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Hi need advice as my PR has been rejected. My story so far,I'm non EU I got a residence permit in 2005 married to an A8 in 2004. She was self employed for few months in 2004.then went on to permanent employment to Now. Unfortunately she did not register for WRS and we were misguided in thinking your change of circumstance didnt matter as long as she was exercising treaty rights.Now the HO is asking for WRS wat shld i do? r the last 5yrs lost? shld she apply now Pls help with suggestions. thnx

she needs to register for the WRS it is required for A8 nationals. You will have to wait till she has done the 12 months before you apply again but find out if she can apply for registration certificate

I think the OP will find (regrettably) that even if his wife registers for WRS it may not be applied retrospectively, that is, to cover permanent employment from 2004 - pesent. This may mean that the 5 years spent in employment may be discounted by the UKBA as "unlawful" w/out prior WRS registration and the residence clock reset to zero.

See here for more info: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/worki ... s/workers/

Plum70 wrote:I think the OP will find (regrettably) that even if his wife registers for WRS it may not be applied retrospectively, that is, to cover permanent employment from 2004 - pesent. This may mean that the 5 years spent in employment may be discounted by the UKBA as "unlawful" w/out prior WRS registration and the residence clock reset to zero.

See here for more info: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/worki ... s/workers/

In essence she has not really exercised any treaty during this period as a worker by not having registered for WRS

Plum70 wrote:I think the OP will find (regrettably) that even if his wife registers for WRS it may not be applied retrospectively, that is, to cover permanent employment from 2004 - pesent. This may mean that the 5 years spent in employment may be discounted by the UKBA as "unlawful" w/out prior WRS registration and the residence clock reset to zero.

Indeed, that is certainly the formal process. However, the law says that "proportional measures" can be taken for violation of the process. I think there is a chance to argue that delaying PR by 5 years is very harsh and not proportional, but it depends on the details of why the registration did not happen, and whether other rules were broken. It will probably go to appeal, and a lawyer would be very helpful, but it could be worth it.

Any ideas how the resident permit was isued without WRS in 2005?

Issuing the resident permit means the HO considers that person as settled and hence should have checked for WRS at that time.

the 5yrPermit was issued on basis of self employed during 2004,(its not mandatory for self employed to request WRS).But went on to employment in begining of 2005 still employed same place till now. We have kids & still happily married. This will set us back yrs if we have to start again with WRS but if we must thats what we will do.At this point in 2005 we were misled to think that once the permit is issued she was exercising treaty rights therefore even a change in circumstances no need for WRS otherwise if we knew it was mandatory we would register.We now dont know wat to do as i am now without a visa as my 5yrs has expired. Anyone with advice is very welcome to coment.Thnx

scoobz wrote:the 5yrPermit was issued on basis of self employed during 2004,(its not mandatory for self employed to request WRS).But went on to employment in begining of 2005 still employed same place till now. We have kids & still happily married. This will set us back yrs if we have to start again with WRS but if we must thats what we will do.At this point in 2005 we were misled to think that once the permit is issued she was exercising treaty rights therefore even a change in circumstances no need for WRS otherwise if we knew it was mandatory we would register.We now dont know wat to do as i am now without a visa as my 5yrs has expired. Anyone with advice is very welcome to coment.Thnx

Did she ever applied for resident permit in 2005?

Yes i applied for a residence permit as family member of EU citizen exercising treaty rights.But she didnt register with WRS as she was self employed at the time. I got the a 5yr permit in feb 2005 which has now expired. When we applied for PR they rejected it as she has no WRS. So looks like its back to scratch. Hope i can get good advice and feed back on this matter from experienced forumist. thnx

As you have notified the HO your wife was in employment, you have no alternatively but to provide them with proof that she was working in a Lawful capacity.

Under article 39 of the EC treaty, memberstates reserve the right to impose transitional restricitons on their job market for accession workers, until a set period. The UK opted out of imposing restricitons on their job market, but instead imposed conditions, that these workers have to be registered under a Workers registration Scheme for their work to be lawful and their residence to be in accordance with the EEA/ Accession Regulations. I have to say, i don't like or agree with these measures for various justifiable reasons, but they are perfectly within their rights to impose them. Logic will say, if these people have the right to work, why impose extra restriction on them anyway.

However the UK has no rights under the treaty to impose restriction on Self-Sufficient people, Student or the Self-Employed, as this will be illegal.

Provided you had supplied them proof that you supported you wife over the 5 years period, or maintaining NI payment and tax returns on the Self-Employment angle, even if it was not making profit, or she was attending course of study, the HO would have been wrong to refuse to issue PR.

