British Citizenship for non-EEA Family Member

[Keyidea]

Hello and hope you are well.
Need hopefully simple suggestion as didn't find an answer to this question in publications.
I plan to apply for British citizenship in a couple of months after 3 years in the UK and 3.5 years in marriage.
I came to the UK by the route of "non-EEA family member of EEA citizen" (we married and lived in France, then moved to the UK), however my husband is British citizen by birth.
I have 5 years residence permit as a family member of EEA citizen.
I am not sure if residence status as a family member of EEA citizen differs from such status of a family member of British citizen, and as I came to the UK by this route - can I apply for British citizenship after 3 years in the UK or should I wait 5 years?
Thank you in advance!
All the best!

[Jambo]

Naturalisation requires PR/ILR. This is only obtained after 5 years of residence in the UK under the EEA Regulations (and the new UK immigration rules as well) so you will need to wait.

The 3 years of residence for naturalisation is relevant to the requirements i.e. although you can only apply with PR (after 5 years) only the last 3 years are relevant for the residence requirements (absences etc).

[Keyidea]

Dear Jambo,
Thank you for your quick responce.
It's ok to wait of course, I was slightly confused by the following link, let me ask for further clarification..

I am referring to this link:
https://www.gov.uk/becoming-a-british-c ... sh-citizen
where it is stated that spouse of British citizen can apply for citizenship in 3 years:

"If you’re married to, or the civil partner of, a British citizen, you can apply for citizenship if:
you’re 18 or over, of sound mind, of good character
you’ve met the knowledge of English and life in the UK requirements
you’ve been granted indefinite leave to stay in the UK (or permanent residence if you’re an EEA national) - this means there’s no specific date that you have to leave
Unless your spouse or civil partner works abroad either for the UK government or for an organisation closely linked to government, you must usually also have:
lived in the UK for at least the 3 years before your application is received..."

Does it mean if I apply for ILR I will be able then to apply for the citizenship earlier?

Thank you

[Jambo]

You can't apply for ILR if you are on the EEA route. ILR is under the UK (expensive) spouse route. You can't switch route (or to be precise, if you switch you start from zero again).

[Keyidea]

Thank you Jambo.

Regarding the documents provided when applying - I am self-employed and have an active company with all the necessary documentation (accountant, taxes, etc)
My husband is self-employed, his company is registered at CompaniesHouse, however it is currently marked as dormant in HRMC records.
Does it create a problem for application?
When applying do I need to present his employment history as well (though he is a British citizen) or my employment record is enough for application?
What would you suggest in situation when the company is dormant?
Thank you so much!

[Jambo]

As you entered the UK under Surinder Singh (EU route), what you or your British partner do in the UK is irrelevant. Its the activities in France that matter (the ones you used for the 5 years RC).

[Keyidea]

Wow.. this is new information.. and it's good that I am checking everything in advance )) thank you!

Let me double-check.
- We got married in France in June 2011.
I was full-time student, and my husband never declared any revenues in France
- We moved to the UK in January 2012
Since then I was employed, and he has UK Ltd which is stated as dormant.

Would this create a problem for application? Even if he is a British citizen?
What would you recommend to do in this case?
Thank you

[Jambo]

How have you obtained a 5 years RC if your partner didn't work in France? On what basis did you apply?

[Keyidea]

We had common rental contract, provided bank statements (no tax was paid though), I also worked before the marriage and provided the payslips
Would normally bank statements be considered as the proof of employment?

[Jambo]

Did your British partner work in France? Whether he paid tax is a different issue. The question is whether he was employed/self employed. If not, then you should have not been issued with a 5 years Residence Card under the EEA Regulations. It could be that they mistaken your payslips as his?

If the RC was issued by mistake, you might have issues further down the line or you might get lucky and no one will check on what basis this was granted.

[Keyidea]

He stated as he was self-employed, and showed his bank statements only. I believe he also registered his company but it was less than 1 year old.
On application - will they demand French documents again?

Another question: we more often now talk about divorce as he wants to leave to New Zealand and I have my life here and not sure I want to go so far from the continent.
In case our lives split apart and as I understand I will need to apply for Retained Leave to Remain. If this happens - which documents from his side will I need (in case of divorce).
Thank you

[Jambo]

In the past the HO was asking for the overseas proof for every application. They have recently changed this policy so if you have made an application and provide the evidence once, they don't need it again.

If you get divorced and you have been married for 3 years and lived in the UK for 1 year, then you can apply to retain your rights on your own. The HO should not need any evidence from him apart from proving he has been a resident in the UK for at least 1 year (after marriage).