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Hi,

My background:
- Came to UK in Sep 2004 on student visa.
- Got married to a european in Aug 2006 (in the UK).
- Applied for EEA2 in Sep 2006.
- Got EEA2 in May 2007.
- My wife became British in Mar 2008.

The reason I am asking the following questions is because the law has been changed a lot since 2006.

1. Can I apply for EEA4 in Aug 2011? (Thats when 5 years of our marriage is going to complete. I understand that some may argue that it has to be 5 years after receiving EEA2. But I will argue that in cases when the couple did not marry in the UK but have been married for five years and have been living in the UK for at least 3 years can apply for EEA4. Then howcome a couple who have been living in the UK for 5 years cant apply for EEA4 after 5 years of marriage. Please correct me if I am wrong.)

2. I know its a big shot but no harm in asking. Now that my wife is British, can I apply for British Citizenship without applying for EEA4.

3. Will getting a lawyer help me getting my application processed quicker?

4. Just a comment: As you can see homeoffice took ages to process my EEA2 application. By the looks of it, homeoffice may take up to a year to process my EEA4 application which means that I will be in the UK for 9 years by the time I will be taking my oath.

Thanks in advance everything.

Cheers!

alex1001 wrote:Hi,

My background:
- Came to UK in Sep 2004 on student visa.
- Got married to a european in Aug 2006 (in the UK).
- Applied for EEA2 in Sep 2006.
- Got EEA2 in May 2007.
- My wife became British in Mar 2008.

The reason I am asking the following questions is because the law has been changed a lot since 2006.

1. Can I apply for EEA4 in Aug 2011? (Thats when 5 years of our marriage is going to complete. I understand that some may argue that it has to be 5 years after receiving EEA2. But I will argue that in cases when the couple did not marry in the UK but have been married for five years and have been living in the UK for at least 3 years can apply for EEA4. Then howcome a couple who have been living in the UK for 5 years cant apply for EEA4 after 5 years of marriage. Please correct me if I am wrong.)

2. I know its a big shot but no harm in asking. Now that my wife is British, can I apply for British Citizenship without applying for EEA4.

3. Will getting a lawyer help me getting my application processed quicker?

4. Just a comment: As you can see homeoffice took ages to process my EEA2 application. By the looks of it, homeoffice may take up to a year to process my EEA4 application which means that I will be in the UK for 9 years by the time I will be taking my oath.

Thanks in advance everything.

Cheers!

OK I am not expert or anything these are just my observation from the forum posts

1 - By switching to EEA route your clock have started from the day you received residence permit.. so it will be May 2012 for you to apply for your PR.

2- No. you must have PR sticker in your passport and then one year after that date before you can apply for citizenship.

3- NO - I do not think they have special department for lawyer only.

4- You should not count Sep 2004 to May 2007 in your eea route it should take you less than 8 year for your oath (considering you would have to wait 2 years after PR from next year i think) so all together it would take you 11 years.

As your wife is British since Mar 2008 so it might be an option for you to make another switch. (or should have swithched it in 2008)

apply as spouse of bitish citizen
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/partn ... lpartners/

after 2 years you can apply for settlement.
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/partn ... etoremain/

And then afte one year apply for Naturalisation
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/briti ... ofcitizen/

Now Comparing this route with EEA.

EEA
You apply for PR in 2012, then Citizenship in say 2013 (2014 if 2 year rule)
Spouse
seetlement in 2012 and naturalisation 2013 (2014 if 2 year rule)

Result:
You can not bring forward your oath day before 2013 or may be 2014 or 2015 (if you are that unluck)..

May I repectfully say that Petra has tried to give advice with good intentions, but the advice is very inaccurate. I am copying Petra's advice and then adding my comments underneath them. I think this should clear confusion for many people in the same situation.


1 - By switching to EEA route your clock have started from the day you received residence permit.. so it will be May 2012 for you to apply for your PR.

Spouse of an eu citizen (who is exercising treaty rights) has right of movement from the date they marry them. According to relevant eu directive this right is automatic without any endorsements in the passport. The endorsement in your passport is not a grant, its a mere confirmation of your rights. So your residential qualifying period starts from the date you married your spouse ie August 2006



2- No. you must have PR sticker in your passport and then one year after that date before you can apply for citizenship.

Again, a PR sticker is a mere confirmation of your right, not a grant. You will automatically attain PR five years after you got married, in your case this will be august 2011. Remember you attain PR automatically, with or without EEA4. If you do apply for EEA4 and get it many months after that, it wont make any difference. So basically, you will automatically attain PR in August 2011 and you can apply for British citizeship in August 2012, with or without applying for PR.



3- NO - I do not think they have special department for lawyer only.

I dont think you will need a solicitor now. You just need to do nothing until August 2012 until you apply for citizenship. Keep in mind, you should keep proofs of your wife exercising treaty right upto August 2011, P60s for every year etc.


4- You should not count Sep 2004 to May 2007 in your eea route it should take you less than 8 year for your oath (considering you would have to wait 2 years after PR from next year i think) so all together it would take you 11 years.

You can only count your qualifying residence period from Augut 2006 as you are trying to attain PR based on eu rules. There is no plan to change waiting period to 2 years after PR for applying Citizenship.

As your wife is British since Mar 2008 so it might be an option for you to make another switch. (or should have swithched it in 2008)

You can switch to spouse visa because your wife is British Citizen, but this cannot be done from within the UK. Before someone asks why, I will tell you. For applying as Spouse of a person present and settled in UK (British citizen or ILR holder) the applicant must have valid leave to remain under UK immigration rules. You are under eu rules and not under UK immigration rules, so you cant apply from within UK.