AN for EEA citizen - residency requirements

Hey guys,

I'm hoping someone could clarify this for me. I moved to the UK back in September 2010 and made an EEA PR application in February this year.

Fortunately, my application was approved and received my permanent residency document on April 4th. I'm a bit confused in regards to when I'm mean to apply for the citizenship. In the AN guide, it says that one obtains permanent residency status automatically after 5 years of living in the UK. It also says that "you should normally have held permanent resident status for 12 months before applying for naturalisation". For more info, see page 10: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... r_2016.pdf

My PR application covered everything from day 1 (mid-September 2010) to present. So the question is - do I have to wait until April 2017 (exactly a year from my PR issue date), or can I go ahead and apply now since technically I had held PR status before I was issued the document?

Please share your thoughts

Thanks!

Make a SAR (Subject Access Request) requesting the date on which you have achieved PR status. It's not the date on your Certificate. Your caseworker sets the date, it's recorded on the Home Office systems and this is the date that matters. Once you know it then you're free to apply 12 months after that date.

For example, if they had recorded your PR date as 15/09/2015 (roughly 5 years after your move to the UK), you could apply for British Citizenship straight away.

Go for a SAR, it costs £10 and takes up to 40 days. Best of luck!

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... mmigration

Thanks Dapto!