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Hi ...

I am a EU citizen ( spain ) , I have lived (and worked) in the UK since the september 2000 until march 2011 , now for the last 2 years I have been in Asia until may 2013, so away for 2 years.

Now, could I apply for the PR right now or would it be a waste of time, I have read somewhere that living in the UK for longer than 5 years would give you the right to stay permanently regardless of the the paperwork around it, but not sure whether I should believe that , in a nutshell.

- In my circumstances, can I apply for permanent residence right now as I lived in the UK for 11 years.
- As I was away for 2 years the residence period was interrupted so I would need to wait 5 years from now before I apply for permanent residency.

thanks

Why are you after PR? Would not change much for you as a Spaniard.

you are right not right now .. but as I have lived here all my adult life am planning to stay here permanently in the light of changing political circumstances and a potential referendum on leaving the EU in 2017 I want to have all my bases covered so to speak.

Better safe than sorry.

You can certainly apply for PR once you return to the UK, and assuming you have not been out of the UK more than 2 years.

If you apply soon, the application is still free.

we are cutting it super fine here ,,, I left mid may 2011 and came back 3 weeks ago to do interviews (back for a week to HK ) and just started a new job this week ( flew Minday morning )

Should I get a lawyer to help with the application ?

If you left in March 2011 and returned in May 2013, you may have already lost your right to Permanent Residence. That seems to be 26 months.

ayalgueru, did you enter the UK at any time during the past two years?

Nope I do not think I have been back in the UK for the last 2 years ,,,,

As said we are splitting hairs here ,,, I found my outbound ticket to Hong Kong ,,, it is on 10th May 2011 and I flew in for my new job on Monday the 6th May 2013 ,,,

ayalgueru wrote:Should I get a lawyer to help with the application ?

I don't think so. The application form is quite simple. You will need to provide proof of employment for 5 years (P60s to cover 2006-2011 for example) and proof you didn't leave the UK for more than 2 years. So proof of being in the UK in mid May 2011 and proof you have been here before mid May 2013 (didn't you say you have been here three weeks ago for interviews).

You can add a cover letter explaining your case just to make it clear to the case worker how you qualify as normally people provide employment evidence leading to the date of the application.

Yes I was here 3 weeks ago for 2 weeks before heading back to hk and ubsequently here I did not know that would count.

Alright will go for that ... Getting P60 wil be painful tho but doable will start approaching former employers asap.

Thanks

Any stay in the UK (even for a few hours) counts.

The previous employer will not reissue P60s. It is your responsibility to keep them. However you can ask them for a letter confirming your employment (including dates) or ask HMRC for your employment history (you can get in a few days).

ayalgueru wrote:As said we are splitting hairs here ,,, I found my outbound ticket to Hong Kong ,,, it is on 10th May 2011 and I flew in for my new job on Monday the 6th May 2013 ,,,

That is less than 2 years!

You still have PR (you mentioned March 2011 in your first post, which may have confused some posters).

That was a mistype ,, ! sorry and thanks everyone ,,, give me a couple weeks to settle on the new job and I will go for .. will let you know how it goes ,, thanks again

EUsmileWEallsmile wrote:You still have PR (you mentioned March 2011 in your first post, which may have confused some posters).

Precisely. We can only go by the information we were provided.