Settled Status

[frantsii96]

Hi everyone,

I am a little bit confused about the Settled Status requirements I hope someone can clarify.

I have recently obtained Pre-Settled Status. However, I would like to apply for Settled one but not really sure if I technically can. I have recently reached my 5 years residency in the UK but the timeline is the following

July 2015 - I moved to the UK on Tier 4 visa
December 2017 - I got married to an Italian citizen
July 2018 - I obtained EEA RP
The guidelines do not give many details, just mentioning it should be 5 years of continuous residency in the UK. Hence, I believe I can apply. I can easily prove my residency here.

I am so tired of constant visa applications in the UK, also it prevents me from traveling to the EU much as again I need a visa, getting Shengen visa is another challange - I just want to get it over asap

Thank you for your help!

[Zerubbabel]

Hello

It's 5 years under EEA route. So the Tier 4 period doesn't count.

What was the Italian citizen doing when you got married?

[JB007]

The same as you were told before.

eea-route-applications/british-citizens ... 94881.html

[frantsii96]

The Italian citizen was working when we got married until this month - COVID hit a lot of people.

[frantsii96]

The same as you were told before.

eea-route-applications/british-citizens ... 94881.html

I am still not sure that I got the right answer. I know a friend who received Settled Status under different routes but do not know which ones.

[kamoe]

The guidelines do not give many details, just mentioning it should be 5 years of continuous residency in the UK. Hence, I believe I can apply.

We are all aware of this lack of detail, and all aware of how much people are misled.

Please be assured that the assumption that you make is one of the most common ones here. We are always eager to clarify it, and the answer is the same: Time spent under other immigration categories does not count toward the 5 years needed for EEA Permanent Residence or EU Settled Status. The whole of the five years need to have been spent as the family member of the relevant EU national.

If you are still in doubt, please see a sample of your predecessor's questions below:

eea-route-applications/settled-status-b ... 04485.html
eea-route-applications/from-what-point- ... 92642.html
eea-route-applications/pre-surinder-res ... l#p1834813

[kamoe]

I am still not sure that I got the right answer. I know a friend who received Settled Status under different routes but do not know which ones.

From the way you word your questions seems like you are amalgamating Settled Status with Indefinite Leave to Remain (initially only open for all other nationalities). There is indeed the 10-year long residence immigration route under ILR that allows to count time spent in any immigration category, but for this you need to accrue 10 years of UK residence, not 5.

[kamoe]

If you are still in doubt, please see a sample of your predecessor's questions below:

eea-route-applications/settled-status-b ... 04485.html
eea-route-applications/from-what-point- ... 92642.html
eea-route-applications/pre-surinder-res ... l#p1834813

Forgot to add a link to this post, which sums up the issue pretty nicely:

1. OP is confused and thinks time spent in other immigration categories counts towards the 5 years
2. Members clarify OPs misunderstanding
3. OP does not believe the clarifications, cites other sources
4. Other sources are debunked
5. Member shares exact wording of pre-Settled status letter informing precisely why Settled status was not granted even with more than 5 years of UK residence (because that time time spent in other immigration categories does NOT count towards the 5 years).