Citizenship stress are we to be deported ?

We are stressed out.

Me.. British since birth, lived UK most of my life.
Wife.. Polish, moved UK as student (visa before PL joined EU) in 2002.

Our story..
Wife worked UK since 2003 (Poland joining EU), lived UK permanently ever since 2003.
2005 we met
2096 1st mortgage
2008 we got married
2010 First child, born in Whitechapel, British passport, British schooling ever since.
2013 second mortgage
2016 wife applied for Permanent residence.. this is now 5 years since approved.
2018 26th May, vacation 4 days.
2019 February, last 1 week vacation outside UK (Poland).
2020 August, wife laid off covid redundancies.
2021 26th May, applied for Naturalisation as UK citizen.
2021 30th June.. cut off for settled status.
Good character references, no legal entanglements, paid taxes every year, have P60’s, UK bank, NHS etc ok, only ever left the UK for vacations, approx 3-4 weeks a year, so well inside UK presence test.

I honestly don't see why she would be rejected after this history.

But..
1. She didn't apply for settled status, because she applied for citizenship in May 2021 (we did not think she needed settled if she had PR, and was in the middle of applying for citizenship)… forms unclear, i’m British and I didn't think she needed it reading everything, as she had the blue PR doc and is applying to become British.
2. May 26th, we are confused about the “physical presence on 3 years or 5 years before that application date, but we did fly out on vacation exactly 3 years to that date for a 4 day trip, and have taken vacation since then, but if Its based on 5 years with PR we were here 5 years ago on that date…this whole thing confuses us, we don't understand that part.

We cant find anything about the status of the citizenship application.
There is no status online.

My wife has been offered a job, but the government website for confirming a unique ID for employers to check doesn't show anything relating to her application.

This has found us suddenly off guard…
We are totally stressed out now after reading around..

Reading around we are hearing..
3. Shes illegal since June 30th and will be deported.
4. We as a family need to leave the UK, sell up etc and my wife and daughter need asylum in Poland if we want to remain as a family.
5. She cant get settled status because..
A. Shes got the citizenship application in and hasn't yet got an answer.
B. Shes missed the deadline for settled status because she has the citizenship application in (we read you cant do both at the same time)… catch22.

C. She will get rejected because of 1 to 4 and 5a and b above and wont be able ever to become British because of it.

Whats worse the Home Office wont discuss anything with her on the phone, and told us to wait until November.

6. Meanwhile how can she take this job ?
7. Will she still get healthcare if we urgently need it ?
8. Will her bank accounts be ok, do we need to move everything ?

I cant believe we've ended up in such a situation based on trusting the news that it should be seem-less etc, we seemed to have worked ourselves into a frenzy…

I thought i’d ask here, next step is to call a journalist as we’t know how this can be after 19 years, this is just wrong, surely this isn't right ?

Any help appreciated.

First of all it seems the naturalisation application is in progress. The "blue card" could be used until 30 June 2021 for that specific purpose. This card is now invalid, since 1 July 2021 and can't be used for proving right to work, etc.

But note that naturalisation is not an immigration application, and whilst an application is in progress it does not confer any residency rights, right to work, etc.

Wife should have applied by 30 June 2021, irrespective of the naturalisation in progress. She can still apply now as late applications are accepted. Of course, in the meantime the naturalisation approval may appear "out of the blue" which then makes Settled Status irrelevant.

Note it is extremely difficult to talk to any UKVI caseworkers or decisionmaker - even for very simple applications.

Nobody will automatically be deported - just my personal opinion .

I agree with @alterhase58 that your wife is highly unlikely to be deported.

However, at the moment, she does not have a legal right to reside in the UK and therefore will be subject to the "hostile environment" in day-to-day actions. There may be issues with employers, changing jobs, banks, etc.

I would suggest that she should still apply for Settled Status. That may give her a modicum of cover while the naturalisation application is in progress.

You can apply for both Settled Status and naturalisation at the same time. You can't make two immigration applications simultaneously, but naturalisation is not an immigration application. So you can apply for Settled Status and naturalisation simultaneously.

Ap22 wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 12, 2021 5:17 pm

I honestly don't see why she would be rejected after this history.

