Immigrationboards.com

Dear forum members,

I need some advice please to help me with my application for permanent residence in the UK. I am stressing out about the whole thing and really don't know what to do now...

Here is the outline of my story:

August 2003 - I entered the UK on Student visa as a Belarus national.

May 2006 - I got married to a Polish national who was residing in the UK since before 2004. He is self-employed and did not apply for Workers Registration Scheme that is 2006 EEA regulation requirement.

October 2006 - I was granted 5 years visa as a family member of EEA national. During 5 years time I was working part-time and also graduated from the UK university with Bachelor degree in 2011 ( I was enrolled as a foreign student and paid pull fees)

October 2011 - I applied for PR via EEA4 application but had my application returned. The enclosed letter from HO said that I need to provide more evidence that my husband was exercising his treaty rights and residing in the UK for 5 years.

I have the following questions:

1. Since my application was returned and my 5 years visa expired in October, where do I stand? Am I going to be treated as overstaying my visa? The enclosed letter from HO says that it is not a definitive decision but HO is giving me a chance to re-apply with more supporting documents. There is no any time restrains mentioned. What does it mean for me? Am I at risk of being deported as over-stayer or will have any problems with my further applications???

2. I've just started a new full time job before my application got returned and need to provide the evidence that I can legally work in the UK. My 5 year visa allowed me that but now I am not sure if I'm allowed to work until I am granted another visa. The HO letter says nothing about it. Please can someone comment on this? I don't want to loose my job, it's well paid and took me ages to find.

Thank you very much in advance!

Hi Love
if you are still married to an EU national and he has ILR then you shouldnt worry as no one can expel you from this country unless extreme circumstances. Now I am thinking that you may apply for ILR as a dependent on a person settled in the UK but I will wait till fellow members say anything.

Last option to end the expiring visa is to reapply for EEA2 which will be for 5 more years. till its getting issue you can arrange more prrof about any insurance your pr member had his tax papers etc

now you can contact tax agency in your area HM REVENUE they have record of the person if he/she has NI number etc. so you can ask them to print out tax details for all the years telling your situation p45 p60 etc etc hopefully everythjing will be ok
best wishes

As your husband is self-employed, he should be paying Class 2 National Insurance (currently at £2.50 per week, unless he falls under the small earnings exception), do you have kept any proof of that over the past years?

If he sent in tax returns for income tax, you can phone the tax office and ask for printout of his tax records of the last six years or so. They normally send this very quickly, free of charge. You can also ask for confirmation that NI has been paid for the last six years.

Your husband being self-employed and paying NI exempts you from the requirement of sickness insurance for both of you.

Your legal status in the UK does not change after the expiry of your residence card, so you don't have to worry about overstaying and things like that. However, an employer may want to see evidence issued by UKBA about your status but as long as they don't ask for it nothing will happen.

For your husband only the period after Poland became a member of EU is relevant (and for yourself only the period after your marriage). It is irrelevant that he was in the UK before may 2004. Your husband could of course have applied for PR himself (form EEA3) already in mid-2009, that would have made it easier to convince UKBA.

As Punjab mentioned, you can also apply for a new Residence Card now (form EEA2) and sort out the PR later.

fysicus wrote:As your husband is self-employed, he should be paying Class 2 National Insurance (currently at £2.50 per week, unless he falls under the small earnings exception), do you have kept any proof of that over the past years?

If he sent in tax returns for income tax, you can phone the tax office and ask for printout of his tax records of the last six years or so. They normally send this very quickly, free of charge. You can also ask for confirmation that NI has been paid for the last six years.

Your husband being self-employed and paying NI exempts you from the requirement of sickness insurance for both of you.

Your legal status in the UK does not change after the expiry of your residence card, so you don't have to worry about overstaying and things like that. However, an employer may want to see evidence issued by UKBA about your status but as long as they don't ask for it nothing will happen.

For your husband only the period after Poland became a member of EU is relevant (and for yourself only the period after your marriage). It is irrelevant that he was in the UK before may 2004. Your husband could of course have applied for PR himself (form EEA3) already in mid-2009, that would have made it easier to convince UKBA.

As Punjab mentioned, you can also apply for a new Residence Card now (form EEA2) and sort out the PR later.

As you can see from her post, her husband have ILR so there is No point him applying for PR under eu law.

boloney wrote:As you can see from her post, her husband have ILR so there is No point him applying for PR under eu law.

I think you need to read more carefully:

moon_flower wrote:The enclosed letter from HO said that I need to provide more evidence that my husband was exercising his treaty rights and residing in the UK for 5 years.

