ILR or EEA PR

adityansingh wrote:Hi .. My Name is Vishal .. I was married to An EEA national in Aug 2011 and since then I am on EEA Family permit ( granted Sep 2011 ) . I have just completed 4 years on the same visa in the mean while my wife got British citizenship a couple of years earlier ( around Jul 2013 ).

I was of the openion that i would qualify for ILR after 5 years on this visa, however since my wife is British now, can I apply through the " 2 year" route of ILR ??? No, you cannot. There is no '2 year' route anymore. A spouse visa is also a 5 year route, there is no shortcut. As you are on the EEA Family Permit route, it will be quicker and cheaper for you to remain on this route rather than think of changing to the UK Immigration rules for spouse of British citizens.

Another question was - I believe i also have the option of applying for EEA PR which would be very very cheap in comparison to ILR. Could you please guide me if I am eligible to apply for any of these now ? You qualify for PR after 5 years on EEA FP, so next year.


Special request to ''Manci'' to kindly help ...

Note : - I have been living lawfully althroughout and in regular employment.

adityansingh wrote:Note : - I have been living lawfully althroughout and in regular employment.

adityansingh wrote:Hi .. My Name is Vishal .. I was married to An EEA national in Aug 2011 and since then I am on EEA Family permit ( granted Sep 2011 ) . I have just completed 4 years on the same visa in the mean while my wife got British citizenship a couple of years earlier ( around Jul 2013 ).

I was of the openion that i would qualify for ILR after 5 years on this visa, however since my wife is British now, can I apply through the " 2 year" route of ILR ???

Another question was - I believe i also have the option of applying for EEA PR which would be very very cheap in comparison to ILR. Could you please guide me if I am eligible to apply for any of these now ?

Special request to ''Manci'' to kindly help ...

Note : - I have been living lawfully althroughout and in regular employment.

adityansingh wrote:Hi All

Thanks for your kind responses. So will wait for one more year and would straight apply for EEA PR. And it suits me as well as it is cheap ... thanks again for helping

vinny wrote:

vinny wrote:The UKVI's letter explicitly states in writing that the applicant may apply for ILR before the expiry of leave.

If that doesn't give an applicant a legitimate expectation, then is it better to treat all correspondence from the UKVI as meaningless or deceptive?

However, I suspect you are right and the courts may come to the same view with respect to the UKVI's correspondence.

The UKVI cannot have caseworkers making new policy that are contrary to the Immigration rules. But they should correct their mistakes without the applicants having to unduly suffer from their mistakes.

I think that Obie is correct.

Apparently, similar to telephone conversations, applicants cannot rely on Home Office correspondence.

jazzsingh1985 wrote:Thanks Obbie for your reply.

So what you suggest us in this occasion. Law is even not cleared. Spoke to couple of solicitors, they said you will be fine but not assuring me 100%.

Spoke to Home Office several times on phone, everyone got different opinion. So where would be rely on. As law is not cleared, we did our bit, we have confirmed with Home Office staff if they assuring us so why we can't take it to court for our evidence.

If its comes in court, I believe they have to understand applicant situation because we are not solicitors or we didn't get any letter to inform us that we need to switch in different category. So we did our part confirmed with home office, calls been recorded so why can't we take it to the court


Obbie can suggest something which is more convenient and makes sense to do. If we need to switch to UK Immigration category so we need to prove £18,600 which will lead another 5 years. So what if my wife reannounce her british nationality, will law be followed under EU Law.

Looking forward to hear from you all.....

EEA nationals who are also British citizens are not considered to be ‘EEA nationals’ for the purposes of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 (‘the Regulations’)

This applies whether or not the British citizen has always resided in the UK.

A family member of a dual EEA national and British citizen does not have a right of residence under the regulations on the basis of their relationship to the dual national.

If they do not have a right of residence on any other basis under the regulations, they will need leave to enter or remain in the UK under the Immigration Rules

noajthan wrote:

jazzsingh1985 wrote:Thanks Obbie for your reply.

So what you suggest us in this occasion. Law is even not cleared. Spoke to couple of solicitors, they said you will be fine but not assuring me 100%.

Spoke to Home Office several times on phone, everyone got different opinion. So where would be rely on. As law is not cleared, we did our bit, we have confirmed with Home Office staff if they assuring us so why we can't take it to court for our evidence.

If its comes in court, I believe they have to understand applicant situation because we are not solicitors or we didn't get any letter to inform us that we need to switch in different category. So we did our part confirmed with home office, calls been recorded so why can't we take it to the court


Obbie can suggest something which is more convenient and makes sense to do. If we need to switch to UK Immigration category so we need to prove £18,600 which will lead another 5 years. So what if my wife reannounce her british nationality, will law be followed under EU Law.

Looking forward to hear from you all.....

No need to rely on an unreliable HO helpline.

The Regulations are clear - it's very straightforward ...

EEA nationals who are also British citizens are not considered to be ‘EEA nationals’ for the purposes of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 (‘the Regulations’)

This applies whether or not the British citizen has always resided in the UK.

A family member of a dual EEA national and British citizen does not have a right of residence under the regulations on the basis of their relationship to the dual national.

If they do not have a right of residence on any other basis under the regulations, they will need leave to enter or remain in the UK under the Immigration Rules

Ref: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... s_v3_0.pdf
- go to page 45

There was a transitional arrangement put in place - if one qualifies it offers a lifeline..

Hope it helps clarify next steps.