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Hello,

I hope you can help me with the following situation.

I have been in the UK since 2013 for my studies and will be finishing a PhD next year.

I received my settled status confirmation today. However, I was under the impression that I could backdate the settled status (and did so in my application; my documents related to the 2013-2018 period) to apply for citizenship right afterwards. Apparently, I cannot do so now.

My goal is to gain British citizenship while keeping my German citizenship. This requires me to apply for British citizenship by the end of 2020. Even worse, I can only apply for citizenship until mid-April 2020 due to the "were you in the UK five years ago?" requirement (I was studying abroad from late April 2015 to Jan 2016).

I could apply for a permanent residence card, but I have been reading that these are not given out after you received your settled status. Even if I was lucky, I doubt the process can be concluded within two months?

I am grateful for any suggestions on how I might still be able to start my citizenship application this year!

another-user wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 15, 2020 12:43 am

was under the impression that I could backdate the settled status

There are quite significant differences between Settled Status and Permanent Residence.

Settled Status is a grant (i.e. is not automatic) and is only prospective and not back-dated. It is issued under domestic UK law, not EU law. It is easier to acquire Settled Status because it requires only continuous residence for EEA nationals in the UK.

Permanent Residence, on the other hand, is acquired automatically under EU law, provided specific conditions are met. Because PR is acquired automatically, you can have the Document Certifying Permanent Residence (DCPR) backdated to the earliest possible time that you can prove that you acquired PR.

However, one of the conditions for automatically acquiring PR (which is not required for Settled Status) is that if the EEA national is a student, then s/he needs to have had Comprehensive Sickness Insurance (aka private health insurance) for the period that s/he was a student. Most EEA nationals are not aware of this requirement and hence their time in the UK as a student does not count for Permanent Residence.

So, did you have private health insurance while you were a student? Or did you work continuously while you were a student (in which case, you may have acquired PR as a worker, not a student)?

secret.simon wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 15, 2020 1:19 am

There are quite significant differences between Settled Status and Permanent Residence.
(...)

Thank you very much for this explanation. No, I did not have private health insurance in the UK (although I kept my German health insurance which technically provides EHIC coverage, but this surely does not qualify) and all my work here has been has been limited part-time work.

It appears that there is not much point in pursuing the idea of dual citizenship anymore then.

It appears that there is not much point in pursuing the idea of dual citizenship anymore then.

I don't think it's that clear-cut. Please refer to:
https://uk.diplo.de/uk-en/02/citizenshi ... itizenship
and
https://www.bva.bund.de/DE/Services/Bue ... _node.html

To retain German citizenship after UK has finally left the EU you will likely need a Beibehaltungsgenehmigung from the Bundesverwaltungsamt. I would still keep an eye on any German legislation changes/updates in the meantime.

another-user wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 15, 2020 10:01 am

I kept my German health insurance which technically provides EHIC coverage

If you had an EHIC card issued by a non-UK EEA member-state that covers five years of your student life in the UK, I believe that that does qualify and you likely will be able to apply for a back-dated DCPR based on that.

I don't think it's that clear-cut. Please refer to:
https://uk.diplo.de/uk-en/02/citizenshi ... itizenship
and
https://www.bva.bund.de/DE/Services/Bue ... _node.html

To retain German citizenship after UK has finally left the EU you will likely need a Beibehaltungsgenehmigung from the Bundesverwaltungsamt. I would still keep an eye on any German legislation changes/updates in the meantime.
[/quote]

Thank you, this is very helpful! One of the key reasons for obtaining British citizenship is the amount of grants I could then apply for to pursue an academic career. According to the information you provided this might very well be sufficient to obtain such a permit and simply wait until Feb 2021 to naturalise.

If you had an EHIC card issued by a non-UK EEA member-state that covers five years of your student life in the UK, I believe that that does qualify and you likely will be able to apply for a back-dated DCPR based on that.

The EHIC card has been on the back of my regular German health insurance card so I suppose I can get some form of document proving this. I will also look into this option, thank you!