Permanent residence

Hi,

As EEA citizen (polish) I will be applying for permanent residence card next month. I have moved to London permanently in May 2010 so getting the card should not be a problem. However my concern is that between 2006-2008 and 2010-2011 I have worked here without signing up to WRS (which I was not aware of to be honest). As we know WRS got abolished in 2011 but can it still affect my application? Thanks!

Martinez83 wrote:Hi,

As EEA citizen (polish) I will be applying for permanent residence card next month. I have moved to London permanently in May 2010 so getting the card should not be a problem. However my concern is that between 2006-2008 and 2010-2011 I have worked here without signing up to WRS (which I was not aware of to be honest). As we know WRS got abolished in 2011 but can it still affect my application? Thanks!

Just living in UK is not enough.

As you mentioned you did not register properly for WRS it means your PR clock was not started until WRS was abolished.
So you have lost the time spent (working/studying?) in UK since 2006 or 2010 (whenever it was you came to UK).

If you have been a qualified person since May 2011 (after WRS terminated) then yes, you may have acquired PR by the coming May.

This assumes you have good documentary supporting evidence of exercising treaty rights.
It also assumes any absences from UK since 2011 have been within prescribed limits.

Thanks.

To clarify - I came to UK in October 2006 (taking at uni gap year) and stayed until October 2008 - throughout this time I have worked for the same employer. I have left UK in 2008 to finish my degree and then in 2010 I was suddenly asked to come back to continue my previous employment (I did between 2006-2008). So I came back in May 2010 and am full-time employed since then. I obviously can get all payslips as well as bank statements to confirm that. So my question is - can "illegal" employment before April 2011 affect my application?

Martinez83 wrote:Thanks.

To clarify - I came to UK in October 2006 (taking at uni gap year) and stayed until October 2008 - throughout this time I have worked for the same employer. I have left UK in 2008 to finish my degree and then in 2010 I was suddenly asked to come back to continue my previous employment (I did between 2006-2008). So I came back in May 2010 and am full-time employed since then. I obviously can get all payslips as well as bank statements to confirm that. So my question is - can "illegal" employment before April 2011 affect my application?

No impact for subsequent acquisition and confirmation of PR in or after May 2016, no.
(Interesting to note that, technically, your employer committed an offence under WRS regulations).

Looking ahead, the more significant question is:
how does this 'illegality' (if it was illegality - and I'm not judging it) sit with the naturalisation 'good character' requirements if you have ambitions for the privilege of citizenship.

That is the $64,000 question that you and a whole bunch of other A8 nationals are, I guess, waiting to see in the coming year or so;
(including those who are married to BCs and so can apply a little sooner than May 2017 for citizenship).

We certainly live in "interesting times".

Thanks once again.

Indeed - that is fair enough question. I am definitely considering british citizenship - not because I am concerned about brexit - but because I treat UK as my home and I am not planning to live anywhere else. With that in mind - obviously at least from my personal point of view - it would be very unfair that my "good character" could be wronged by a unawareness of WRS ( surprisingly - my employer is quite serious company so I do sometimes wonder why they never told me about WRS).

In regards to the application itself - should I state my 2006-2008 and 2010-2011 employment or state my employment only from May 2011?

Ps. Just wondering - how could someone work "illegally" yet legally pay thousands of taxes each year.

Martinez83 wrote:Thanks once again.

Indeed - that is fair enough question. I am definitely considering british citizenship - not because I am concerned about brexit - but because I treat UK as my home and I am not planning to live anywhere else. With that in mind - obviously at least from my personal point of view - it would be very unfair that my "good character" could be wronged by a unawareness of WRS ( surprisingly - my employer is quite serious company so I do sometimes wonder why they never told me about WRS).

In regards to the application itself - should I state my 2006-2008 and 2010-2011 employment or state my employment only from May 2011?

Ignorance is unfortunately not necessarily a valid excuse.
It still remains to be seen what happens as the A8 cohort of non-compliant WRS employees works their way towards the holy grail of citizenship. (I don't know the answer and how it sits with 'good character').

Similar question:
http://www.immigrationboards.com/britis ... 04638.html

Your PR clock will have stopped after 2008 (due to your 6 months + break in continuity of residence in UK) so focus on when you returned to UK, 2010+.

Note you don't have to use latest 'monster' PR form (it's not a legal requirement).

You can use earlier (simpler) versions.
Search in forum for such examples.

Indeed - ignorance is not an excuse neverhtheless I hope I won't get punished for lack of knowledge.

Last question - which application version is best to use instead of the latest one?

