Late Settlement application, or ILR?

Hi there,
I'm a Brazilian citizen that has been in the UK under different types of visa for the last 10 years, I'm reaching the 5 year mark on my current spouse visa (married to a British citizen).
However, I have become a Italian citizen in October 2022, so should I apply for a ILR under my Brazilian passport or Settled Status as an EU citizen?

i know the Brexit deadline is long gone but there are ways of making a late application with a valid excuse, which mine would be I didn't become an EU citizen until after the deadline.

Complex situation but I was hoping to apply via the EU scheme as that would be a lot cheaper than ILR.

Is this possible or I will have to go the ILR route?

Thank you very much for the help,
Cesar

How did you become an Italian citizen?? By naturalisation or...?

Also not necessary to post multiple topics asking rhe same question in differtn parts of the forum

I became an Italian citizen via my grandfather side, it was quite a long process and unfortunately I didn't get it in time for the Brexit deadline.

Apologies for posting more than once

Hi - I'm in the same boat. I am a US citizen in the UK (with my US husband who is on a Tier 2 Visa). I have been in the process of getting Italian Citizenship through the court system in Rome. Had my case been approved in Feb 2020, I would have been eligible to apply under EUSS. However, due to many delays - mostly COVID related - I didn't actually get granted Italian citizenship until March 2022; well past the EUSS application deadline.

I am approaching my 5 years in the UK and am trying to figure out if I can still apply under EUSS, as opposed to going the ILR route and paying a ton of money.

Omozier, have you had any luck in finding out what to do? (Congrats on the Italian Citizenship - I know it's a long process. Took me 15 years!)

omoizer wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 27, 2023 10:41 am

I became an Italian citizen via my grandfather side, it was quite a long process and unfortunately I didn't get it in time for the Brexit deadline.

Apologies for posting more than once

The key to your question is, in Italian law, did you become an Italian citizen at the time of your birth or did you become an Italian citizen when you were so recognised?

And if the former, can the Italian authorities issue you a document stating that you were an Italian citizen from the time of your birth?

secret.simon wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 04, 2023 6:19 pm

omoizer wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 27, 2023 10:41 am

I became an Italian citizen via my grandfather side, it was quite a long process and unfortunately I didn't get it in time for the Brexit deadline.

Apologies for posting more than once

The key to your question is, in Italian law, did you become an Italian citizen at the time of your birth or did you become an Italian citizen when you were so recognised?

And if the former, can the Italian authorities issue you a document stating that you were an Italian citizen from the time of your birth?

Actually, I do have an Italian Birth Certificate, as in my case the citizenship that should have been my birthright was restored via the court system.

AmyNornIron wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 04, 2023 5:46 pm

I am approaching my 5 years in the UK and am trying to figure out if I can still apply under EUSS, as opposed to going the ILR route and paying a ton of money.

Keep in mind that only the time spent living in the UK as an EEA citizen counts towards Settled Status.

If you acquired Italian citizenship in March 2022, you are likely not eligible for EUSS and even if you were, your time living in the UK on Tier 2 spousal visa will not count.

You need to have lived in the UK for five years as an EEA citizen. That is to say that you need to have been an EEA citizen for the five years that you were resident in the UK, in order to qualify for Settled Status.

Therefore your ability to apply for EUSS rests on the same question as to the OP above; according to Italian law, did you acquire Italian citizenship from the time of your birth or from the date it was recognised by the Italian government? And if the former, can you get offical government documentation stating that you were an Italian (and therefore EEA) citizen from the time of your birth?

EDIT: A birth certificate may not cut it. A British consular birth certificate (or indeed any British birth certificate) does not confer British citizenship, for instance. You may need some other authoritative documentation issued by a government source stating that the Italian citizenship was acquired at the time of birth.

secret.simon wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 04, 2023 6:24 pm

AmyNornIron wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 04, 2023 5:46 pm

I am approaching my 5 years in the UK and am trying to figure out if I can still apply under EUSS, as opposed to going the ILR route and paying a ton of money.

Keep in mind that only the time spent living in the UK as an EEA citizen counts towards Settled Status.

If you acquired Italian citizenship in March 2022, you are likely not eligible for EUSS and even if you were, your time living in the UK on Tier 2 spousal visa will not count.

You need to have lived in the UK for five years as an EEA citizen. That is to say that you need to have been an EEA citizen for the five years that you were resident in the UK, in order to qualify for Settled Status.

Therefore your ability to apply for EUSS rests on the same question as to the OP above; according to Italian law, did you acquire Italian citizenship from the time of your birth or from the date it was recognised by the Italian government? And if the former, can you get offical government documentation stating that you were an Italian (and therefore EEA) citizen from the time of your birth?

EDIT: A birth certificate may not cut it. A British consular birth certificate (or indeed any British birth certificate) does not confer British citizenship, for instance. You may need some other authoritative documentation issued by a government source stating that the Italian citizenship was acquired at the time of birth.

I have an Italian Birth Certificate as a result of my court case, and my birth is registered in the Italian town of my ancestors.
What reason would I state for applying after the deadline? Do I just merely mention the court case and the subsequent reinstatement of citizenship from birth ?

