now EEA citizen, do 5 years as tier-1 count?

[chilango]

Hi,

I had my nationality as a citizen of an EEA country confirmed this month and now have a German passport. Before that I was working in the UK for 5 years with a Tier-1 Visa on my Mexican passport.

Does the five year period I was here on the Tier-1 count towards the 5 year residency period?

Can I apply for permanent residence right away and get british nationality in a year?

Thanks!

[Just Wondering]

Have you been resident in the UK for the past 5 years?

[chilango]

yes i have been in the uk for 5 years. does that still count even if i switch 'tracks' to eea route?

unless i misunderstand what 'resident' means?

[Just Wondering]

I wasn't clear about whether you'd been living and working here for the past 5 years or if it was just a 5 year period in the past (e.g. 2004-2009)

I think you'd need to exercise your treaty rights as an EEA national in the UK for 5 years before gaining permanent residency through that route. Or you need to be the family member of an EEA national who has been exercising their treaty rights for the past 5 years.

However, you might qualify to apply for ILR now if you've spent the last 5 years on a Tier 1 (excluding post-graduate work visa) visa and meet the relevant criteria.

[askmeplz82]

exercising treaty right as an EU national for 5 years.