Also - many thanks for your help - much appriciated.

There are at least two people in the thread linked above who registered late or not at all for WRS and had citizenship approved.

As one person has stated in the thread, WRS was simply a statistics gathering exercise for HO; to get an idea of how many A8 nationals were coming to work in the UK. It seems to be viewed in the same way that lack of CSI is - no breach of law, but obviously doesn't count towards PR clock.

Stand by for advice about which form to use.

Martinez83 wrote:Last question - which application version is best to use instead of the latest one?

Also - many thanks for your help - much appriciated.

You could take a look at this example that a member has compiled by mashing a simpler form with an up to date biometrics page, up to date HO contact and other details:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/128 ... ple_v2.pdf

Suggest try a dry run with your information (& supporting evidence) - see how it shapes up.

A bit late thanks @noajthan

It is 2nd of May so I can finally start my application - wish me luck. As suggested - I will use the simpler form - but I was just wondering what will happen if the details on this form are not sufficient?

Also - 2 quick questions related to form itself:

- employment date - as a start date should I state say 1st May 2011 (abolishment of WRS) or actual starting date which was 1st May 2010

- date last entered to UK - so if I was abroad for a weekend in early March should I put my return date as 8th march 2016?

Martinez83 wrote:A bit late thanks @noajthan

It is 2nd of May so I can finally start my application - wish me luck. As suggested - I will use the simpler form - but I was just wondering what will happen if the details on this form are not sufficient?

Also - 2 quick questions related to form itself:

- employment date - as a start date should I state say 1st May 2011 (abolishment of WRS) or actual starting date which was 1st May 2010

- date last entered to UK - so if I was abroad for a weekend in early March should I put my return date as 8th march 2016?

As will happen anyway (whichever form is used), if caseworker has questions they will contact you.

Work: use real dates. You can add a brief covering paragraph to spell out your qualifying period (but caseworker should work it out anyway).

Travel date - use the real date (whatever it was).

Hi guys,

I am just wondering - how soon will I receive any confirmation that home office has got my application?

I have sent my application 2 weeks ago however I haven't received any response yet - and since I have sent my ID card with application I am bit worried of it being lost. Is there any number which I could call/e-mail I could use to ask have they got it and what is the application progress?

Thanks.

Confirmation of the application being received is normally received after about 3 weeks.

UKVI will not give you updates on the progress of any application until at least 6 months have passed. They are very busy.

Thanks.

In that case 2 additional questions:

A) How will I receive the confirmation? Conventional mail or e-mail? And if it hasn't been received within 3-4 weeks who should I contact?

B) How should the payment on the bank statement looks like? My payment was taken on 25 May and it only states "Euro" which to me seems to be too basic.

Thanks,

M

Anyone can advise?

Thanks.

I received a letter about 4 weeks after sending the application in 2014, I seem to recall it was dated over a week before I got it so I guess they don't post it immediately or at least they didn't back then.

EURO sounds right for bank deduction, it's their European permit department in Liverpool.

Cheers.

Got my confirmation (via e-mail) last week so I am now 100% sure they got my application.
The question is now:

- will they keep contacting me via e-mail whenever they require extra information or will it be by post?

- will it actually take 6 months to review the case? Or if my case is pretty solid (EU national, full time, permanent work for one employer from May 2010 until present) it will be done much quicker?

- if I would like to get my ID card which was sent with application back - how can I do it?

Thanks in advance.

Polite bump.

Martinez83 wrote:Cheers.

Got my confirmation (via e-mail) last week so I am now 100% sure they got my application.
The question is now:

- will they keep contacting me via e-mail whenever they require extra information or will it be by post?

- will it actually take 6 months to review the case? Or if my case is pretty solid (EU national, full time, permanent work for one employer from May 2010 until present) it will be done much quicker?

- if I would like to get my ID card which was sent with application back - how can I do it?

Thanks in advance.

Don't expect much in way of comms from HO.

Track in timeline thread to see other members' current experience.
If you're lucky may be 3-4 months.
Your mileage may vary.

Give it a few weeks then you can request docs back via HO website:
https://www.gov.uk/visa-documents-returned

Hi guys,

as per @noajthan suggestion I have requested my ID back couple weeks ago - despite the fact that over 10 days has passed - I still haven't received my ID nor I haven't heard from HO. What is the next step? How can I find out why my ID is not with me yet or where actually it is?

Btw - as @noajthan said earlier - communication with HO is very bad - no phone numbers to call provided, no updates given whatsoever - honestly I am very surprised that such important department is so behind with - if you can call it - decent "customer service".

Anyone can help?