To separate or not to separate???

[333]

Hi there

I'm trying to obtain confirmation that separating from my wife will not jeopradize my application for ILR. I have 3 months to go before I can apply and we are still living together, however, unless things miraculously improve, I fear we're heading for divorce. My wife is Irish, I'm non-EEA and we've had our residence permits for 5 years in August.

What I can't see on form EEA4 is any specific space to explain a separation, dates separated etc so I'm not too sure how I would approach this in my application, or would I be better off just biting the bullet and staying put until my application has been processed?

Many thanks in advance for any guidance you might be able to give!

[Docterror]

There is no requirement that you have to be living together with your EEA family member at the end of the 5 year residence card for getting your Permanent Residence. Infact its not even necessary to be still married after 3 years of marriage as you can still retain your right of residence as seen in section 5.2 of these instructions

http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/docume ... iew=Binary

So, as long as you are a worker, self-employed or a self-sufficient person, you should be able to dodge the bullet...even though which form you will have to use if you were to have the retained right of residence is a totally different issue.