Permanent Residency for children

[aa11]

I applied for PR via a joint application for my entire family (all EU citizens) 4 months ago and just received a response. Me and my wife both received PR cards, but children’s applications got rejected on basis that we didn’t supply enough evidence to prove their 5 years continuous stay in the UK. Both children (6 and 8 year old) were born and lived their entire lives in the UK. We sent letters from school, but this wasn’t deemed sufficient as it didn’t cover 5 years...

My question is how should I re-apply for PR for children? I can get letters from nursery and NHS to cover whole 5 years, but how do I re-submit the application? I can’t re-submit as an adult and include children as I already received PR card. And I don’t think there is an option to submit PR application on behalf of a child…

[CR001]

If they were born in the UK, why not register them as British then? They don't need PR for that.

[vinny]

Yes. They are entitled to register.

[aa11]

If they were born in the UK, why not register them as British then? They don't need PR for that.

We were considering this, but our country (Lithuania) does't allow dual citizenship, which means they would loose their Lithuanian citizenship and we would end up with children having different nationality from us... We may all apply for British citizenship at some point, but are not ready to do this just yet.

There is an exception in Lithuanian law were children are allowed to have dual nationality if they received both nationalities at birth. However, as I understand they wouldn't be considered as British since birth as we didn't have PR status at that time (they were born 2 and 4 years after we entered UK).

[twgal]

Hi, for my child's PR application I sent one school letter and nursery receipts to cover the 5 years qualifying period (1 nursery receipt for every year before my child started school). You could try to reapply and use either nursery receipts and the school letters, but this time cover at least 5 years.

Use paper forms, I think you need to complete one for each child. I'm not a lawyer though.

[vinny]

If both children completed 5 years in the UK when the parents made the applications, then it's strange that the parents got confirmations of PR and their children did not.

What made the UKVI think that these young children were living separately from the parents outside the UK, over six months in a consecutive year, during the qualifying period?

Lack of UK entry and exit date stamps in EU passports hinder confirmations of PR.

[Obie]

I found that quite strange also. Did you send extract from the child''s red book, before they reach school going age.

If you did, then I can't see what more could be asked.

They accept that when I do form T application, not sure why it can't be equally good for EEA.

You must send evidence obviously, but they can't impose unreasonable and stringent requirements.

[vinny]

If both parents were working, then perhaps they may question where these preschool children were during the parents' working hours? At home with their grandparents in another country?

[aa11]

The refusal letter gives two reasons:
1. We failed to provide evidence that children are our family members... They expected to see original birth certificates which we didn’t send. I may have missed it, but I don’t believe there was a requirement to send birth certificates anywhere in the application or guidance document… We only sent their passports as a proof of identity.
2. We failed to provide enough evidence that children were residing with us in the UK for a continuous 5 years period. We did send letters from school, but that didn’t cover whole 5 years as they are in year 2 and 4.

We can obviously send them birth certificates and additional letters to cover 5 years, but I’m not sure how to proceed.

The letter gives to options:
1. Submit an appeal, but it must on the ground that the decision breaches our rights under the EU Treaties.
2. If we have further evidence to prove that we are EEA nationals that have been exercising Treaty rights in the UK, we can make a further application.

It looks like the second option would be the way to go, but I’m not sure how can I can submit a fresh PR application on behalf of children of that age. How would they sign, etc...

[MrSlyFox]

The refusal letter gives two reasons:
1. We failed to provide evidence that children are our family members... They expected to see original birth certificates which we didn’t send. I may have missed it, but I don’t believe there was a requirement to send birth certificates anywhere in the application or guidance document… We only sent their passports as a proof of identity.

Yes, it's very clear in the guidance proof of family relationship if they are sponsored by an EEA National.

Page 14, Child of Sponsor
- https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... -04_KP.pdf

2. We failed to provide enough evidence that children were residing with us in the UK for a continuous 5 years period. We did send letters from school, but that didn’t cover whole 5 years as they are in year 2 and 4.

Hmmm, very hard to find proof when they are so young (they don't really need much paperwork when they are bellow school age and hence hard to find proofs - guess send in anything you have that might help.)

1. Submit an appeal, but it must on the ground that the decision breaches our rights under the EU Treaties.

You didn't submit the required documents (i.e birth certificate), an appeal is if the home office were at fault

2. If we have further evidence to prove that we are EEA nationals that have been exercising Treaty rights in the UK, we can make a further application.

I'd suggest re-apply with the evidence

It looks like the second option would be the way to go, but I’m not sure how can I can submit a fresh PR application on behalf of children of that age. How would they sign, etc...

They are under 18, so the parent may sign it

- section 19 Declartions -https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... _03-16.pdf

[aa11]

Thanks. It looks like I’ll have to re-apply for children using myself as a sponsor. The only issue is that we’re going abroad for a few weeks in August and there is no guarantee that we’ll get our passports back by then. Is there a way to request the passports back before application is returned? I know it’s possible to keep passports if you apply online, but I don’t think applying online is possible in this case…

[MrSlyFox]

No, I don't think they can apply online if it isn't at the same time as the sponsor. You can request the passports back after applying but I would leave a month from when you request them until you leave at least to be safe. The home office is known for exceeding the ten days they say it will take to return passports.

So apply - request passports back (see link bellow) - If longer than ten working days (request progress update) - after twenty working days you can contact the home office about the issue

- https://eforms.homeoffice.gov.uk/outrea ... ments.ofml

Make sure you only request the passports and not withdraw the application.

P.s. if you have them, you could submit the National ID cards instead of the passports as they are EEA Nationals

[aa11]

Could requesting passports back result in rejection? For example, if passports were sent back before HO had a chance to consider the application.