My immigration status from date of entry in UK is:
- September 2012 - February 2019: Tier 4 visa
- February 2019 - June 2019: Extended family member of EEA national biometric residence card. I had no comprehensive sickness insurance (CSI) but my partner (later wife) was an employee
- June 2019 - present: Settled Status
It has been 1 year since my Settled Status, so I want to apply for British citizenship. But I have some reservations now because of the requirement that I need to be lawfully residing in the UK for 5 years prior to my naturalisation application. This concerns 2 chapters in my immigration status:
- During my period as an extended family member of EEA national, I did not have CSI. However, my wife was (and still is) an employee that did not require a CSI. Does that mean that I also did not need CSI for that period? I have called an immigration charity (Here For Good) and they said this should not be a problem as the CSI requirement depended on my wife (whom did not need it)
- During my period as a Tier 4 student, was I lawfully residing in the UK? I shouldn't need a CSI during this time as I was not an EU/EEA national (right?). But I wonder why the 5-year ILR route does not consider Tier 4 as an eligibility criterion; is it because Tier 4 students are not lawfully resident?
Any clarification is greatly appreciated.
