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Hi,

I am an eu national, have been working in the UK full time since April 2007. I intend to apply for UK citizenship next April. Can someone tell me how gaps in employment are treated? I. E. If i change jobs and I leave a week between the 2 jobs. I don't have any gaps so far, but I thought it's likely in the future and was curious.

Does it not matter as I already have permanent resident status? Or at least I assume i do

A. A few weeks gap doesn't matter.
B. in your case, if you exercised treaty rights for 5 years, it won't matter even if you stop working.

See Q5 in Citizenship FAQs - Common Questions - Read before posting.

MSaxp wrote:If i change jobs and I leave a week between the 2 jobs. I don't have any gaps so far, but I thought it's likely in the future and was curious.

Does it not matter as I already have permanent resident status? Or at least I assume i do

I got confirmation of PR through EEA3 with 2 periods as job seeker, 1 months after my first entry, and then 2 and half months in between jobs (for most of which I was even abroad, due my wedding and subsequent honeymoon).

If you have been working since April 2007 without breaks, you already have PR.

MSaxp wrote:I am an eu national, have been working in the UK full time since April 2007. I intend to apply for UK citizenship next April.

As a side note, the UKBA usually raise their fees in April. If I had moved in UK in March 2007, perhaps to look for a job, I'd consider applying in March.

Also, I would probably consider taking the Life in the UK test now.

I've heard Cameron intends to change the test. Is it likely if I pass it in January, it wont be valid for long? With regards to the actual application, I want to send it once I have the full 6 years, so i guess it will take me to may

MSaxp wrote:I've heard Cameron intends to change the test. Is it likely if I pass it in January, it wont be valid for long? With regards to the actual application, I want to send it once I have the full 6 years

True, fortunately May finally wants to include more history. While these changes have not been implemented just yet, they can come into force any minute now. However, the test is, once passed, valid for life. If you don't like history, get a move on.

Don't worry too much about the April increases in fees. Apart from the price hike in 2010, they are normally not that bad. Last year the fee was £836, this year it is £851 (that is less than 2% increase, well below the inflation rate). So in all likelihood the fee will still be below £900 next year.