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Hi there, hoping that someone can shed some light on this. My wife (EU) applied for citizenship by marriage in December after she triggered the 3 year residency in London. She just got refused, according to the letter: "as you have not provided a document certifying permanent residence or a permanent residence card issued by the Home Office."

I tend to think I'm quite good with details and had read the requirements for this specific application (married to a british citizen after 3 years residence) a million times; and below is what I came across every time. Since she is a EU national, I was applying under the first option below "indefinite leave to remain". We provided bank statements, university welcome letters, passport entry date, university transcripts, work contract, etc, to prove that she had indeed been here for 3 years.

To apply as the spouse or civil partner of a British citizen you must have lived in the UK for the last 3 years. You’ll also need to have one of the following:

indefinite leave to remain
settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme
a permanent residence document to confirm you have permanent residence status
If you do, you’ll be eligible to apply for citizenship immediately.

Nowhere throughout the application nor on the documents needed checklist was there mention that she needed to apply and provide the permanent residence card (which obviously was the case when I applied 2 years ago as a 5 year EU national).

Did I completely mess it up myself? was this meant to be clear all the way? Understand there's no way I can recover the fees now.. Does she now need to apply for the blue permanent card and then start over the citizenship application once she gets the document? Thanks and sorry for the long post!

She needs EITHER a document certifying permanent residence OR she needs to hold Settled Status under Appendix EU. Both are applications she has to make after 5 years residence.

If she doesn't hold either of the above, which appears to be the case if she has only been resident in the UK for 3 years, then the refusal is correct.

Did I completely mess it up myself?

Yes.

was this meant to be clear all the way?

To qualify for citizenship either based on 3 years residence or 5 years residence, it is mandatory to hold PR or ILR/Settled Status.

Understand there's no way I can recover the fees now.. Does she now need to apply for the blue permanent card and then start over the citizenship application once she gets the document?

She can apply for Settled Status if she has 5 years residence or apply for the Document Certifying PR if she has 5 years residence as a qualified person exercising treaty rights.

To apply as the spouse or civil partner of a British citizen you must have lived in the UK for the last 3 years. You’ll also need to have one of the following:

indefinite leave to remain
settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme
a permanent residence document to confirm you have permanent residence status
If you do, you’ll be eligible to apply for citizenship immediately.

Nowhere throughout the application nor on the documents needed checklist was there mention that she needed to apply and provide the permanent residence card (which obviously was the case when I applied 2 years ago as a 5 year EU national).

the question would have been asked in the form, ie date of PR or ILR/Settled status. What did you put in the form if she doesn't hold either??

thanks for your reply, but I'm still confused about this:

To apply as the spouse or civil partner of a British citizen you must have lived in the UK for the last 3 years. You’ll also need to have one of the following:

- indefinite leave to remain


That's exactly what she's got, "indefinite leave to remain". Nowhere (that I've seen at least) it was mentioned that she needed a permanent residence card. From the above I understood that she needed to show a) the EU passport b) proof that's she's been here for 3 years (we provided work contract, university transcript, welcome letter, bank statements).

That's the bit that confuses me.

Did she provide evidence of her Indefinite Leave to Remain?

Yes, an Italian passport, together w/ proof to show she had been here for 3+ years (University docs, work docs, bank statements).

No, not the Italian passport. The Italian passport is not an ILR.

Thanks. Then that must be what I misunderstood..
What exactly does she need to apply for then? a permanent residence card? (the blue cardboard one?)

From what I've just read, it seems she needs to apply for ‘settled status’ from the EU Settlement Scheme, and then include that document in the application. Does that make sense? Silly me, what a waste of £1,300!!!

Update: I got told the following:

"This three-year residence period does not affect the separate requirement to prove that you are settled. In practice, everyone who wants to become a British citizen needs to have lived in the UK for five years, as it takes that long to get settlement."

so, even though every website says you only need to have lived 3 years in the UK if you are married to a British Citizen, in practice it doesnt work because it takes 5 years to get the new Settled Status. Bit contradicting.. I suppose she has to apply for the pre-settled first, and one she reaches 5 years she can apply to the citizenship straight away.

MrJackieArg wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 05, 2020 3:11 pm

Update: I got told the following:

"This three-year residence period does not affect the separate requirement to prove that you are settled. In practice, everyone who wants to become a British citizen needs to have lived in the UK for five years, as it takes that long to get settlement."

so, even though every website says you only need to have lived 3 years in the UK if you are married to a British Citizen, in practice it doesnt work because it takes 5 years to get the new Settled Status. Bit contradicting.. I suppose she has to apply for the pre-settled first, and one she reaches 5 years she can apply to the citizenship straight away.

It does not say you only need to live here for 3 years. All the website state very clearly that Indefinite Leave to Remain, settled status or PR is required, and require 5 years residence.

Note that Nationality LAW is completely separate and independent to UK immigration RULES and EU RULES.

The Section 6(2) Nationality Act makes provision for a spouse of a British citizen to apply for BC with 3 years residence, without holding ILR/Settled/PR for 12 months, provided they hold PR/ILR/Settled status at the time they apply for citizenship. It takes 5 years for everyone now to get ILR/PR/Settled status and has been the case for a long time.

Prior to 9th July 2012, a spouse of a British citizen received a spouse visa for 2 years, then had to hold ILR for 1 year before applying for citizenship (see where the 6(2) 3 years residence plus ILR as spouse of BC comes from)!!

You have simply (as many others have) misunderstood the requirements or misinterpreted the rules.

Thanks @CR001, understood now. Unfortunately an expensive mistake. Cheers for clarifying.

It's expensive indeed.

There was a service operated by councils to check the application for a fee. They discontinued that. I found it useful to prevent mistakes of this nature.

Your next port of call is to apply for an ILR. Then, when you get it, apply for the citizenship again.