when to apply BC

[eid123]

Dear Expert,

I am sure this question is been asked before. My parents EEA family member have been almost for 6 years in UK this coming September been granted settled status just recently this year July 2020 as I have read that if you have been using treaty rights for 6 years and you have settled status you are eligible for naturalisation because you were immigration free after 5 years in uk according to EU law .

Can they apply BC now and if not when they can apply.
Your opinion and help appreciated.

Thanks a lot.

[CR001]

The requirement also clearly states that they need to hold settled status for 12 months before they can apply for citizenship, unless an applicant is married to a British citizen.

So no, they are not eligible to apply now if they only got settled status this month. They have to wait till July next year.

Settled status is granted under the UK immigration rules, appendix EU and not the EU rules.

The EU rules you are referring to is the document certifying PR, which is attained under the UE rule/regulations.

[secret.simon]

I have read that if you have been using treaty rights for 6 years and you have settled status you are eligible for naturalisation because you were immigration free after 5 years in uk according to EU law .

To go down this route, your parents would need to apply for a PR Card under the EEA regulations, proving that the EEA citizen sponsor has been exercising treaty rights from 2014 to 2019 and that they remained dependent on the EEA citizen sponsor for that time.

Keep in mind that the documentation requirements for the EEA Regulations is more rigorous than that for Settled Status.

Then, if they got a PR Card that was back-dated by one year, they could apply for British citizenship now.

Alternatively, if they want to rely on Settled Status rather than applying for PR Card, they need to wait for one year from the date of the grant of Settled Status (which is not back-dated).