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Hello,

Apologies for the detailed post.

I am a EU national who has been living in the UK since May 2004 and I am now trying to apply for PR but there are already unanswered questions and problems. From May 2004 to Jan 2015 I worked full time continually with no interruption for the same employer whom I left in Jan 2015 to finish my MSc. Since Jan 2015 I have been a full time student. Between Jan 2015 and Oct 2015 on a self funded course, then from Nov 2015 till present on a fully funded PhD (with a tax exempt scholarship). I have been married to a British citizen since 2010. At the time of starting my MSc and then subsequently my PhD, I was never told that I would need a comprehensive sickness insurance and so I never took one out, and today is the first time I have ever heard that I need this. I applied for the courses via the UK residency route, my GP surgery and my university knew that I would be a full time student yet no one had told me that I needed such cover. I am now totally confused and frightened. I am being told contradictory information by different team members in the HO IND helpline. First of all, some advisers are telling me that I am entitled to chose any 5-year period between May 2004 and Jan 2015 as a qualifying period for my PR and that I do not need to disclose any information about the fact that since Jan 2015 I have been a full-time student and that my application will be assessed on the basis of completing the 5-year period. So, they told me to choose, say the years between 2008-2013 and to document them. This poses a question however, well, ok - it sort of seems that one can claim PR retrospectively, but what about providing HO with the details of the remaining most recent years? In section 9.4 and 9.5 of the most recent version of the EEA PR Application Form https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... _03-16.pdf I need to detail my activities in the UK since my arrival. This means that presumably, I ought to list all the activities up until present. Listing them is not an issue but the problem occurs in Section 9.11 that is asking me to provide details of my comprehensive sickness insurance that I should have apparently had from the moment I commenced my full time course. Since I do not have the medical cover, I am worried that if I put the details of my studies down, my PR application will be refused. Upon hearing my concerns, these particular advisers have said that since I had completed the qualifying period anyway, it would be easier to not mention the studies at all and so the medical insurance dilemma would not be relevant. But, as I have already mentioned, how can the most recent period of my life in the UK go unnoticed and unquestioned even if I do not mention it on the application? I would like to be as honest and as transparent, but equally, I need to know my entitlements. Do I have grounds for claiming PR for the period between May 2004 and Jan 2015 when I was in full-time employment without the need to account for the latest 18 months? I phone the helpline again to double check this and it seems that another couple of advisers had a different view and told me that I need to state all the activity up to present day and that my lack of comprehensive medical insurance 'may not be an issue but it is likely to be a problem when it comes to applying for naturalisation'. I am completely devastated and very confused. So, even if miraculously my PR application goes through, I am likely to be refused British citizenship on the grounds of not having a private medical insurance between Jan 2015 and present, even if i was to take out a private medical insurance now. I simply assumed that I was entitled to NHS care having resided and worked in the UK for the past 10 years. It never even crossed my mind that the already big sacrifice of giving up full-time employment and going back into education to improve my job prospects may result in my being denied the chance to secure my status in this country. I should have stayed in my dead-end job and applied for the PR and citizenship first. Any suggestions or advise from you guys would be greatly appreciated.

If you worked for 5 continuous years (and were correctly registered with the WRS should you be an A8 national), you have already acquired PR and they cannot refuse to give you confirmation of a status that you have already acquired just because you were a student without CSI at some later point in time. What you do after automatically acquiring PR status is irrelevant as long as you do not leave the UK for more than 2 continuous years; just claim for a 5 year period of exercising treaty rights as a worker and you'll be fine.
The helpline is useless and they constantly give out wrong or contradicting information depending on who you get to speak to.
There is also no reason why your lack of CSI after acquiring PR through your activities as a worker should cause problems for naturalisation. As long as you have PR status and a document confirming this, you can apply for naturalisation straight away as you are married to a British Citizen. All you will need to demonstrate is that you have not lost your PR status since acquiring it; this is done by providing proof of your residence in the UK (e.g. bills, bank statements etc). As long as you do this and meet all other requirements for naturalisation, there is no reason at all why your period as a student should trip you up!
Also be aware that it is not a legal requirement to use the current 'monster' form for your PR application. If you prefer to give less information just use the previous EEA3 form or simply apply by letter sending proof of exercising treaty rights, absence information, 2 pictures and payment.

