Naturalisation through EEA route

Hello I have similar question to the one discussed here.

Please can anyone help me with this?

Basically, I would like to apply for British citizenship. I am a Portuguese citizen.
From December 2007 until September 2011 I worked in the UK.
From September 2011 until September 2012 I was a masters student.
From September 2012 until now I have been working in the area I studied during the masters

According to the complex and vague information online, I fulfil all requirements for British naturalisation except one: during the dates I was a student in the UK (1 year) I did not have comprehensive sickness insurance (no valid European health card issued by Portuguese government and no private insurance). I had a EU card but expired in September 2010, so not covering my time as a student in the UK.

According to the caseworker advisor, I did not exercise my EU treaty rights during the time I was a student because I did not have the CSI. Therefore, my British citizenship application would be rejected for this reason. She also told me that I can only exercise my treaty rights from September 2012 when I started working again. This also means that I can only apply for British citizenship from September 2018

I don't understand much about laws and i am confused about this law. I worked before I became a student and afterwards. I paid for my masters with my own savings. I am residing in the UK all the time since I entered in December 2007.

Please could you give me some guidance if there is a way to solve my problem regarding the British citizenship application and the requirement for comprehensive sickness insurance during the time I was a student?

Is there any way I can apply for British nationality despite not having CSI when I was a student?

Thank you in advance for your help

eutobritish wrote:Hello I have similar question to the one discussed here.

Please can anyone help me with this?

Basically, I would like to apply for British citizenship. I am a Portuguese citizen.
From December 2007 until September 2011 I worked in the UK.
From September 2011 until September 2012 I was a masters student.
From September 2012 until now I have been working in the area I studied during the masters

According to the complex and vague information online, I fulfil all requirements for British naturalisation except one: during the dates I was a student in the UK (1 year) I did not have comprehensive sickness insurance (no valid European health card issued by Portuguese government and no private insurance). I had a EU card but expired in September 2010, so not covering my time as a student in the UK

...

Please could you give me some guidance if there is a way to solve my problem regarding the British citizenship application and the requirement for comprehensive sickness insurance during the time I was a student?

Is there any way I can apply for British nationality despite not having CSI when I was a student?

Thank you in advance for your help

Two long shots:

1) You could ask the Portugese health service if there is any sort of special/reciprocal arrangement in place with UK (NHS) that would have covered you over the period in question.
If so you would need a document or letter as evidence.

2) Are you in a position to claim PR as a family member of an EEA national who is exercising treaty rights & has PR?

Otherwise it appears the NCS advice is, sadly, correct.

Thank you so much for your reply.

I am not sure if a statement from the Portuguese health service that I was covered for the period I was a student is possible. I will try this.

The reason I am saying that I am not sure if it's possible to request such statement of insurance from Portugal is because I have not done any national contributions in my country of origin and only in the UK! I was working for about 4.5 years in the UK before I started studying full time.
Please could you tell me exactly what the letter needs to say? Could the letter substitute for sure the documents required (ie the European health card or form S1)?

About your second point I am not clear. I live with my boyfriend for about 6.5 years now. My boyfriend is British for a very long time. During the time I was studying I lived with him, so I did not pay rent and managed by living based on my own savings. He is currently self sufficient and I am a worker.
Would this situation work to get the PR? Please could you give me more indication on that?

I know that with PR certificate I don't need to show CSI when I apply for British citizenship. So, probably the second option seems a viable low risk option.

Again, thanks for helping me. I really appreciate it.

eutobritish wrote:Thank you so much for your reply.

I am not sure if a statement from the Portuguese health service that I was covered for the period I was a student is possible. I will try this.

The reason I am saying that I am not sure if it's possible to request such statement of insurance from Portugal is because I have not done any national contributions in my country of origin and only in the UK! I was working for about 4.5 years in the UK before I started studying full time.
Please could you tell me exactly what the letter needs to say? Could the letter substitute for sure the documents required (ie the European health card or form S1)?

About your second point I am not clear. I live with my boyfriend for about 6.5 years now. My boyfriend is British for a very long time. During the time I was studying I lived with him, so I did not pay rent and managed by living based on my own savings. He is currently self sufficient and I am a worker.
Would this situation work to get the PR? Please could you give me more indication on that?

I know that with PR certificate I don't need to show CSI when I apply for British citizenship. So, probably the second option seems a viable low risk option.

Again, thanks for helping me. I really appreciate it.

Hello eutobritish,

The letter would have to state something along the lines of:

he or she is validly entitled, in accordance with Regulation 883/2004 EC on the coordination of social security systems, to access NHS healthcare (as in such cases the UK is able to be reimbursed for the cost of that care by the home Member State)

Ref: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... ndix_6.pdf

If your boyfriend is British then I do not think you can acquire PR as the family member of an EEA national through him.

So if all else fails you will need to acquire PR in your own right by exercising treaty rights for 5 years as a qualified person in one of the accepted categories (student with CSI, worker, etc).

Hi noajthan,

Just to clarify

Please could you confirm that this is what the letter needs to say this

(My name) is validly entitled, in accordance with Regulation 883/2004 EC on the coordination of social security systems, to access NHS healthcare (as in such cases the UK is able to be reimbursed for the cost of that care by the Portugal State).

Is there anything else that the letter needs to include?

