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I'm an EU citizen with the EUSS settled status and I've been eligible to apply for BC for many years. My spouse is a non-EU citizen who has the pre-settled status (as my family member). The pre-settled status was acquired in early 2020 (that's the date in the BRP).

Questions:

1. If I become a British citizen, does it mean that the earliest date my spouse can apply is early 2025? Is my understanding correct that the "3 year" BC route just removes the need to hold ILR/settled status for 1 year, but it still must be held, so effectively it just reduces the overall time from 6 to 5 years?

2. Does the time required for the ILR/settled status start from the date in the BRP? My spouse was granted the EUSS family permit to join and arrived to the UK in autumn 2019. That is several months before the date in the BRP and I wonder if that time could count.

3. Before autumn 2019, my spouse spent some time in the UK under the Short-term study visa. Is my understanding correct that there is no way to make it count towards the ILR/settled status?

Thanks.

1. Once you are British your spouse can apply immediately once she gains or has ILR.

2.The key date is when spouse has been granted ILR not the date on the card. Check the approval email for pre-settled status.

3.Correct that’s more like a visitor visa which wouldn’t count.

To reiterate:

1) Yes.

2) Not an expert on EUSS, but I doubt that. Maybe mods with more experience in EUSS (eg @kamoe) cna weigh in?

3) Yes - EUSS is an entirely different route to settlement.

Thanks! One more question: if I become a British citizen, does it have any implications to the pre-settled status of my spouse? It was issued on the basis of being a family member of the EU citizen and becoming British affects that basis: does it matter in any way?

magda1983 wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 07, 2023 11:04 pm

Thanks! One more question: if I become a British citizen, does it have any implications to the pre-settled status of my spouse? It was issued on the basis of being a family member of the EU citizen and becoming British affects that basis: does it matter in any way?

No negative impact on spouse's status.

magda1983 wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 06, 2023 11:11 pm

1. If I become a British citizen, does it mean that the earliest date my spouse can apply is early 2025?

It depends when you get British Citizenship and when your spouse gets Settled Status. The earliest your spouse can apply for Settled Status is autumn 2024 (see answer below). You will need to wait for the outcome of that application, and then, if by that time you are already a British Citizen, then your spouse can apply straight away. So it really depends on your combined application processing times.

2. Does the time required for the ILR/settled status start from the date in the BRP? My spouse was granted the EUSS family permit to join and arrived to the UK in autumn 2019. That is several months before the date in the BRP and I wonder if that time could count.

Yes, that time counts. Time for their Settled Status starts to count on the day they arrived in the UK with their valid EUSS family permit, not when they were issued Pre-Settled Status. There is no obligation to have spent 5 years on Pre-Settled Status to be eligible for Settled Status. The only requirement is to prove 5 year of continuous UK residence as a EU citizen which started before December 31st 2020, or as a family member of a relevant EU citizen. Time under EUSS Family permit counts towards that.

3. Before autumn 2019, my spouse spent some time in the UK under the Short-term study visa. Is my understanding correct that there is no way to make it count towards the ILR/settled status?

As others have said, and as per answer above, no, that time does not count, as your spouse was not under a EU-related type of permit, so the condition to be a family member would not have been met.

magda1983 wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 07, 2023 11:04 pm

Thanks! One more question: if I become a British citizen, does it have any implications to the pre-settled status of my spouse? It was issued on the basis of being a family member of the EU citizen and becoming British affects that basis: does it matter in any way?

There is the question of your spouse having to do a paper-based application for their Settled Status. Family members of dual EU/UK nationals have to do what is called a "Lounes application", which as far as I know (but others can correct me if this has changed since last time I checked) is only available as a paper form, and takes considerably more time than online applications. So whatever time you gain by becoming British citizen for their citizenship application, you might loose in delays of their Settled Status application with the paper-based constraint. Haven't done this myself, but might or might not be worth the hassle.

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!

@paoloromano please do not dig up old topics to ask/tag your questions.

If you have questions about citizenship for your spouse, start your own new topic/thread please