Naturalisation EEA Route - Specific query

All, thanks for the advice so far.
I have scoured the web but I haven't found a conducive answer to my question.
I came as a student in 2003 (south African passport)
married eea national( Dutch) in September 5th 2007
exercised my right as partner of eea national till now, so did my partner. so after 6 years - i.e date of our wedding 5 th September 2013 - i should be eligible for Naturalisation.

Can I apply a a week early via NCS?
As I was already present in the UK 6 years before on student visa , on the day HO will receive my application.
As far as I know the main criteria is to be present in the UK on the day of application at the start of qualifying period, would HO will exercise discretion?
I want to apply a week early as I am away on work trip 2 week after 6th of September and cannot send my application eventually 3-4 weeks after my qualification period.

Firstly, do you have a document certifying that you have attained permanent residence under EU law? This is not mandatory but may help for a simpler application.

You are right that any legal period of residence in the UK counts towards naturalisation. You could do as you wish - apply early such that the UKBA receives your application on the day of you clock 6 years - OR apply when you return to the UK. This should not be an issue as long as you satisfy all the requirements.

Whichever option you go with make sure that you were physically present in the UK (6 years back) on the very day the UKBA receives your application. So if they receive it on 6 September 2013 then you must have been physically present in the UK on 7 September 2007.

Although you can only apply after 6 years of marriage (as you need 1 year of PR which is only obtained 5 years after your marriage), for naturalisation only the last 5 years before applying count so it would be 5 September 2008 that you would need to have been in the UK (if your application is recieved on the 6th).

You can have an appointment with NCS before and ask them to post only on the 5th.

Thanks for the correction Jambo.

Thanks for the advice guys. Great catch Jambo - I will need to check my passport to see if I was in the UK on that day in 2008- although hard to say as I took EU route in the UK all the time , hence my passport doesn't have UK entry stamps. Need to check if I was out in Europe somewhere.

Plum - No I don't have EEA4, I never got it since for work I had to travel quite a few times and could not bear losing my passport for around 6 months.In retrospect, I should have applied for it last year - as I read in AN form that although its not required, not having PR may delay my naturalisation application.

I will check with NCS if they accommodate my request of sending the application a week after my appointment. I think would entirely depend on the person.

Cheers guys.

Hi Everyone,
I found this forum really great and people are so helpful, I was just wondering if someone can please advise on following situation.

1. My wife is EEA national she has received her PR in January 2013.
2. I am Indian Citizen, and we will complete six years of marriage on 27th October 2013.

We want to apply for naturalization using NCS as we want our passport for traveling. My question is; can we apply 4 weeks in advance before our marriage completes 6 years as we both have been living UK since 2004. And we're living together even before our marriage ceremony.

Second question is that, NCS told me today that we still have to provide the proof of five years of exercising treaty rights even my wife has already got PR as it is different application. I dont't see the point of getting a PR then. Please comment and advise.

Many Thanks

Tyro wrote:Hi Everyone,
I found this forum really great and people are so helpful, I was just wondering if someone can please advise on following situation.

1. My wife is EEA national she has received her PR in January 2013.
2. I am Indian Citizen, and we will complete six years of marriage on 27th October 2013.

We want to apply for naturalization using NCS as we want our passport for traveling. My question is; can we apply 4 weeks in advance before our marriage completes 6 years as we both have been living UK since 2004. And we're living together even before our marriage ceremony.

Second question is that, NCS told me today that we still have to provide the proof of five years of exercising treaty rights even my wife has already got PR as it is different application. I dont't see the point of getting a PR then. Please comment and advise.

Many Thanks

* there is no 28 days rule for naturalisation. You should apply when you qualify. You can have your NCS appointment early and ask NCS to post it when you qualify (in case you will be abroad that time).

* You can only apply 1 year after PR. the PR Card only confirms your status on the date of issue even though you qualify for PR before that date. If you don't want to wait until 1 year after the PR confirmation was issued, you will need to provide the evidence again. The advantage of applying for PR is reducing the risk of refusal without risking the fee.

Many Thanks[/quote]
* there is no 28 days rule for naturalisation. You should apply when you qualify. You can have your NCS appointment early and ask NCS to post it when you qualify (in case you will be abroad that time).

