Some questions

[Durkin]

Hello,

I am a national of a EEA country and have been living in the UK for nearly 10 years; am I correct in understanding that I may apply for citizenship now - presumably having acquired permanent residence status after 5 years and stayed for nearly 5 more since then? In that case, would I need to request a document proving I have the permanent residence status or is this automatically figured out when I apply?

During this time I was never employed - I was mostly studying and in any case, never claimed any benefits. Would I need to supply any proof regarding my ability to sustain myself?

Finally, I am not sure if I can supply the exact dates of my absences from the UK the past five years - how critical is this? Is there somewhere I could find this information myself?

Thank you.

[janto]

I am a national of a EEA country and have been living in the UK for nearly 10 years; am I correct in understanding that I may apply for citizenship now - presumably having acquired permanent residence status after 5 years and stayed for nearly 5 more since then?

That depends on what you were doing during this time, you have to have been a "qualified person" for 5 consecutive years.

In that case, would I need to request a document proving I have the permanent residence status or is this automatically figured out when I apply?

You can apply without this document, but if there is any doubt as to whether you have actually gained permanent residence status it is prudent to apply for it first (it only costs £65 and if your naturalisation application is refused you've lost £1000).

During this time I was never employed - I was mostly studying and in any case, never claimed any benefits. Would I need to supply any proof regarding my ability to sustain myself?

As a student you would have also needed comprehensive sickness insurance.

If I were you I'd head over to the EEA Route subforum where you will find a lot of useful information (read the FAQ sticky) and knowledgeable users. Good luck!