You mentioned I can acquire PR in my own right by exercising treaty rights for 5 years as a qualified person in one of the accepted categories. I have been a full time worker for 6.5 years and only for 1 year I was a student. As a student I don't have evidence yet of CSI.
But it seems I need to exercise my EU treaty rights continuously in order to be entitled to PR. According to the advisor, I studied from September 2011 to September 2012 and because I do not have csi I broke my treaty rights. That means my treaty rights start from the time I started working again in September 2012. This also means that I can only apply for PR in September 2017 and/or British citizenship 2018.
Is this right? Or can I still apply now for PR?
If I get the PR now then according to British citizenship rules, I don't need to show CSI and only a certificate of PR.
Is this right?

Thanks

eutobritish wrote:Hi noajthan,

Just to clarify

Please could you confirm that this is what the letter needs to say this

...

Is there anything else that the letter needs to include?

You mentioned I can acquire PR in my own right by exercising treaty rights for 5 years as a qualified person in one of the accepted categories. I have been a full time worker for 6.5 years and only for 1 year I was a student. As a student I don't have evidence yet of CSI.

...

If I get the PR now then according to British citizenship rules, I don't need to show CSI and only a certificate of PR.
Is this right?

Thanks

The paragraph is just a suggestion of what topic & facts such a letter should cover.

Rationale: I have seen somewhere on a Gov UK guidance or website (can't find the link now) information indicating that a reciprocal health agreement may be accepted in lieu of CSI/foreign EHIC card.

If there is such an agreement in place with Portugal then the relevant healthcare authority would have to write such a letter.
They could write it in whatever format they wished to use but I suggest the gist of the letter would have to cover that paragraph.

But it seems I need to exercise my EU treaty rights continuously in order to be entitled to PR. According to the advisor, I studied from September 2011 to September 2012 and because I do not have csi I broke my treaty rights. That means my treaty rights start from the time I started working again in September 2012. This also means that I can only apply for PR in September 2017 and/or British citizenship 2018.
Is this right? Or can I still apply now for PR?

Yes I think the adviser is correct.

Unfortunately your period of studying with no CSI has reset your PR clock.
It started again in 2012.
PR should be acquired automatically by 2017 if you continue as a worker or other 'qualified person'.

As an EEA national not married to a BC you need to hold settled status (PR) in UK for 12 months so could then apply for citizenship in 2018;
(assuming all other requirements are also met).

Correct: As a worker exercising treaty rights here in UK you don't need CSI.
(If you reverted to being a student or became a self-sufficient person you would need CSI to be validly exercising treaty rights).

Hope it makes sense.
Good luck.

Hi noajthan

Unfortunately, there is no reciprocal health agreement between UK and Portugal.

I think I will attempt to get a letter from Portuguese social security. As you mentioned, this is a long shot, with this letter I may or may not be successful in getting BC.

I am considering whether I should try to get the PR certificate first using the letter. If I don't get it then, I only lose £65. If I get the PR certificate then I can apply for British citizenship without a need to show CSI.

Otherwise, I would have to wait 3 more years.

I have also read that in certain cases if the job I did previously I started studying my MSc are related, then I can be classified as a worker even though I was studying. The job I had previous I started my MSc and my MSc are vaguely related with health but they are very different. One could argue they are very unrelated subjects. So, I don't think I could argue that I could be classified as a worker under this perspective.

One more question: is there any advantage to marry with my boyfriend who is British in order to get PR/British nationality as EU citizen? We have been planning to get married but I have been postponing it because I thought it would be better to become British before getting married for bureaucratic reasons (ie I did not have to mention him during the process of naturalisation). I must mention that my boyfriend is self sufficient (not economically active) and I am the one who supports him financially even though he owes the property we live in. So is there any advantage for an EU citizen to get married with British citizen in terms of satisfying the requirements for British citizenship application?

Thanks

eutobritish wrote:Hi noajthan

Unfortunately, there is no reciprocal health agreement between UK and Portugal.

I think I will attempt to get a letter from Portuguese social security. As you mentioned, this is a long shot, with this letter I may or may not be successful in getting BC.

I am considering whether I should try to get the PR certificate first using the letter. If I don't get it then, I only lose £65. If I get the PR certificate then I can apply for British citizenship without a need to show CSI.

Otherwise, I would have to wait 3 more years.

I have also read that in certain cases if the job I did previously I started studying my MSc are related, then I can be classified as a worker even though I was studying. The job I had previous I started my MSc and my MSc are vaguely related with health but they are very different. One could argue they are very unrelated subjects. So, I don't think I could argue that I could be classified as a worker under this perspective.

One more question: is there any advantage to marry with my boyfriend who is British in order to get PR/British nationality as EU citizen? We have been planning to get married but I have been postponing it because I thought it would be better to become British before getting married for bureaucratic reasons (ie I did not have to mention him during the process of naturalisation). I must mention that my boyfriend is self sufficient (not economically active) and I am the one who supports him financially even though he owes the property we live in. So is there any advantage for an EU citizen to get married with British citizen in terms of satisfying the requirements for British citizenship application?

Thanks

Applying for confirmation of PR first would be very prudent as it reduces risk & uncertainty.

There is a slight reason to marry for immigration purposes. There are better reasons ofcourse
As an EEA national it will still take you 5 years to achieve settled status (PR) in UK in your own right.
The only benefit is there would be no need to hold settled status for an additional 12 months if you were to become the spouse of a BC (soon after acquiring PR).