verifying presence or absence from the UK. It would then not need to ask for your passports as it would have all the data already and would only be trying to make the application more onerous.

Besides, Europeans in general, though perhaps not the UK in particular, take data protection seriously and I'm fairly certain that there would be EU rules about how API data is used, for security purposes and not for citizenship enquiries.

It might be, and I'm going out on a limb here, that given that EEA citizens already have the right to settle and stay as long as they like-i.e. that they have no imperative reason to apply for British citizenship-that the Home Office relies on them being honest.

Really?! HO already has all your data on their systems so they should not ask about your biometric card/visa while entering UK, you should just be able to zip through scanning your fingerprints.
HO also has all the info regarding your earnings as they can very easily contact HMRC and check your taxes and income so you should not have to submit any payslips/tax returns while applying to renew any particular visa.
Ho should also not ask to declare any convictions as they have access to the CRB and can easily check if the applicant has a criminal record.
HO should also not ask for photographs from the applicant as biometric scanning includes a picture which is the one used for all practical purposes.

Also, read the declaration page of any application that you are required to sign before submitting any application. If you do not give consent to background checks then your application is invalid so data protection and all is completely taken care of.

We are not discussing why EEA citizens should apply for British citizenship but OPs question was something completely unrelated to what you are talking about