Your option now would be to apply for a new 5 years resident card, or to apply for long term residence if you have been in the UK for 10 years lawfully.

Please note that except if your wife would be claiming her treaty right in other capacity besides worker, you will only be issued with a one year residence stamp, and after she has been on the WRS for one year, you will then qualify for Residence Card, valid for 5 years. In any case you will be able to receive a PR in about 5 years from now.

Please stay calm, as i don't think you will be removed, in the worst case scenerio

Thanks obie for your response and encouragement. I feared it would come to this but its not the end of the world. The gray area was the transformation from selfemployed to worker. Its seems there's no way i could appeal as unproportional as it is, we have no choice but to go with WRS. So really her employment to date is unlawful?? I may apply on long residence as been here 15yrs though its mixed 50-50 legal/illegal. but this applications take donkey yrs. So i will be undocumented till the next 12 months From WRS date of application as the fmrs/eea2 form requires.Any comments welcome.Thx again to all especially those down troden and denied their rights by this organisation.

"We shall overcome some day"

I don't think you will practically be undocumented.

You choices are as follows.

1. Get your wife to apply for WRS.

2. That usually takes about 2-3 months to process.

3. Once that has been processed, apply for FMRS.

4. On receipt of that, apply for Long term residence (14 Years Rules)

You will have nothing to loose and everything to gain, as you will have a valid right to work and travel whiles the Long term residence is being processed. And you won't have to wait for 5 years to obtain ILR/PR

Hello Scoobz, when you applyed for resident permit in 2005 your wife should got residence permit for her in a form of freestanding document. Check the back of it it says something like: holder of this document does not have any work restriction in the UK- I don't remember wording exactly but to me it looks like after she got her permit she is free to work and doesn't need WRS. What do you think?

She was issuesd with this small eea permit with her photo in it, but in terms of excersising EU treaty the A8 nationals had restrictions which we didnt know about in details in 2005.Thats why we have to start the process again. after 5yrs thinking we were "excersising treaty rights as worker", it really is preventing us geting PR on a technicality and they seem to be very good at this.

Hi all, have applied for the wrs on8/04/10 how long does it take and once recieved can i apply on fmrs? thnx

scoobz wrote:Its seems there's no way i could appeal as unproportional as it is, we have no choice but to go with WRS.

Of course you can appeal. You should ask a lawyer about the chance of success, but I would think it is pretty decent.

Hi all,
My wife has now registered and got the WRS it states she has been in employment for 5yrs to current. The issue date is April 2010. A lawyer has told me i have nothing to loose to reapply for PR. and could appeal if rejected on grounds of proportionality. Tho this could take months and lawyers fee's. Should i use this lawyer or simply apply on FMRS. Any one with a similar situation? I would appreciate some advice and input as its rediculous that 5yrs will be lost on such a technicality.Thanks to all for previous responses,great team of forumist.

scoobz wrote:Hi all,
My wife has now registered and got the WRS it states she has been in employment for 5yrs to current. The issue date is April 2010. A lawyer has told me i have nothing to loose to reapply for PR. and could appeal if rejected on grounds of proportionality. Tho this could take months and lawyers fee's. Should i use this lawyer or simply apply on FMRS. Any one with a similar situation? I would appreciate some advice and input as its rediculous that 5yrs will be lost on such a technicality.Thanks to all for previous responses,great team of forumist.

Hi Scoobz.....
Just wanna say something if it might help.......

Your situation is really to feel sorry for.....But u need to win urself with their rules......

You have two option.... One is ur solicitor and other is Obie's plan....

Obie's idea is risk free, no cost and u will be playing with their rules........

Ur solicitor's idea is technical..... it invloves cost, risk, atleast some time as well..... and plus u will be dealing with them through court....most probably....

Choice is urs but if u want ur life to be unaffected go with obie's plan provided that u can dont make urgent travel plans..... plus this time u use tick and list approach .............. u will be safe.....

hey guys,
I have one question; you apply for WRC as an EEA national when you arrive in the country and start work and are registered for atleast one year. now after one year, do you still need a WRC if you wanna apply for PR at the end of 5 years? and if so, what happens if you change employer, apply again?
cheers!

The wrs is only for the A8 nations and after 1yr on wrs you are not required to be on this register. But to claim permanent residence at end of 5yrs you need to prove 5yrs exercising treaty rights and the wrs. I hope this sheds some light on ur querry.

Hi just received my COA after 5 months,after HO kept sending back my application requesting for all manner of documents. If anyone refused due PR after 5yrs due to lack of WRS i think u cld argue ur case as this is a technicality that they can overlook. Yhanks for all input received by members i sure hope my PR will be out in or around the 6mth mark.