Don't be too hard on yourself - its not the end of the world.

It's likely you acquired PR automatically back in 2009 or thereabouts.

All will be well as long as you have good (if not unimpeachable) documentary supporting evidence.

As explained above, no need to exercise treaty rights once PR has been acquired; so your carefree uni days are immaterial.
University staff & NHS staff are not immigration advisors and probably know little or nothing of CSI for persons on an EU migration trajectory.

Search in the forum for alternate earlier/simpler versions of the PR form; (I can't post the link from cellphone).

Thank you for your kind replies LilyLalilu and Noajthan!

Yes, I did register with the WRS correctly and completed the 5 year uninterrupted period of continuous employment in June 2009. I have all the documentary evidence covering my whole history in the UK, I am rather organised with my paperwork and kept all the relevant bits that may now be needed. It makes sense what you guys are saying so perhaps I should not be getting overly concerned just yet. That is right, I am aware that once once granted PR, I am entitled to apply for the citizenship straight away since I have been married to a BC, that is of course as long as the immigration legislation remains unchanged until then . Who knows what 'amendments' may be in the pipeline.

Would you than say that I am better off putting forward for consideration the period between May 2004 - Jan 2015 as my qualifying period and skipping the mention of myself becoming a student recently altogether? It is after all what two of these advisers had suggested, but it is just that I am not sure if I am entirely comfortable with it as I feel like I am withholding the information about my current situation. But if providing too much information may work to my disadvantage, than I would rather keep it off the cards. I guess what does worry me is that I had heard of cases whereby some people have been refused naturalisation on the grounds of not disclosing all the relevant information with regards to their minor breaches in the so-called good moral character conduct such as not putting down the details about their speeding tickets or police cautions. Although I do not have any of these, this made me think about non-disclosure as something that can work against me and have serious implications.

Thank you again!

By all means, mention all your activities for the purpose of honesty if you like. As long as you make clear to the caseworker that you are using a 5-year qualifying period as a worker and not your student years as your basis for PR, it doesn't really make a difference.
I was also an MA student without CSI during one of my qualifying years (which I mentioned) but applied as a worker as I was also working full-time at the same time, no problem there.
You seem to be very organised so just provide them with good evidence for your 5 qualifying years and you will be perfectly fine.

Noone is suggesting suppressing material facts.
That is the road to a world of pain.

The point is you appear to have acquired PR by say 2009 or 2010 so what you did later is immaterial - as long as legal ofcourse (and leaving morals safely to one side).
So the fact you had no CSI at a later date is immaterial.
So no harm in declaring your period as a student.

You can add a cogent cover letter if you wish, to really spell it all out and spoonfeed the caseworker.
However, don't focus on what you didn't do - simply focus on pointing out your qualifying 5-year period.

Suggest start here, by taking a look at this example PR form a member has compiled by mashing a previous/simpler PR form with up-to-date HO contact and other details:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/128 ... ple_v2.pdf

Suggest printing a few copies and trying a few dry runs with your information (& all supporting evidence) - see how it all shapes up.

Note: it may help your nerves and sleep pattern if you steer clear of the HO helpline; however well-meaning, the advice can often be misleading and contradictory (as you appear to have discovered);
furthermore, the advisors are not held accountable for it.

As to the privilege of citizenship, you can monitor the forum but I'm not aware of anyone being refused on 'moral grounds' for not having CSI after acquiring PR.
Applicants can and do ofcourse fail to acquire PR/fail in naturalisation applications by not having CSI when relying on a period of study to exercise treaty rights.
That is a different scenario from yours so what I've just said is to reassure you (!).

Worst case, now that a 'confirmation of PR' card is mandatory for naturalisation, you are risking less than £100 to discover any issues.
And as you have worked continuously for at least 5 years since 2004 you shouldn't have any issues in that area.

Good luck.

You've almost certainly acquired at some point in the past. You don't apply for PR, you just apply for a document which confirms you have it. Technically, all of these applications are 'retrospective'.

I was a student from 2006-2009, never had CSI, but I've been working since 2008 too and I acquired PR on that basis no problem.