EEA citizen but permanent residency broken for 13 months

[Froggybinou]

Good afternoon
I am a French citizen and I have been living in the UK since June 1998 (working - employed). I have been married to a British citizen since September 2005. I am currently applying for British Citizenship.

On the AN form, question 1.3 asks for the date I was given indefinite leave to remain in the UK. As a EEA Citizen, the form directs me to the booklet AN for more info. The booklet states that:
"New immigration regulations came into force on 30 April 2006. If you are a national of a country which is a member state of the EEA or Switzerland, or the family member of such a person, you will automatically have permanent residence status after exercising EEA free movement rights in the UK for any continuous period of 5 years ending on or after 30 April 2006, and therefore will not have to apply for indefinite leave to remain."

I therefore understand that I have gained permanent residence status on 30 April 2006, after living in the UK for 8 years since 1998.

However, I was out of the country between September 2010 and October 2011. I understand however that, because it was for a period of less than 2 years, this did not affect my permanent residence status:
"Permanent residence status will be lost if an applicant is out of the UK for a continuous period of 2 years or more (as is the case with ILR)."

Has anyone been in this situation? Can I still apply for British Citizenship now, even though I have only been back in the UK for just under 4 years, and that I am indeed still covered by the permanent residency that I gained on 30 April 2006?

Many thanks in advance.

[milan69]

You have to have been a resident for the last 5 years in order to apply. You can have 450 days of absences in total and no more than 90 days in the final year.

[secret.simon]

Given that you moved to the country in 1998, do you still have the passport that you entered on? Have a look at the endorsement on the visa. There is a good chance that if you entered by exercising Treaty rights, you may have received ILR on arrival.

Prior to 2000, there was no PR, only ILR granted under the Immigration Rules. The rules changed in October 2000 and any EEA Citizen exercising Treaty rights before that change were "NOT, then, “subject under the immigration laws to any restriction on the period for which [they] might remain in the United Kingdom”." That is to say that they had "settled" status on arrival.

The quote above is from Section 8.1 of the document https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... ssnats.pdf

Section 6.3 refers to allowed to periods of absence, but I believe that is only for people to earn PR, not after earning PR.

If, as I surmise, you have ILR, you need not worry about the absence of 14 months.

As you already have ILR and are married to a British citizen, you should be able to become a British citizen straightaway. Given that it is the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt and the 200th of Waterloo, I'm sure there will be a certain piquancy for you during the citizenship ceremony.

[Jambo]

You have to have been a resident for the last 5 years in order to apply. You can have 450 days of absences in total and no more than 90 days in the final year.

The OP is married to BC. So 3 years / 270 days /90 days.

[Froggybinou]

Thank you for the replies - this is very helpful.

I didn't have a passport when I first came in 1998, only a French ID card. There was no need for a VISA, coming from a EU country so I don't have any record of any date of entry. However, I do have pay slips and P60s dating back to this period as I have always worked while in the UK. So I can prove having been here since back then.

I have always lived in the UK from June 1998 until now, except between September 2010 and October 2011. I have been married to a British Citizen since 2005.

From what I have read, I understood that I have automatically gained PR on 30 April 2006 when the new law came up, because on that date, I'd already been living in the UK for 8 years. However, I managed to get hold of someone on the Home Office helpline (the 0300 123 2253 number), and they told me that actually I have to apply for PR, and that it isn't given automatically, even for EEA/French citizens! This is a straight contradiction to what they say in the guide!

I am so confused, I don't really want to send my application form with the £900 fee and find that they refuse me because of that one year away and the fact that, according to the helpline, I don't actually have PR until I actually apply for it...

[secret.simon]

If in doubt, get it in writing.

Write to the Home Office, stating that you have "settled" status under the rules before October 2000. Quote from the document that I linked to. Enquire about the 14 month break and whether that would negatively impact your citizenship application.

The person on the phone was almost certainly not conversant with current policy, let alone policy 15 years ago. If you state that such is the policy, with a link to the document, there is a chance that the query is bumped up to a senior enough level for somebody knowledgeable to answer.

[Jambo]

Thank you for the replies - this is very helpful.

I didn't have a passport when I first came in 1998, only a French ID card. There was no need for a VISA, coming from a EU country so I don't have any record of any date of entry. However, I do have pay slips and P60s dating back to this period as I have always worked while in the UK. So I can prove having been here since back then.

I have always lived in the UK from June 1998 until now, except between September 2010 and October 2011. I have been married to a British Citizen since 2005.

From what I have read, I understood that I have automatically gained PR on 30 April 2006 when the new law came up, because on that date, I'd already been living in the UK for 8 years. However, I managed to get hold of someone on the Home Office helpline (the 0300 123 2253 number), and they told me that actually I have to apply for PR, and that it isn't given automatically, even for EEA/French citizens! This is a straight contradiction to what they say in the guide!

