UK Naturalisation/ Citizenship; EU Citizen; 4 Years Student

[Ponderatul]

Hi,

I'm a EU citizen and have studied in the UK for 4 Years. As far as I understand there is a 5 year requirement to apply for UK Citizenship. My questions:

1) Do my 4 years as a student count toward the 5 necessary to apply for citizenship ?

2) I've looked through the F.A.Q and I don't understand everything in Q5 that I think applies to my case. How is the PR status issued after the 5 years, how would HO know I have been here for 5 years? Anything I should be wary of ?

Q5: I'm a EEA national/family member of EEA national. When can I apply for naturalisation?

Under EEA regulations, Permanent Residence status is obtained automatically after 5 years of exercising treaty rights. You need to hold PR status for 1 year to be eligible for naturalisation (unless you are married to a BC) so effectively you can apply after 6 years of residence in the UK. Having a PR Confirmation (following EEA3/EEA4 application) is optional and is not required in order to apply for naturalisation.

You have two options:

1. Apply after 6 years in the UK. This includes 5 years of exercising treaty rights + 1 year with PR. You will need to provide proof of the 5 years (similar to what is needed in EEA3/EEA4 application). Form AN has a specific section (Q2.4-2.6) for such application.
2. Apply 1 year after the issue date of the PR Confirmation (EEA3/EEA4). In this case, there is no need to prove treaty rights again and normally just your passport (and Life in the UK test) is required.

If you hold a PR Confirmation for less than 1 year but have lived in the UK for 6 years, you can apply using option (1). The PR confirmation can only be used if you apply 1 year after the issue date. The reason is that the PR Confirmation only contains one date - issue date. It doesn't state when the PR status was actually acquired. If you want to use a PR date prior to the issue date, you will need to provide treaty rights proof to prove it.

3) I assume these questions have been asked before, so if anyone has gone through this process and knows of a thread describing the process can post it here ?

So far I understand I need:

a) 5 Years exercising treaty rights e.g. if my student years count, I need 1 more year of full-time employment
b) 1 Year of PR granted automatically after the 5
c) Take the Life in UK Test
d) ??

Thank you for helping me out
Mihai

[fwd079]

I am guessing student years need some special requirements to be fulfilled, if coming from EEA route, e.g. Comprehensive Sickness Insurance, funds etc. But I was not from EEA route so would await further replies. Good luck.

[LilyLalilu]

PR status is attained automatically after exercising treaty rights in the UK for a continuous period of 5 years. To show you have attained PR for the purpose of your citizenship application, you'll need to provide the necessary documents showing that you have lived in the UK for 5yrs and have exercised treaty rights throughout - the burden of proof is on the applicant. To make your time as a student count towards PR, you will need to have held comprehensive sickness insurance + have had sufficient funds. Sometimes, a non-UK EHIC can be used as a CSI substitute and you may wanna search through this forum for details regarding this. To prove funds you need to submit a written declaration confirming that you had enough funds as a student.

Unless you are married to a British Citizen, the residence requirement for citizenship is at least 6 years (5 years (PR) +1 year on PR)

To prove your residency you can use some of the following:
- bank statements
- confirmation of studies letter
- P60s/P45s
- tenancy agreements
- household/council tax bills

[noajthan]

1) Do my 4 years as a student count toward the 5 necessary to apply for citizenship ?

- note: it's 5 years of treaty rights plus 1 year free of 'immigration time restrictions' (ie holding PR) unless you take drastic action & marry a British citizen.

2) I've looked through the F.A.Q and I don't understand everything in Q5 that I think applies to my case. How is the PR status issued after the 5 years, how would HO know I have been here for 5 years? Anything I should be wary of ?

You can apply for a PR card after 5 years of exercising treaty rights.
It's optional but may ease applying for citizenship in the following year.

a) 5 Years exercising treaty rights e.g. if my student years count, I need 1 more year of full-time employment
b) 1 Year of PR granted automatically after the 5
c) Take the Life in UK Test
d) ??

Thank you for helping me out
Mihai

As well as LITUK you will need to prove knowledge of English
- be aware the goalposts are shifting during this year
See https://www.gov.uk/english-language/overview

You also need to be of sound mind;
satisfy HO as to 'good character';
absences from UK within limits;
& etc