* You can only apply 1 year after PR. the PR Card only confirms your status on the date of issue even though you qualify for PR before that date. If you don't want to wait until 1 year after the PR confirmation was issued, you will need to provide the evidence again. The advantage of applying for PR is reducing the risk of refusal without risking the fee.[/quote]

Hi Jambo, Thanks for your speedy reply. Your opinion has always been spot on and helpful

Please note that my PR application is with Home office since may 2013. It is likely to take 6 month which will be November December this year.

I have been told by NCS that we can both apply for naturalization on completion of our six years marriage.

Also, even we got married in October 2007, I didn't get my eea2 residence card until November 2009, as I was already on HSMP and didn't think necessary to apply eea2 straight away.
Will this creat any complications, although I was married to and living with EEA national, but I had a different residence status for first two years of our marriage.

As you have been told already, having another visa doesn't affect your eligibility for PR (or naturalisation). You ca apply after 6 years of marriage and residence in the UK.

I guess the complication with having a EEA4 application is getting the documents back to support your naturalisation application. In your case ( having a RC valid until 2014, wife with PR card), there isn't much point of applying for EEA4 (if your goal is BC).

Is your wife aware that she doesn't need to apply for BC in order for you to apply? For EEA national, there isn't much advantage of becoming British (apart from the right to vote) and there are some disadvantages (immigration wise as she will be subject to the UK national rules).

Jambo wrote:As you have been told already, having another visa doesn't affect your eligibility for PR (or naturalisation). You ca apply after 6 years of marriage and residence in the UK.

I guess the complication with having a EEA4 application is getting the documents back to support your naturalisation application. In your case ( having a RC valid until 2014, wife with PR card), there isn't much point of applying for EEA4 (if your goal is BC).

Is your wife aware that she doesn't need to apply for BC in order for you to apply? For EEA national, there isn't much advantage of becoming British (apart from the right to vote) and there are some disadvantages (immigration wise as she will be subject to the UK national rules).

I get the point, I think I have unnecessary applied for EEA. What is your opinion on withdrawing Eea4 and Applying for BC in October when our marriage completes 6 years. I can submit my wife's PR as proof her excercising treaty rights.

The point of applying for BC for having the same nationality for both us and for our two kids. Just for peace of mind, as the world is going weird and rules keep changing.

Your opinion is highly valued and appreciated.

I don't see a reason to withdraw the application now. The HO might deal better with the backlog now that they are charging for the applications (I suspect they will get fewer applications).

You can't use your wife PR card in October as she will need to provide evidence of having PR on Octber 2012 and the card only proves that in January 2013 (even of the evidence provided for the application proves it for October). You will need to submit the same evidence again (although adding the PR card might speed up the application).

I get your point on the citizenship. Just wanted to make sure you are aware you are not dependant on your wife applying in order for you to apply.

Jambo wrote:I don't see a reason to withdraw the application now. The HO might deal better with the backlog now that they are charging for the applications (I suspect they will get fewer applications).

You can't use your wife PR card in October as she will need to provide evidence of having PR on Octber 2012 and the card only proves that in January 2013 (even of the evidence provided for the application proves it for October). You will need to submit the same evidence again (although adding the PR card might speed up the application).

I get your point on the citizenship. Just wanted to make sure you are aware you are not dependant on your wife applying in order for you to apply.

Thank you again, I think your point is very clear. There is no harm to submit my wife's PR with BC application, but we will still need to provide evidence of her exercising treaty rights for last six years. I think we can include a covering letter with reference of " no obligation to have PR for BC". I will have to make decision with absolute certainty as it is going to cost us about £3000 for making the application for our family.

I have received my wife's passport, my passport and marriage rectification back after we requested it for getting a traveling document for our new born baby.

Do you know, what HO will do when they will actually look at my Eea4. Will they send my PR on a paper or will they request our documents back.

Thanks again.

If the caseworker doesn't have your passport, the PR will probably be a standalone one. Even if he asks for the passport, it would only take 1-2 weeks to get it back (or just tell the caseworker you are OK with a standalone PR if you prefer not to send the passport).

cool, let's see if I get my PR by September. As all proof of residence and lots more documents are with HO. And I will need these when I apply for nationality in October.
Thanks a lot for your wise advise.