Exemptions to the 'Be in the UK exactly 5 yrs ago' rule
Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 3:35 pm
Good afternoon all,
I am an EEA national. I received my Permanent Residence card (EEA3) in March 2010; my application was successful. In fact, it sounds like I had 'automatically' gained permanent residence status in September 2009 as that is when I started exercising my treaty rights, even if I then delayed my EEA3 application by a couple of months and the process itself took a few more months.
I am now interested in applying for naturalisation as I intend to stay in the UK permanently.
* First question: *
when calculating '1 year after acquiring Permanent residence status', what's the date I should consider as the start of this: Sept 09 (date I 'automatically' acquired the status) or March 10 (date my EEA3 application was successful)?
* Second question: *
Due to my passport being tied up in another unrelated application (should be returned in a few weeks), I am currently unable to send off my naturalisation application now. The problem is, when I receive it back, it is likely that I will be in a 'forbidden period' as on these dates 5 years ago I had to be out of the uk for study reasons. This forbidden period is very LONG, ending on May 2011. (please note that although it was more that 6 months long, I have written evidence that the absence was for study reasons and the guys who processed the EEA3 application were happy with this as they approved it.)
The problem is, if I could help it at all, I don't want to wait until May. I won't go into details but I am in circumstances that would mean that delaying my naturalisation date would result in considerable distress, perhaps (?) even falling in the human rights area (someone suggested this but I'm not sure as I haven't looked into it in depth).
Are you aware of any cases where the requirement to be in the UK EXACTLY 5 years previously was waived on compassionate grounds? I'm a bit worried as it seems to be a pretty rigid rule and I don't want to risk my £700 being wasted on an unsuccessful application.
Any input-slash-personal experience would be very much appreciated.
Thank you.
DA
I am an EEA national. I received my Permanent Residence card (EEA3) in March 2010; my application was successful. In fact, it sounds like I had 'automatically' gained permanent residence status in September 2009 as that is when I started exercising my treaty rights, even if I then delayed my EEA3 application by a couple of months and the process itself took a few more months.
I am now interested in applying for naturalisation as I intend to stay in the UK permanently.
* First question: *
when calculating '1 year after acquiring Permanent residence status', what's the date I should consider as the start of this: Sept 09 (date I 'automatically' acquired the status) or March 10 (date my EEA3 application was successful)?
* Second question: *
Due to my passport being tied up in another unrelated application (should be returned in a few weeks), I am currently unable to send off my naturalisation application now. The problem is, when I receive it back, it is likely that I will be in a 'forbidden period' as on these dates 5 years ago I had to be out of the uk for study reasons. This forbidden period is very LONG, ending on May 2011. (please note that although it was more that 6 months long, I have written evidence that the absence was for study reasons and the guys who processed the EEA3 application were happy with this as they approved it.)
The problem is, if I could help it at all, I don't want to wait until May. I won't go into details but I am in circumstances that would mean that delaying my naturalisation date would result in considerable distress, perhaps (?) even falling in the human rights area (someone suggested this but I'm not sure as I haven't looked into it in depth).
Are you aware of any cases where the requirement to be in the UK EXACTLY 5 years previously was waived on compassionate grounds? I'm a bit worried as it seems to be a pretty rigid rule and I don't want to risk my £700 being wasted on an unsuccessful application.
Any input-slash-personal experience would be very much appreciated.
Thank you.
DA
