EEA3 applicants who are spouses of dual EU/British Citizens

[Pasha]

My husband holds both Irish and British citizenship. Earlier this year we applied under EU Law for our residence cards and were granted these in March.

On the 5th anniversary of being issued my residence card, I understand that I will need to apply for PR and could then apply for naturalisation after that.

My question is, as my husband is also a British Citizen -

On the 5th anniversary of my Residence Card being issued under EU Law, is it compulsory for me to apply for PR or can I put in an application for naturalisation straightaway?

Many thanks

[JAJ]

You can apply for naturalisation straight away once you have the 5 years, as you are married to a British citizen.

You will need to do the Life in the UK Test beforehand.

[Pasha]

Thanks JAJ for your reply.

[Pasha]

With regards to the UK Life Test - can I take this at any point during the 5 years period my EEA Residence Card is valid for and it still counts towards my naturalisation (assuming that the requirement for the UK Life test remains the same in 5 years time..)

[Pasha]

For those in a similar situation, I have found out the follwoing information:

- Applications for naturalisation can be submitted after completion of 5 years of legal residence as opposed to 6 years.

- You do not need to submit the EEA 3 application but rather an application for naturalisation. You ofcourse must be able to proove that you are entitled to PR under EU law inline with the Directive.

- You will need to have completed the UK Life test prior to application for naturalisation

- As the UK Life test has no expiry date, it can be taken at any point during the 5 years (but keep the certificate sfae as replacements are not issued).

I found a useful thread about the UK Life test on the forum..

http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... &start=140

[keshgrover]

- Applications for naturalisation can be submitted after completion of 5 years of legal residence as opposed to 6 years.

(Sorry mate I cant understand where have you got this information from? I have gone through the BIA website and it still says you have to apply for PR by using the form EEA3 for EU members and EEA4 for non-eu family members of EU nationals after completing the 5 year residence in the country (residence cards). And once they have completed 1 year of their PR only then they can apply for Naturalisation.)

- You do not need to submit the EEA 3 application but rather an application for naturalisation. You ofcourse must be able to proove that you are entitled to PR under EU law inline with the Directive.

(Could you kindly put some light on this please.)

[Pasha]

Residence cards issued to family members of an EEA national are normally valid for 5 years. Once the EEA national has completed the 5 years of legal residence they can normally submit an application for PR via the EEA 3 form. However, at this time, and, if your EEA family member holds British Citizenship as well as another EEA citizenship (in my case my husband is both Irish and British)...an application for naturalisation can be submitted straight away (5 years) rather than waiting the additional year (6 years of legal residence). The EEA 3 application is not complusory at this stage..so long as you can proove that you qaulify for PR..

Prooving that you qualify for PR covers things such as

- not being absent from the UK for more than 90 days per year (450 days during the 5 years)

- married for atleast 1 year (spouses)

- others outlined in the Directive..

I found this out myself via the forum and would try to find the link and post it here

http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... light=dual