Citizenship application without PRC does Erasmus count?

[mangustar01]

I am a EU citizen trying to apply for British Citizenship. I've been in the UK for the last 7 years however, during my bachelor degree I got an Erasmus bursary and studied in Malta (from 2008 until June 2009). I continued my third year of university in the UK, from September 2009. Does this count as exercising treaty rights in the UK, as I was still enrolled at a UK university even though I was not physically in the UK for that year.

I am aware that I would obtain automatically the right for permanent residence after 5 years and then I would need to wait 12 months to apply for citizenship. If the time I was in Malta does not count as exercising treaty rights, I will not be entitled to apply just yet.

Any advice or help would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks.

[LilyLalilu]

Normally, your residence is broken after absences of > 6months.
However, one absence of up to 12 months for important reasons (e.g. studying) is allowed.
So if you are within this 12 month limit you should be fine, otherwise you will have broken your continuity of residence.

It may be wise to apply for confirmation of PR first.

[mangustar01]

Many thanks for your response. I don't want to apply for PR because I will have to wait for 1 year from the date of issue, this is because the PR wont contain the date when I automatically got permanent residence.

However I would be really grateful if you can tell me where I could find the information you provided me with regards to the 12 month period and that the absence is allowed if it was for important reasons like studying.

Many thanks in advance.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

[LilyLalilu]

Hi,

EEA Nationals
"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. However, this does not apply in the following circumstances:
1. Period of absence from the UK due to military service
2. Any one absence from the UK not exceeding 12 months for an important reason such as pregnancy and childbirth, serious illness, study or vocational training or an overseas posting."

Booklet AN (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... r_2015.pdf), p.11.