Immigrationboards.com

Good evening everyone! I hope you could help me clarify the following:
Background: I came to UK under Tier 2 ICT in 2016, Switched to EEA Family Permit in 2018, and have a Pre-Settled status under the new scheme. While on ICT (between 2016 and 2018) I was in a relationship with EU citizen (cohabitating), and we got married in 2018. He has since become a British citizen.

Question: To settle under EU scheme do I count from my arrival in UK (meaning ICT years as well?). I could not find anything about this being a requirement under this scheme, all it says that you have to be living in UK for 5 years. I know that any other setllement options don't count ICT.

P.S. I have not spent more than couple of weeks a year away from UK.

If anyone has gotten a similar situation, I would be very grateful for advice!

Thanks!

Silverstorm wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 03, 2020 8:42 pm

Question: To settle under EU scheme do I count from my arrival in UK (meaning ICT years as well?).

No.

For the 5 years required to qualify for any EU settlement route (EEA Permanent Residence or EU Settlement Status) you count from the moment you meet the below two conditions at the same time:

1. Being family member of a EU national
2. Residing in the UK

Time residing in the UK without being a family member of a EU national, or time being a family member of a EU national but residing abroad, does NOT count.

In your case, your clocks starts from the date you got married.

I could not find anything about this being a requirement under this scheme, all it says that you have to be living in UK for 5 years. I know that any other setllement options don't count ICT.

Yeap, that's a problem. Many, many people are led to believe that all time spent in the UK counts for EU routes, when it does not.
This is because that sentence was drafted with EU citizens in mind as target audience, not their EU family members.

See examples of other people asking this same old question, and getting our same answer, here and here.

Thank you so much Kamoe! This forum is so helpful, as googling information doesn't give you any clarity at all.