EEA applicant for British Citizenshp

[ralita47]

Hello, I know this issue has been addressed on the forums but I could not yet find a clear answer.

We are a EEA citizens and have lived in UK for 10 years as university lecturers. We have just decided to apply for British Citizenship.

We just became aware of the changes after November 2015.

I would like to kindly ask whether we should apply for the Permanent Residence first and then for UK citizenship or we could apply for British citizenship directly.

Thank you very much.

[LilyLalilu]

As per the changes introduced on 12/11/15, all EEA citizens applying for the privilege of UK citizenship will need to apply for a confirmation of PR first. It costs £65 and is done via form EEA(PR). At the moment it is not entirely clear whether you need to hold PR status or the document confirming your PR status for one year before you can apply for citizenship. However, according to members of this forum, the NCS is currently refusing to take applications from people with documents confirming PR issued less than 12 months before the date of citizenship application (if not married to a British Citizen).

[ohara]

You must obtain a document certifying permanent residence before applying for naturalisation now. As said above the application costs £65 and it can take up to 6 months so do it ASAP. If you apply for naturalisation and do not include this document your application will fail and you'll lose your £1005.

The form you need is EEA(PR) - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... _07-15.pdf

It is 85 pages long but you should not need to fill in more than 25 (it is a multi use form for many scenarios)

Guidance notes here - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... nts_v1.pdf

The latest version of AN Booklet, issued to reflect the 12/11/15 changes in requirement for document certifying permanent residence, states that when applying for the DCPR with the view of applying for naturalisation immediately upon receipt of the document, you should submit evidence showing a period 5 years of exercising treaty rights ending a minimum of 12 months before the date of application. Apparently the document does not show the date you acquired PR, so it is assumed the Home Office have systems in place for checking the date of acquisition.