AmyNornIron wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 04, 2023 6:29 pm

What reason would I state for applying after the deadline? Do I just merely mention the court case and the subsequent reinstatement of citizenship from birth ?

You can try. It is a free application, and you can report back here and we can learn from your experience.

secret.simon wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 04, 2023 6:33 pm

AmyNornIron wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 04, 2023 6:29 pm

What reason would I state for applying after the deadline? Do I just merely mention the court case and the subsequent reinstatement of citizenship from birth ?

You can try. It is a free application, and you can report back here and we can learn from your experience.

Will do! Thanks for the help

I finally received my Italian passport in the mail and sent in my EUSS application on May 16th.

I submitted a long cover letter explaining, in detail, the reasons for my late application - including delays due to COVID and court and paperwork delays in Italy. I included emails and text messages between myself and my Italian lawyer that match up with the dates and delays I listed in the cover letter.

I also submitted the required documents that show I have been in the UK since July 2018.

Fingers crossed I get a positive ruling, and in a decent amount of time!!

Update: Yesterday I was granted full settled status as an EU citizen!!!!

I ended up hearing from the Home Office via email about a week ago - they asked for proof, other than an Italian Birth Certificate, that I was an Italian citizen the entire time that I have been in the UK (which is exactly 5 years as of tomorrow). The only thing I could provide was the ruling from my appeal in Rome, which reinstated the Italian citizenship that I should have had since birth. This document was in Italian and I used Google translate to translate it into English, and I uploaded both documents. I wasn't sure if they would accept an unofficial translation of a foreign document. I also wasn't certain that they would grant me full settled status. I thought maybe they would grant me pre-settled status from the time of my court case ruling (early 2022). But they accepted my paperwork as proof that I was an Italian citizen since birth, even though I technically couldn't prove it until now.

AmyNornIron wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 27, 2023 8:02 am

Update: Yesterday I was granted full settled status as an EU citizen!!!!

I ended up hearing from the Home Office via email about a week ago - they asked for proof, other than an Italian Birth Certificate, that I was an Italian citizen the entire time that I have been in the UK (which is exactly 5 years as of tomorrow). The only thing I could provide was the ruling from my appeal in Rome, which reinstated the Italian citizenship that I should have had since birth. This document was in Italian and I used Google translate to translate it into English, and I uploaded both documents. I wasn't sure if they would accept an unofficial translation of a foreign document. I also wasn't certain that they would grant me full settled status. I thought maybe they would grant me pre-settled status from the time of my court case ruling (early 2022). But they accepted my paperwork as proof that I was an Italian citizen since birth, even though I technically couldn't prove it until now.

Hi AmyNornIron!

I am in almost the same situation: came to the UK under a Tier 4 Student visa in 2019 and changed to a Skiller Worker visa in September 2021.

I was recognised my Italian citizenship via trial in Rome in March 2023. Some questions if you don't mind
- Did you start the trial after June 2021?
- Could you please confirm that you just sent the ordinanza, translated to English?
- Do you think the cover letter is required in my case (as I am technically under limited LtR)?

Thanks so much!

Be aware that this user wasn't visiting forums since this post in late July; you might not receive a response, unfortunately.

meself2 wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 23, 2023 10:10 pm

Be aware that this user wasn't visiting forums since this post in late July; you might not receive a response, unfortunately.

Thanks, I'll probably apply and report here what happened.

boa0792 wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 23, 2023 10:02 pm

Hi AmyNornIron!

I am in almost the same situation: came to the UK under a Tier 4 Student visa in 2019 and changed to a Skiller Worker visa in September 2021.

I was recognised my Italian citizenship via trial in Rome in March 2023. Some questions if you don't mind
- Did you start the trial after June 2021?
- Could you please confirm that you just sent the ordinanza, translated to English?
- Do you think the cover letter is required in my case (as I am technically under limited LtR)?

Thanks so much!

Hi Boa0792!

My case was filed around February 2019. First hearing however wasn't until Feb 2020, which resulted in a loss for me. I appealed and that took almost 2 years to get a positive outcome due to many delays that were beyond my control. Then of course I had to deal with all the other procedures that came with filing my birth at the commune and applying for, and obtaining, my Italian passport.

I sent a Google-translated version of the final court ruling, (which I went through carefully to make sure it was correct) plus emails and WhatsApp messages between myself and my lawyer. These messages spanned a few years, as I needed to prove that I should have been an EU citizen before the deadline to apply for EUSS, but due to delays (mostly covid related) I was unable to apply until just recently. I wanted them to see that I had extenuating circumstances for my delay in applying.

I did add a cover letter, mostly just a broad overview of why I was applying late, and what was involved with obtaining citizenship (court rulings and appeals, registration of birth at the commune, passport application, etc). Then I added in a very detailed list (with screenshots) of all of my emails and texts with my lawyer. These I copied and pasted into one large document, as I believe you have a limit on how many documents you can upload. Of course I also supplied the required proof of my residency in NI since 2018.

Hopefully this helps you. Feel free to ask any other questions you might have.