Correct understanding of Settled and PreSettled statuses

[cathalmf]

I am an Irish citizen married to a non EEA citizen. She has an EEA Family residence card and we both live in the UK together.

She will reach her 5 years before 30 June 2021, but from what I have read it seems a better option for her to apply for Settled Status now (which is free) rather than ILR when she reaches 5 years (but costs £2.3k).

Am i correct in understanding that if she applies for Settled Status she will receive a Pre-Settled Status which should automatically convert to a Settled Status once she reaches 5 years?

She will then want to apply for British Citizenship. I see the requirements for applying with Settled Status is that you must hold it for 12 months. Does that also apply if she already had Pre-Settled Status. Can she apply for citizenship immediately after reaching 5 years?

Im just looking for the simplest route to citizenship for her as its a pain having to deal with this stuff all the time.

[Zerubbabel]

Am i correct in understanding that if she applies for Settled Status she will receive a Pre-Settled Status which should automatically convert to a Settled Status once she reaches 5 years?

Not automatically. She will have to apply for Settled status.

The UK route is not open to her.

She has to be permanent residence / settled + 1 year before applying for British Citizenship. So if someone is under an EEA route, it means 5 years + 1 year before being eligible to BC.

[kamoe]

I am an Irish citizen married to a non EEA citizen. She has an EEA Family residence card and we both live in the UK together.

She will reach her 5 years before 30 June 2021

5 years from what? Your only other post describes a situation where she just recently applied for/is expecting to receive her EEA card. Is this 5 years of UK residence, or 5 years of marriage to you? It has to be 5 years of both.

from what I have read it seems a better option for her to apply for Settled Status now (which is free) rather than ILR when she reaches 5 years (but costs £2.3k).

Applying for the Settlement Scheme is the only applicable option of the two you propose. The 5-year ILR route is only available to people having family visas issued outside of EEA regulations (not applicable to her since she has an EEA residence card).

Am i correct in understanding that if she applies for Settled Status she will receive a Pre-Settled Status which should automatically convert to a Settled Status once she reaches 5 years?

If she applies now, she will get Pre-Settled Status, but this will NOT automatically convert to Settled Status. As @zerubabbel says, she will need to apply for it when she's eligible.

Now, assuming the answer to my first question is both (marriage to you and UK residence), when exactly will she reach the 5 years?

If this is before 31st December 2020, better to apply for the Settlement Scheme when the 5 years are up and not now, as then she will get Settled Status directly, and will only need to apply once.

If the 5 years are up in 2021:

• If Brexit happens with a deal, then she can also wait and apply when the 5 years are up. This is because the deadline would be June 30 2021, and you say her 5 years will be up before then.

• In the unlikely event of a no-deal, then she needs to apply before December 31st 2020, get Pre-Settled status, then apply again for Settled Status when the 5 years are up. This is because the deadline would be in this case December 31st 2020, and she would need to have applied before this, no way around this.
  

  She will then want to apply for British Citizenship. I see the requirements for applying with Settled Status is that you must hold it for 12 months. Does that also apply if she already had Pre-Settled Status.

  Yes. Since Pre-Settled Status is not Settled Status, time spent under Pre-Settled status does not count.

  Can she apply for citizenship immediately after reaching 5 years?

  Following from the above, no, she cannot.