Immigrationboards.com

Hi guys,

It's been almost 5 years since I arrived in the UK and I want to apply for PR next month, when exactly 5 years will have passed. However, I consider my application not to be as straightforward as in other people's cases, but rather so complicated that it might even be rejected.
This is my situation:

1) French and Romanian dual citizenship (Romanian by birth, French acquired in 2007)
2) First arrived in the UK on 01.10.2009 as a MSc student at Oxford; finished the Degree in 2010 and then continued as a DPhil at the same University, which I still have not finished. I have been receiving a stipend from the MRC since 2009.
3) No CSI initially, as it was not required. Only took one in June 2013, when I first learned about it (UKBA required it as of June 2011)
4) Did teaching for the University of Oxford since October 2009. During the 5 years, I have taught for 920 hours.
5) Started a company in 2011, it has a website, it was properly registered, it was advertised, however it only started having clients in 2014 (it was dormant before).

Do you think not having a CSI between 2009 and 2013 might be an issue, given that I did do some teaching during that time ?

Thanks,

JB

I can't believe how similar our cases are. I think you're in a better position than me as your application can be treated on the basis of you having worked continuously for five years, even if 'continuously' may exclude summer and other holidays. If you care about the details, I have written below on how I applied as a student for three years and a worker for two years, despite studying for the whole period here. I was lucky that I was able to get away without the CSI requirement for most of the time I've been here, even though it seems outrageous that you need it when there's no mention of it anywhere! (Unless you plan five years in advance for your permanent residence.)

I have recently gotten my PR as EEA3, and I also hold Romanian nationality. For 2008-2011 I was an undergraduate student and I had gotten a yellow certificate and as you know I was exempt from CSI during that period. Note however that to be exempt you must have applied for a registration certificate as a student. After 2011, I have applied for a blue registration certificate on the basis that I have graduated from a British university, however I was also starting my PhD then. Luckily I had also taught for two years (2011-2013), even if it was only for a couple of modules.

I wrote a cover letter to them explaining how I believed I exercised EU treaty rights during the five years, and mentioned that the first three years should be treated as a student and the next two years as a worker. They seem to have accepted that and issued the PR card. (I also had medical insurance for the past 9 months, but I realized this may have not been needed in my case anyway, as after October 2013 I automatically acquired permanent residence and didn't need to exercise treaty rights anymore.) So I think you can simply apply on the basis of having worked for five years, but maybe you should also mention that you were an MSc and then DPhil as well, just write them a cover letter and include proof for your time as a student as well. But perhaps mention explicitly that you want your time to be treated as worker for EU treaty rights instead of a student. I'm not sure if you should include the medical insurance document in your application...

For my application I have included: my undergraduate degree certificate and transcript, my current student status letter, funding letter from EPSRC (electronic copy from the university office), employment contracts for the two years and some, but not all, payslips. For proof of five years' residence, internet banking statements from when I got to the UK and only my current residence (for three years only) rental agreement. I also included the medical insurance document, copy of my yellow certificate (as UKBA kept the original when I applied for the blue one), and my current blue certificate (that they kept).

Good luck with your PR application, I'm pretty sure you should be issued with it.