Permanent residence status?

[AdamSJWL]

Hi there,

I wonder if anyone out there has any views on the following:

Background:

• EEA national.
  Arrived in the UK in November 2005.
  Started working full-time in December 2005 for company A.
  Started studying full-time in October 2006 and kept on working full-time.
  Had to move town for PhD in October 2010.
  Asked company A if possible to carry on working for them. They said no.
  Started PhD and did some job-seeking (a couple of email applications). So exercised Treaty rights.
  Carried on PhD and gave up job search in March 2011 as had secured independent funding.
  About to finish PhD now.
  Never had comprehensive sickness insurance.

So:

• It seems that the last five years would not qualify for residence as no CSI.
  BUT, was 1 or 2 months short of full five-year employment before becoming full-time student.

Questions:

• Did I acquire permanent residence status in November 2010?
  Would those 1 or 2 months in 2010 pose a problem?
  Would the fact that I was looking for work until 2011 resolve that potential problem?

Time-scale summary:

• November 2005-October 2010 Full-time work & study.
  October 2010-March 2011: Job search
  October 2010-present: full-time PhD.

Thanks for reading

[secret.simon]

October 2010-March 2011: Job search

Can you prove this? For instance, were you registered at a Jobcentre? Do you have emails to and from employers? Proof of interviews would be good too.

Are you from an A8 country?

As an aside, your PhD writing skills can be seen in the way you have written your post. Very methodical and written point-by-point.

[AdamSJWL]

Thanks for your prompt reply.

Yes, I'm from an A8 country. Nope, never registered at a Jobcentre. Proof of search is just a couple of emails; one from a recruiter trying to arrange a telephone interview. That's about it. Trouble?

The uncontroversial bit is that I exercised Treaty rights uninterruptedly for more than 4 years and 10 months. How strictly is the 5-year qualifying period enforced? Does the HO have any latitude on this matter?

[secret.simon]

November 2005-October 2010 Full-time work

Were you registered with the WRS? If you were not registered, you are not counted as having exercised treaty rights at all.

The five years is prescribed by the EU treaties and I doubt the Home Office has discretion in this field. Even if it were to, I doubt it would be exercised. If you read the non-EEA forums, you'll find that even discretion is circumscribed by guidelines/guidance.

It depends on whether you can convince the caseworker that you were a job seeker for the period you have listed.

October 2010-March 2011: Job search

[AdamSJWL]

I was indeed registered with the WRS. That's all fine. I guess it boils down to whether they would accept my email exchange with a recruiter in 2011 as proof of job seeking.

Assuming they agree I gained PR status in 2010, would that mean I also qualify for citizenship? Or does the year free from immigration restrictions count from the moment PR is officially granted? In any case, I would assume the safest thing would be to apply for PR first.

Many thanks for your input.

[secret.simon]

Assuming that you qualified for PR in 2010, you could apply for citizenship any time after the end of one year, assuming you meet all other requirements.

[AdamSJWL]

Thanks again.

For anyone else interested, I've just had a look through https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... s_v3_0.pdf (guidance on European Economic Area nationals qualified persons) and realised the crucial question is whether I retained worker status in October-November 2010.

I guess it would be a judgment call by the case worker, as my situation does not fall neatly into any of those listed in the section "Retaining worker status" :

• --temporarily unable to work because of illness or an accident
  --in duly recorded involuntary unemployment
  --involuntarily unemployed and have embarked on vocational training
  --voluntarily stopped working to start vocational training related to their previous employment

I doubt a PhD can be construed as "vocational training".