EUSS BC application - CSI/Treaty rights case

[cellardoor]

Dear all,
Having read through much of the forum, I was wondering if I could share my case with you prior to application as I have not found anecdotes that quite relate to me. I am consulting with an immigration lawyer later in the week but have seen that there is such a wealth of knowledge here that I would be very grateful if anyone would be able to point me in a direction/further information before I meet them.

I am a dual national (Brazil and EU) living in the UK for 10 years now (obtained EUSS December 2018 as an NHS worker). I came in 2010 as a medical student and only ever had Brazilian private health insurance that would not be eligible for CSI (I have already established this). I started work on August 2016 and have been in continuous full-time NHS employment since. This leaves me with about the first ten months in my 5 year pre-application history whereby I do not fulfil the CSI requirement. I need to apply before 31st December or else I would lose my EU citizenship.

My questions:
1. During those ten months, I never actually spent any continuous period longer than three months in the UK (one period was exactly three months), so would I still require CSI as technically I wasn't exercising treaty rights but rather enjoying visa-free travel (whilst resident here)?

2. My home country is Brazil and I have never lived anywhere other than the UK in the EU. Brazil has a national health service that was actually modelled on the NHS and is free at the point of care including to non-resident foreigners. I know this isn't quite what the HO specify as "reciprocal agreement" (i.e. no one pays the other country back should a foreigner need it but it is still accessible) but would this be something that could be argued in a cover letter both in terms of me having a) state-funded healthcare available to me and b) a "reciprocal" situation?

3. I have spent 101 days outside of the UK in the last year due to the death of my father - I was planning to apply when this starts "counting down" early November to avoid any unecessary complications with the HO before I came upon the CSI problem. Is it advisable to wait until I am at 90 days or does it not make a difference as far as discretion can be applied?

Any expertise with the above would be much appreciated!
Many thanks already!

[Zerubbabel]

I don't recommend arguing during the application but only if you are refused and apply for reconsideration. When you apply for reconsideration, you are given the option to put forward your arguments.

For your EU citizenship, there are some countries such as Germany that don't accept or restrict dual citizenship. This means if you apply for the citizenship of non-EU country, the German citizenship is lost.

Now, you have to be careful here. The UK is already a non-EU country. I don't know if for citizenship purposes, Germany and similar countries considers the UK as part of the EU during the transition period. You need to double check before proceeding.

Other thing you may want to consider: You are not British when you apply for citizenship but when you take the oath. This is when they give you your citizenship certificate. If you apply now, in Nov or Dec, you will probably get it in 2021 and it will be dated 2021. So technically, you would have naturalised in 2021 not 2020.

If your EU citizenship is important for you, check these points before. Citizenship code is very hard and usually inflexible.

[alterhase58]

In the case of Germany you will retain German citizenship if you are either approved or have applied for naturalisation by 31. December 2020.

[cellardoor]

I don't recommend arguing during the application but only if you are refused and apply for reconsideration. When you apply for reconsideration, you are given the option to put forward your arguments.

For your EU citizenship, there are some countries such as Germany that don't accept or restrict dual citizenship. This means if you apply for the citizenship of non-EU country, the German citizenship is lost.

Now, you have to be careful here. The UK is already a non-EU country. I don't know if for citizenship purposes, Germany and similar countries considers the UK as part of the EU during the transition period. You need to double check before proceeding.

Other thing you may want to consider: You are not British when you apply for citizenship but when you take the oath. This is when they give you your citizenship certificate. If you apply now, in Nov or Dec, you will probably get it in 2021 and it will be dated 2021. So technically, you would have naturalised in 2021 not 2020.

If your EU citizenship is important for you, check these points before. Citizenship code is very hard and usually inflexible.

Thank you for your very considered response. Indeed, I have established that submitting the application before the 31st December will allow me to retain the German citizenship as has been helpfully pointed out below.

My main concerns are with regards to the CSI/ final year absence issues which are the only things I am aware of that may challenge my application.