Naturalisation 5 years residence proof

[Hayley01]

Hi all,
A few questions on the citizenship application :
1) My husband is an EEA national and is required to submit proof of residence for the past five years with his naturalisation application. It is fine to submit Council tax bills to satisfy this requirement? He has contracted and also worked for a number of employers so it would be a lot of admin to get letters from employers etc. and I doubt he has all his tax documentation in hard copy format although I assume he could request this from HMRC if needed?

2) I am a non EEA national and it says to provide my passport (I assume both passports since I first arrived in the UK or all passports that I used to travel to the UK since eg 2008. Should I also submit my P60/P11Ds or council tax bills for the five year period or just my passport(s)?

3) Lastly for the immigration history I don't have reference numbers for all of the applications but I know where they were made and if finger prints were taken. Is it fine to enter one of the numbers on the vignettes in my passport as the reference number and should I add copies of these visas to my application evidence?

Many thanks!

[contorted_svy]

Hi,

1) I am also an EEA citizen so I am using the same route as your husband.
When demonstrating you were resident, in the AN guidance, here is what they say:

You should supply the following documents to show you have been mainly in the UK during the 5 years (or, if married to or in civil partnership to a British citizen, 3 years) before making your application:
• Your passports
• If you are unable to provide your passport, explain why and supply letters from
employers (including start and finish dates), payslips, P60s, educational establishments or other government departments indicating your presence in the United Kingdom during the relevant period

Please note that this doesn't mean you can only use P60s/payslips, but it's the one of the few explicit documents they name.

You would need the hard copies of P60 and P45 as HMRC won't issue replacements - they can send you a letter with your employment history but I don't know if that would be an acceptable way to prove you were resident in that period of time.

Asking for a letter of employment isn't too admin heavy, I can post the template I am using. If he is self-employed he will need to supply also his most recent tax return and statement of account (you can generate these on the HMRC portal).

I was advised by a user of this forum it's ok to use council tax bills (though not explicitly mentioned in the list of examples above), though the Home Office specifically makes the example of letters from employers to prove residence if one was employed. He can start from the evidence he has employment wise, ask for employment letters, and fill in the gaps with council tax bills if needed.

2) As you are a non-EEA citizen and your passports were stamped every time you travelled outside the UK, that should be enough for you to prove your residence. No other documents needed.

3) I am afraid I don't know the answer to this one!

[Ticktack]

3) Lastly for the immigration history I don't have reference numbers for all of the applications but I know where they were made and if finger prints were taken. Is it fine to enter one of the numbers on the vignettes in my passport as the reference number and should I add copies of these visas to my application evidence?

Many thanks!

The numbers on the vignettes/BRP would do just fine.