I am so confused, I don't really want to send my application form with the £900 fee and find that they refuse me because of that one year away and the fact that, according to the helpline, I don't actually have PR until I actually apply for it...

This is not the first time the phone line gives inaccurate information. You seem to know the rules well. You will be fine. I would just add an explanation on page 17 as to your claim for PR (as this is not a typical case, the case worker sees everyday).

[Froggybinou]

Thank you very much Secret.Simon and Jambo, this is most helpful.
I am going to add a note on page 16 as suggested, to explain that I acquired PR in 2006 and that the 13 months out of the country should not impact on this....
I am going to send my application form this week.... Fingers crossed!

[kububeach]

Hi Froggybinou,

I was just wondering if you have submitted the application already. I have the same situation on the broken residency, so I was wondering if I have to wait for a while to apply for naturalization.

[noajthan]

Hi Froggybinou,

I was just wondering if you have submitted the application already. I have the same situation on the broken residency, so I was wondering if I have to wait for a while to apply for naturalization.

See the AN guide booklet.
For EEA applicants section 6 ii) covers absences - see page 11.

Ref: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... n_2015.pdf

Note: There are rules about absences over 6 months (which can 'break' residence) as well as the fundamental 2-year absence rule.

Good luck.

[Julian11]

The six months only breaks your residence if you are still gathering time for the five years to get PR. After you get PR, you only lose it if you're going for two years. That's how I understand it, anyway.

[kububeach]

The six months only breaks your residence if you are still gathering time for the five years to get PR. After you get PR, you only lose it if you're going for two years. That's how I understand it, anyway.

Yeah that's what I thought. I went back to UK after living outside UK temporarily for about 17 months (after securing my ILR). If I applied today, I was wondering if I'm already eligible for naturalization because this date five years ago I lived outside UK. I'm not in rush actually but if I could apply today for the citizenship, I would do it.

[Julian11]

You wouldn't be able to apply quite yet because you need to have been present in the UK at the start of the qualifying residency period before your application, ie 5 years if you are not married or 3 years if you are.

[joseph58]

I'm in a similar situation and I interpret the requirements this way! Please let me know if I'm correct or wrong!
I came to UK from one of the A8 countries in 2005 and I registered under WRS (see page 11 of Booklet AN Naturalisation Booklet – The Requirements, June 2015). I stayed for 18 months then I left the UK.
I came back on 1st December 2008 and this is the starting date I consider in my application. I've been working/living in the UK since then however I was out of UK between 09/07/2010 and 05/05/2011 (10 months).
As it is on page 11 of the Booklet AN:
"..you should normally have held permanent resident status for 12 months before applying for naturalisation. This means that you may need to wait until you have been in the United Kingdom for 6 years before you can apply."
"Applicants who have been outside the UK for 6 months or more in any one of the 5 years residence period will be seen to have ‘broken’ their residence"
My understanding:
You need 5 years residence for the permanent residency.
In my case it would be 5 years+10 months (considering the break) to qualify.
Starting counting from 1st December 2008 I qualified on "1st December 2013+10months= 1st October 2014".
So I could get permanent residency on 1st October 2014.
Since you need 12 month permanent residency before applying for naturalisation, I can apply for it as from 1st October 2015.

Your thoughts are very much appreciated!

[noajthan]

I'm in a similar situation and I interpret the requirements this way! Please let me know if I'm correct or wrong!
I came to UK from one of the A8 countries in 2005 and I registered under WRS (see page 11 of Booklet AN Naturalisation Booklet – The Requirements, June 2015). I stayed for 18 months then I left the UK.
I came back on 1st December 2008 and this is the starting date I consider in my application. I've been working/living in the UK since then however I was out of UK between 09/07/2010 and 05/05/2011 (10 months).
As it is on page 11 of the Booklet AN:
"..you should normally have held permanent resident status for 12 months before applying for naturalisation. This means that you may need to wait until you have been in the United Kingdom for 6 years before you can apply."
"Applicants who have been outside the UK for 6 months or more in any one of the 5 years residence period will be seen to have ‘broken’ their residence"
My understanding:
You need 5 years residence for the permanent residency.
In my case it would be 5 years+10 months (considering the break) to qualify.
Starting counting from 1st December 2008 I qualified on "1st December 2013+10months= 1st October 2014".
So I could get permanent residency on 1st October 2014.
Since you need 12 month permanent residency before applying for naturalisation, I can apply for it as from 1st October 2015.

Your thoughts are very much appreciated!

Up to 6 months absence from UK per year is permitted; as your year runs December-December your break of 10 months actually seems to split into 2 periods of approx 5 months each;
ie up to December & then after December in the next year.

So you could have acquired PR automatically in 5 years, not 5 years + 10 months.
Thus PR by end of 2013 (maybe).

Hold PR for 12 months (if not married to a BC) suggests shooting for privilege of citizenship sometime after Dec 2014;
(assuming all other requirements for citizenship have been/can be met).

As you know your dates best of all advisable for you to double check the calculation.