Perhaps, but she does not have legal residence in the UK at the moment. Not filing in the correct forms at the correct time can seriously negatively impact the immigration journey.

Ap22 wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 12, 2021 5:17 pm

I cant believe we've ended up in such a situation based on trusting the news that it should be seem-less etc, we seemed to have worked ourselves into a frenzy…

That may have depended on what you expected of a "seamless" change. It is seamless from the viewpoint of a non-EEA immigrant, who needs to fill in longer forms, with much higher fees (£1000+ per application per person).

But crucially, the process is not automatic. You and other EEA citizens had to engage with the immigration process and authorities by specified dates, in prescribed methods. And I think that came as a shock to many EEA citizens, who drifted through their life in the UK not giving a thought to the immigration processes.

Ap22 wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 12, 2021 5:17 pm

I thought i’d ask here, next step is to call a journalist as we’t know how this can be after 19 years, this is just wrong, surely this isn't right ?

Go for somebody from the Guardian, the Independent or Channel 4. They are the ones most likely to be sympathetic to your plight. And of course, the New European as well.

An application for naturalisation doesn't provide any immigration status so she should apply for settled status immediately providing a valid excuse.

Ap22 wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 12, 2021 5:17 pm

4. We as a family need to leave the UK, sell up etc and my wife and daughter need asylum in Poland if we want to remain as a family.

Apart from what the others have said, let's not pour out the baby with the bath water.

Asylum is something that people who are fleeing for their very lives can apply for. Your wife is Polish. Moving to Poland - her home country - would hardly be 'seeking asylum'. Don't forget, all of you could also freely move to any other EU country. But I do not see any reason whatsoever for anything as drastic as selling up and moving out of the UK.

Ap22 wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 12, 2021 5:17 pm

C. She will get rejected because of 1 to 4 and 5a and b above and wont be able ever to become British because of it.

Even if we look at the absolute worst case scenario - citizenship application rejected, settled status rejected, somehow also pre-settled status rejected, all avenues through her EU nationality somehow closed - she could still apply for a spouse visa as the spouse of a British citizen. She might have to go to Poland for a bit to do that but it would not be impossible.

Again worst case scenario, she would be looking at possible citizenship application at the latest ten years after getting her spouse visa. That's quite long, but it's not 'not ever'.

I do NOT think that any of the above will be necessary.

Thank you for the advice.
Just a follow up.
We applied right after the first response here, using the I-phone app to apply / upload.

Our reason for applying late was

you had permanent residence status or a residence document that stopped being valid after 30 June 2021, and you did not know you needed to apply to the scheme.

Which is the exact reason, a Permanent Residence doc (no expiration date in it), plus we have an on going naturalisation application, which started before June 30th.

Roll on 2 weeks.. nothing.
When checking online, entering the details it still says the application probably hasnt been viewed yet.

We called the 0300 number, helpful guy, but not helpful info.. basically said he can see the application, but its not yet been assigned to a case worker, and it can take 6 months for a case worker to be assigned to an EUSS application. (i thought this was supposed to be automated ?). He said late applications wont be processed until all other applications are done, and this scheme will be running for years.

Last week my wife had an illness, went to the Doctor, they told her they would treat her this occasion but would refuse in future without proof of status. The email showing she applied is not a “Certificate of Application”, was not an application before June 30th and doesnt have settled status.

Shes got a job, but cannot start as beyond viewing her own submitted application, and the without confirmation that she applied, there is no proof and no share code can be generated.

We cant surely be left 6 months for this EUSS application to be even started ?
Reading the naturalisation processing times thread, seems weve got a few months to wait there too.

Is there any thread here that shows how long it takes to process an EUSS application ? - the supposed 5 days it clearly is not.

This certainly isnt feeling like what its supposed to be.

About half a million applications are currently being processed by the Home Office under the EU Settlement Scheme. There was a flurry of submissions just before the deadline and about 60,000 applications after the deadline. So it will likely have been a bit busy at the Home Office.

Ap22 wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 26, 2021 12:49 am

We called the 0300 number, helpful guy, but not helpful info

The Home Office helpline is outsourced to a third party contractor. They can likely see very limited information. And anyway, we on these forums have known them to give incorrect immigration information. So I would not rely on the information provided by them.

