NON-EEA FM DENIED PR AS NO LONGER BEING DEPENDENT

[MEAKINS1234]

I am a non-eea direct family member, I came to the UK when I was 17yrs old in 2003 (with a UK visit visa) and lived in the same house with my Step-dad (sponsor) and Mum until 2011, fully dependent on them. To be honest, I didn't know how to sort out my immigration issues at all for a long time until someone pointed out the EEA route to me back in 2011.

I applied for a EEA residence card in 2011 which was successful, though I now realize on second thoughts that I should have applied for the permanent residence card instead as at 2011, I already had my qualifying continuous 5 years for the Permanent residence.

I really need help on this issue as I feel so cheated right now. I got married in 2011 and we moved out of my parents house due to need for space. We were still financially dependent on them until 2013. The issue is I decided to wait until my residence card was due to expire as I thought 'those were the rules' before applying for the permanent residence. I assumed I didn't need to show dependency anymore. I just had to show that I had been continuously living in the UK for the 5 years from the date of issue of the initial residence card.

I currently live far away from them (my parents) and I even had a disagreement with my parents that's made our relationship even more sour.

My question is this, the law states that when you acquire your right to permanent residence you can only lose it if you have been outside of the UK for more than 2 years. I have documents and enough evidence to show that I was living in the same household with them and was financially dependent on them throughout my entire stay with them. This would mean that I acquired my right to permanent residence in 2008. Can I still apply for the PR on this basis or does the fact that I am now a grown woman with her own family mean that I have lost the 7 continuous years that I did live with my sponsor?

Though in all honesty during my last application I only submitted documents showing my status for the last five years. I had thought they wouldn't need me to prove that I am still a family member, as until very recently the UKBA website described the permanent residence application as more of a ceremonious thing, it used to just state that as long as you had "5 continuous years". Its all changed now due to brexit and stuff. Also, I believed that if the case worker thought she didn't have sufficient documents she would request more documents within the 6 months duration, as they had done in previous applications, instead of just rejecting it.

I am now looking to reapply for the PR but I need to know if I am on the right track or not. All help on this will be highly appreciated.

I have to say this is a wonderful forum.

Many Thanks