Hello,
Maybe someone might be able to shed a light on a mystery that I have not yet solved. It might be too late for me as I have already handed in my neutralisation application via NCS, but it might be useful for other EEA nationals who have to fill in the application form.
In the application form it states under 1.3:
1.3 Please say when you were given indefinite leave to enter/remain in the UK (not necessary if you are a Commonwealth citizen with right of abode in the United Kingdom). If you are an EEA national, a Swiss national or a family member of an EEA or Swiss national you should read pages 10 to 11 of the Booklet
AN.
Reading page 10 Booklet AN it states:
This section covers you if the country to which you belong is part of the European Economic
Area or Switzerland. 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. You should apply for a permanent residence card to prove that you hold that status before applying for citizenship. But remember that, unless you are married to or the civil partner of a British citizen, 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. When you apply for a permanent residence document the evidence that you supply for your EEA(PR) application must be for a 5 year period that ended at least a year before you want to apply for citizenship.
First I assumed that the date asked for under 1.3 is the date when the PRC was issued, however this date is required at 2.4 of the application form. Then I assumed being an EEA national, the date must be five years after I entered the country and started exercising my treaty rights, as this is when EEA nationals automatically get indefinite leave to remain in the UK.
During my NCS appointment I asked which date was the correct one to put into 1.3. and lo and behold, the registrar did not know and I was told to put down the date 5 years after I had started exercising my treaty rights. I came here in 2006, so 2011 should be fine as you're far over the required 3 years for someone who is married to a British citizen (quote). Whether or not this was correct, I can't say.
Could anyone shed some light on this date issue, please?
Kind regards,
MrsT