Ap22 wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 26, 2021 12:49 am

The email showing she applied is not a “Certificate of Application”, was not an application before June 30th and doesnt have settled status.

Because she did not apply before the deadline, to the best of my knowledge, she does not currently have legal status within the UK. Had she applied before the deadline, she would have been issued a CoA, which would have extended her then legal status until the time her application was processed.

vinny wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 26, 2021 12:10 pm

Good news for EU citizens making late applications for post-Brexit residence rights

How does one go about exercising proof of this, if the application isn't even being reviewed and is stuck in an inbox 500k deep ?
It might say everything is ok, but with nothing to show for it, it means nought… especially as the NHS is already checking this.

Whilst naturalisation has a 6 month timescale before escalation, EUSS doesnt seem to have any SLA at all.. how do you “give it a push” ?, how long is a reasonable piece of string before asking whats going on ?
5 days is what it says, but that seems to be worth little either.

Again, thanks in advance.

https://www.freemovement.org.uk/good-ne ... aPyLXgOH7Q

This could give you some piece of mind..

mbhm wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 30, 2021 9:54 am

https://www.freemovement.org.uk/good-ne ... aPyLXgOH7Q

This could give you some piece of mind..

If you read the thread, this was already posted by moderator vinny on the 26th. No need to post the same information again.

Quote: Actually putting in the application is what triggers these temporary protections..

Fact:

Application is in, when you check using the home office website:

https://www.gov.uk/view-prove-immigration-status
this is what is displayed on the screen…

“We cannot find your current status in this service”
“this is probably because your application is still in progress”.

Question:
How does that prove to anyone, that one has applied and are protected ?
Weve called the number, they said, what my previous post above says.

Am I missing something, have we done something wrong ?

I should point out there is a difference in message, for instance if you enter bogus data the message is
“ The details entered don't match our records”

So there is difference in text, But showing the earlier message on screen to anyone means nothing to nobody.. as an employer myself i’d not accept that as proof of application…there is nothing in the text that suggests an application is in and rights are protected.

Update in this..
Citizenship application.. no change.
EUSS application no change… still no coa, checking the UAN on line shows nothing found in the system.

My wife has a new job, however without anything from either above she cannot prove her right to be in the UK.

Her employer Applied to Employee Checking service for proof of application on September 3rd, supposed to be a response within 5 days… no response.
Have emailed our MP, no response.

She has now lost over £3k in income by repeatedly postponing the start date.

Employer has resubmitted another Employer checking service request, postponed her start date a 3rd time.

Addendum:

After the above, today I came across this thread:
general-uk-immigration-forum/long-wait- ... 64705.html

My wife emailed the three addresses late this afternoon in regards the Employee Checking Service.
Within 20 minutes we got our first ever communication back from the Home office..
Yay !
The first was a request not to resubmit Employer Checking Service duplicate checks, as its adding to the backlog.
The second was informing the 5 day turnaround is not being met, it is currently 11 business days, and they are currently processing August 31st.
My wife sent this on to her employer, as they too are concerned by the silence, they are being hugely supportive, given the circumstance.

At least with this communication, we have some indication of a timeline and are grateful both to this board/poster for that 2018 post, and the Team Leader at the Home Office who promptly replied.

I hope this helps others.

From our perspective we are elated just to hear something, even if its just a holding statement / target date…but thats much more than we had 3 hours ago.

Happy ending in the end..

Date of receipt of ceremony letter: Sunday 19th September 2021 0700 am ! by email, combined approval and notification to book a ceremony.

Date of ceremony: 23rd September 2021 ..9-am we’re done!

Private ceremony so My daughter and I could attend, she was a little late for school, we even sang the national anthem.

As for settled status..
EU settled Status still pending no response.
ECS checking service for the EUSS application, 3 weeks also came through this morning.

I guess neither of these matter now.

However with a citizenship certificate she can finally start work on Monday.

No BRP card recieved, though we didn’t waste time on ourside, I assume it’ll arrive shortly and we just return it.

Thanks for bearing with us, tonight we celebrate.

Good luck to everyone else.

Great that it worked out so well. Thanks for keeping us informed. Enjoy your celebration!

Great to hear it worked out in the end - congratulations.