Advice on British citizenship (vs EEA4) for non-EEA national

Hi,

I have a query regarding eligibility and process for British citizenship in context of EEA regulations.

I am a non-EEA national married to EEA national. I came to UK in Jan 2006 on a work permit and my spouse followed a month later (Feb 2006). Since then we have continued to live in the UK and I received the EEA Residence permit (via form EEA2) in Jan 2008, expiring in Jan 2013. My spouse has been exercising her treaty rights via self-employment and permanent employment throughout this period.

Now that I have been in the UK for 5 years and 10 months, I assume that I automatically qualified for permanent residence at the end of 5 years i.e. Jan 2011. I have read several forums and looked at the UKBA regulations on EEA/British Citizenship but I am unclear on whether I can apply for British Citizenship directly next year in Jan 2012 i.e. at the end of my 6 year stay here OR do I have to first apply for permanent residence via EEA4 application. The UKBA site as well as forums provide conflicting information on this.

What I have managed to glean is that permanent residence proof (via EEA4 form) will allow me to make a stronger case for British citizenship (with less evidence needed) but I don’t feel like wasting another 5-6 months to get the permanent residence stamp through Home Office.

Any advice on this or examples from individuals in similar situation would be very helpful.

Thanks
J

P.s. Does it make sense to have a lawyer/immigration adviser help or process the application in this case?

Yes, you can apply directly but consider that your application will fail if the naturalisation team cannot establish that you indeed have obtained PR. It may be safer to have PR confirmed beforehand as the PR application is for free.

As said, you can apply directly and the form for naturalisation applications (form AN) has a specific section (2.4) for these cases. The Booklet AN (see page 33 onwards) is quite clear on that.

You can apply on the 6th anniversary after you have been living in the UK under EEA regulations. This means after your wife started exercising treaty rights. Not you. So some time after Feb 2012 depending on your wife activities.

As your case is not a standard one (a switch from WP to EEA during the 6 years), I suggest you add a cover letter explaining why you have obtained the PR automatically. There is no need to involve a lawyer. Just make sure you provide the needed evidence (5 P60's is the simplest if your wife worked throughout the period) and a cover letter.

How will applying for a PR card waste 6 months? You can go on and continue living your life in the mean time. And you can request (with the application) that your passport be immediately returned to you.

Is there a downside, other than having to fill out another form?

Thank you all for your valuable input. I will read the AN guidance document to get some more clarity on this.

When I said it will waste 5-6 months, that was in context of having to wait to apply for BC till PR is done (as I understand from reading the boards, time for EE4 varies from 2–7 months). Or do you think I can apply for BC while EE4 is in progress?

Apply now for your PR card. Ask for the passport to be returned to you immediately. The application is free.

In the mean time do the life in the UK "test" and anything else you need to arrange.

Hopefully you will already have the PR "card" by the time you want to apply. If not it might be worth waiting until you get the PR card. But worst case you just apply for citizenship like you would otherwise have had to do.

Remember that you can not apply for citizenship until you have been in the UK for 6 years (5+1).

Please note that if you don't wait and apply 1 year after the PR sticker date, you will need to provide the PR evidence again even if you send the PR with the application.

This is because the PR confirmation reflects your status at that date and if you claim to have gained PR earlier, you need to prove it.