Immigrationboards.com

Hi All

I am new to the site but have been watching for a while and wanted to say thank you all for making this a very helpfull and interesting site.

I hope someone could help me please - Urgent

I am South American, and have been married to a portuguese citzen for over 5 years, also we both live and work in the UK.

My visa expires in 4 weeks, and I have sent all my documents to Portugal together with an application for portuguese citzenship about 3 months ago, hoping that wouldn`t take too long and would come back before my UK visa runs out.
So far it hasn`t and I am starting to get a little worried about it.

Anyone knows how long it takes?
Also how could that affect my stay in the UK?
Any and all help would be most appreciated.


Thanks

Your right to stay in the UK is derived from your spouse being lawful in the country under EEA regulations. If that status has persisted for a period of continuous five years you would obtain permanent residence automatically. A documentation is not necessary and, in fact, optional. In short: your stay in the UK is most likely not affected from what you say (and you are already a permanent resident).

Thanks for the fast reply.

I do not hold a residency permit, what I have is the 5 years visa as an EEA family member.

I am still a bit confused, should I inform the Home Office about the situation when my visa expires? Should I do anything?


Thanks

You have neither. What you have is an EEA residence card (or the equivalent if it was issued prior to May 2006). It may expire but not your right to stay and work. To repeat myself: you can apply for confirmation of permanent residence if you want and/or you need the sticker in your current passport (travelling, employment). You are not required to inform HO of this situation.

Thank you

Really appreciate the help.