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My husband (after a long battle) finally received confirmation of his PR under the European rules two weeks ago. We married in April 2007 but he reckons that he should be eligible to apply for naturalisation now by submitting his PR card and proof of him living here for past 5 years. Is this correct?

Having read the FAQs, I was under the impression that he can apply now if he wishes, but that even though he automatically became a permanent resident in April 2012 he would need to wait until he has held his permanent residence card for 1 year before he can apply for naturalisation without submitting proof of me (his EEA spouse) having exercised treaty rights or holding PR herself.

Very confused! Also keen to hear your advice because my husband has already booked an appointment with the local NCS and I don't want us to waste money and his application for naturalisation to be rejected.

It might seem confusig but the logic is simple.

The PR Confirmation card/vignette has only the issue date on it. It confirms that on that date you had PR. it doesn't state when your PR was (automatically) obtained. Naturalisation requires 1 year of PR (if not married to BC). The caseworker can't tell from the PR card if you have met this requirement or not unless the issue date is more than 1 year ago.

In your partner case, I would not wait. Submit now together with your passport (with the ILR in it), evidence of residence for your partner and explain the case on page 13 (basically saying he has applied last year and it took the HO 13 months to issue the PR). I would also attach his PR to the application as it might help the caseworker not to examine the application for long.