British citizenship for non-EEA national

[jayuk2006]

I am an Indian national currently living in the UK as a spouse of a non-EEA national. I was on student visa for around 3 years, 1 year of SEGS (Science and engineering gradute scheme) visa and currently have 5 years residence card which will be ending july this year.

I would like to know if I am eligible to apply for british citizenship?

Regards and thanks in advance

[Backer]

You need to hold Permanent Residency (PR) status for 12 months before you apply so you probably need another year (meaning July 2013) before you can apply for citizenship..

I reccomend you apply in July 2012 for your PR confirmation certificate

[jayuk2006]

Thanks Backer.

Home office website says:

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Residential requirements

To demonstrate the residential requirements for naturalisation, you must have:

been resident in the UK for at least five years (this is known as the residential qualifying period); and
been present in the UK five years before the date of your application; and
not spent more than 450 days outside the UK during the five-year period; and
not spent more than 90 days outside the UK in the last 12 months of the five-year period; and
not been in breach of the Immigration Rules at any stage during the five-year period.

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How does the qualifying period work in the above?


regards

[Greenie]

what do you mean 'how does the qualifying period work'?

[jayuk2006]

Sorry, should have been more specific.

I meant, when does one's time spent in the UK is considered as "residential qualifying period"?

Does this just mean time spent in the UK regardless of the legal status (student, wpr, hsmp etc.)?

Regards

[Greenie]

Any lawful residence counts, however, as already explained, you also need to be settled for one year when you apply (in your case have had PR for oen year) so in practice it is likely to the time spent as the family member of an EEA national that will the relevent 5 year period for you.

[Jambo]

To be able to apply for BC, you must have ILR/PR status before. For the naturalisation application the 5 years immediately before the application are the ones that matters.

For EEA nationals and their family members, PR is acquired automatically after 5 years. The validity of the RC doesn't indicate when your 5 years are reached. On what basis did you get RC? If marriage, when and where did you get married?

[jayuk2006]

Thanks Jambo.

I was issued a Residence Card based on my marriage to an EEA national which took place in the UK in 2007. We are still together.

It expires in july this year, hence this work to find out my options for citizenship.

Regards

[Greenie]

if you only became a family member in 2007, you will need to wait until 6 years after that date to apply for citizenship (assuming your wife was exercising treaty rights when you married). (i.e. 5 years before you acquire PR, + 1 year)

[jayuk2006]

Thanks Greenie. So am I correct in saying that I should apply for PR before July this year (RC expires) and wait till July 2013 and than apply for citizenship.

Regards

[Jambo]

Adding to Greenie's post, on your 5th wedding anniversary (which I assume is before July), your will obtain PR status. Under EEA regulations this is obtained automatically assuming your wife has been exercising treaty rights during the whole period. You can apply for a confirmation of this status using from EEA4. As you RC is only valid until July, it make sense to apply for PR confirmation immediately after your 5th anniversary (no need to wait for the RC to expire). EEA4 applications take nowadays about 2 months.

As for BC application, you can either apply on the 6th anniversary of your marriage or 1 year after the issue date of the PR confirmation sticker. In the former, you will need to provide similar evidence to what you provide in a EEA4 application. In the latter, the sticker in the passport is enough to prove your status.

You will also need to pass Life in the UK test before applying.

[jayuk2006]

Brilliant.

It all makes sense to me now.

I really appreciate everyone's help here, and wish you all the very best.

Regards

Jay