Change of ILR category/route during BC application process

[ariskar]

Hello.

My spouse has ILR under the Refugee Settlement route.

She applied for EU Settled status under the EUSS scheme.

This application was taking too long and decided to apply for Naturalisation on the basis of ILR (Refugee) + marriage to British Citizen, while the EUSS application was pending.

The British citizenship application is still ongoing, however my spouse obtained a Biometric Residence Card with EU Settled status.

Is this a relevant change of circumstances that needs to inform the Nationality caseworkers?

In reality the eligibility (as of the date of application and as of today) is not affected by the grant of the EU Settled status.

Any advice would be welcome.

[zimba]

A person with ILR already has settled status, granted under UK immigration rules. Applying again for settled status under EU settlement scheme is pointless and redundant for such a person. The EU settlement scheme guidelines are very clearly on this. EU settlement scheme should only be used for EEA citizens and their family members who are here under EEA rules and NOT the residents who are here under the UK immigration rules e.g. ILR holders, refugees or a non-EEA visa holder. This changes nothing regarding the pending BC application which simply requires the applicant to have 'settled' status if married to a British citizen. I do not believe such change needs to be reported as your wife was already a settled person.

[ariskar]

A person with ILR already has settled status, granted under UK immigration rules. Applying again for settled status under EU settlement scheme is pointless and redundant for such a person. The EU settlement scheme guidelines are very clearly on this. EU settlement scheme should only be used for EEA citizens and their family members who are here under EEA rules and NOT the residents who are here under the UK immigration rules e.g. ILR holders, refugees or a non-EEA visa holder. This changes nothing regarding the pending BC application which simply requires the applicant to have 'settled' status if married to a British citizen. I do not believe such change needs to be reported as your wife was already a settled person.

Thank you Zimba, I appreciate your point of view, however this is a fact in our case (my spouse currently holds two ILR statuses (BRP - settlement refugee & BRC EU Settled Status). As it seems one doesn't cancel the other.

You do not need to be under EEA rules in the UK in order to be eligible to apply for EU settled or pre-settled status. For instance applicants married to Settled EU citizens who are in the UK under LR routes (for instance 10 year route) can under certain rules shorten their path to settlement/ILR by applying for a EUSS status. Moreover, this is free and provides additional statutory protection and also has benefits for returning residents (ILR holders) who can be absent for up to 5 years instead of 2 without losing the ILR/settled status.

Also statistically (look at recent timelines in this forum), SET(P) refugee/statelesness route ILR holders have to wait on average significantly longer time for a BC naturalisation decision to be made (this is a fact). Swapping a refugee settlement ILR for a EUSS settled status for free is a no-brainer for someone wishing to naturalise as BC and increase their chances that their case would be dealt within the 6 month service standard. I do not know if this is due to different treatment (more rigorous checks), the fact that people settled under refugee routes have more complex immigration history or higher conviction/other complex statistics than average BC naturalisation applicants, or any other reason.

The question is if this EU settled status grant while BC naturalisation is in progress has to be reported or not. Thank you for sharing your opinion.

[zimba]

Thank you Zimba, I appreciate your point of view, however this is a fact in our case (my spouse currently holds two ILR statuses (BRP - settlement refugee & BRC EU Settled Status). As it seems one doesn't cancel the other.

I never said they cancel each other, I said it is redundant.

You do not need to be under EEA rules in the UK in order to be eligible to apply for EU settled or pre-settled status. For instance applicants married to Settled EU citizens who are in the UK under LR routes (for instance 10 year route) can under certain rules shorten their path to settlement/ILR by applying for a EU Settlement Scheme status. Moreover, this is free and provides additional statutory protection and also has benefits for returning residents (ILR holders) who can be absent for up to 5 years instead of 2 without losing the ILR/settled status.

I didn't say you must be under EEA rules to apply for this. I said it is intended for EEA citizens and their family members who are often here under the EEA rules. Nothing stops you from moving between the two paths but they both lead to settled status legally in the UK.

Also statistically (look at recent timelines in this forum), SET(P) refugee/statelesness route ILR holders have to wait on average significantly longer time for a BC naturalisation decision to be made (this is a fact). Swapping a refugee settlement ILR for a EU Settlement Scheme settled status for free is a no-brainer for someone wishing to naturalise as BC and increase their chances that their case would be dealt within the 6 month service standard. I do not know if this is due to different treatment (more rigorous checks), the fact that people settled under refugee routes have more complex immigration history or higher conviction/other complex statistics than average BC naturalisation applicants, or any other reason.

That is a complete conjecture. There is no swapping between two settled status. How settled status was acquired is not relevant under the nationality law. The naturalisation applications are all discretionary and all of your details is considered. Simply applying under the EU settlement scheme will not change the background checks. The refugees may be subject to more scrutiny as some have used deception to get their refugee status

The question is if this EU settled status grant while BC naturalisation is in progress has to be reported or not. Thank you for sharing your opinion.

No