Obviously UKBA demands that she proves her husband is entitled to PR under the EEA regulations.

moon_flower, I think the easy way to proceed is for your husband to submit a form EEA3 when you submit your form EEA4. Then when they grant his application then your application will be granted automatically.

As regards him proving the existence of his self-employment, the HMRC records will do that. He should have lots of records from them, both about Self Assessment, and also the Class 2 NIC already mentioned.

How does he submit his Self Assessment returns? Online? If so he should log on to the HMRC website and download the proof, going back a few years.

fysicus wrote:

boloney wrote:As you can see from her post, her husband have ILR so there is No point him applying for PR under eu law.

I think you need to read more carefully:

moon_flower wrote:The enclosed letter from HO said that I need to provide more evidence that my husband was exercising his treaty rights and residing in the UK for 5 years.

Obviously UKBA demands that she proves her husband is entitled to PR under the EEA regulations.

moon_flower wrote:2. On the other hand, do we need to prove it? He lived in this country for over 10 years. Would that exempt us from providing any treaty right proof? Can I use some other application to apply, eg as a wife of a person with Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK. What proof do I need to provide for this? I was looking at SET(M) form which looks suitable but I am not too sure I can apply if I am already on EEA route.

A very childish reaction, boloney! You are not adding value for OP, just confusing her. Even immigration lawyers sometimes talk about ILR when they actually mean PR, or vice versa.
However, we can safely assume that UKBA is aware of the immigration status (whatever it is) of moon_flower's husband, and if they demand that she proves that he is entitled to PR under EEA Regulations, how can you maintain that "there is No point him applying for PR under eu law"?

fysicus wrote:A very childish reaction, boloney! You are not adding value for OP, just confusing her. Even immigration lawyers sometimes talk about ILR when they actually mean PR, or vice versa.
However, we can safely assume that UKBA is aware of the immigration status (whatever it is) of moon_flower's husband, and if they demand that she proves that he is entitled to PR under EEA Regulations, how can you maintain that "there is No point him applying for PR under eu law"?

op does`t have problem with husband PR app but with her own. If he(husband) been granted ILR before 2006 (take into account he was in the UK for about 10 years, so long before Polnd joined EU) there is no point him applying for PR under EU law now, ILR (domestic law) and PR (EU law) give the same rights.

moon_flower wrote:I applied for PR via EEA4 application but had my application returned. The enclosed letter from HO said that I need to provide more evidence that my husband was exercising his treaty rights and residing in the UK for 5 years.

How much clearer do you need it? moon_flower needs five years residence in accordance with EEA Regulations, and one of the requirements for that is that her Polish husband was exercising treaty rights (or had PR under EEA Regulations) during those five years. Whatever status he may have (in parallel) under UK national immigration rules (and moon_flower is not very explicit about it) doesn't really matter, and of course he could not exercise treaty rights before Poland joined the EU.
ILR under domestic law and PR under EU law are not the same, and moon-flower's situation highlights one of the subtle differences.

fysicus wrote:

moon_flower wrote:I applied for PR via EEA4 application but had my application returned. The enclosed letter from HO said that I need to provide more evidence that my husband was exercising his treaty rights and residing in the UK for 5 years.

How much clearer do you need it? moon_flower needs five years residence in accordance with EEA Regulations, and one of the requirements for that is that her Polish husband was exercising treaty rights (or had PR under EEA Regulations) during those five years. Whatever status he may have (in parallel) under UK national immigration rules (and moon_flower is not very explicit about it) doesn't really matter, and of course he could not exercise treaty rights before Poland joined the EU.
ILR under domestic law and PR under EU law are not the same, and moon-flower's situation highlights one of the subtle differences.

So, if someone Have ILR he can apply for PR ?
Can you explain difference between ILR and PR, what right give you ILR and PR?

boloney wrote:So, if someone Have ILR he can apply for PR ?

Of course, there is nothing in the EEA Regulations that prohibits it. Regardless of your status under domestic law (whether you are illegal or have ILR) you can apply under the EEA Regulations and if you meet the requirements it will be successful

boloney wrote:Can you explain difference between ILR and PR, what right give you ILR and PR?

Of course both give you the right to live and work in the UK without a time limit, that's why many people regard them as being the same as these two rights are usually the ones that matter most.
However, the requirements are different (and the application fees), and PR is more difficult to lose than ILR. And with ILR there is always the (remote) possibility that your rights can be restricted by a change in the law. EU law cannot be changed by the UK government unilaterally. And finally the EEA Regulations are very favourable for non-EEA family members.