I can confirm the above about paper application. Please see full context below.
@kamoe, just a question regarding Lounes case and BC: now that my spouse received the letter of successful application to "settled status" and she has been living in the UK for over 5 years, can we use the "fast track" "Apply for citizenship if your spouse is a British citizen" which means she wouldn't need to wait another year to apply to BC?
The processes for pre-settled and settled status were different for us since we followed the Lounes route, but now that she's got settled status, I wonder if we can use the "mainstream" path and apply for her BC straightaway.
My concern: From reading the official GovUk page "Apply for citizenship if your spouse is a British citizen", it just says someone with settled status and spouse of british citizen doesn't need to wait another year from the day they got settled status, HOWEVER, it doesn't clarify the conditions for those using the Lounes route; which, in my simplistic view, was a way to say: "ignore my BC and let my spouse apply as spouse of an EU citizen, but now, consider me as a BC and let my spouse get a fast-tracked to BC". And of course, if this is not accepted, I'd be paying the 1.5k with no refund
Now, just to give more context to @magda1983 and to others that may want to know.
I had to contact the Home Office using their online form because I found no other way to get the paper application (I didn't want to call them as I work long hours). And YES, Lounes route requires paper application which is clearly stated on the home office website.
We had to exchange a few contacts with them. It took them a few weeks to 1) confirm the case and 2) post the application, therefore I strongly advise that you start asking for it at least 2 months before the spouse is eligible.
I posted the application exactly 1 day after my spouse completed 5 years in the UK.
We received an email informing of a successful application in
just under 1 month. It took us way longer at the time to receive her pre-settled status, which was a conversion from the older EU spouse residence card (which was issued before Brexit).
We haven't received the letter by post yet (just the email). And also no new residence card yet.
Note: we received back the original documents (passport AND the pre-settled biometric residence card) within a week post the application - we added an extra pre-paid return envelope asking to return it whenever they had reviewed it. They actually returned ALL docs back together, including proof of address, marriage cert, etc.
If you want to know which documents to provide and exactly which evidence they will look for, find the PDF online by googling: "Free Movement Rights: direct family members of European Economic Area (EEA) nationals". In my search, it was the top result (current PDF is version 9).
Note: this is an official GovUk document, hosted on their servers.
There are basically 3 qualifying conditions you must meet. If you follow the document, based on your own circumstances, and provide enough documents to satisfy each condition, you simply cannot go wrong. In my cover letter I referenced each condition, and organised my docs accordingly. I did the same for the first EU Spouse application (before Brexit) and for the pre-settled application. You can do it all yourself.
I don't think this PDF is clearly referenced in the official UkGov public guidance. It likely is in other posts in this forum as others may have already posted (I haven't checked), but finding this online was a "life changer", it's sort of a cheatsheet to allow you to provide exactly what's needed and understand exactly what the assessor will be checking. Without it, I would have struggled and at the time when we applied for the first time, I was even considering paying someone to support us. Once I found this document during our first application many years ago, I felt confident enough to do it ourselves. Good luck to all!
