Lounes Application - Settled Status

[Kazlee]

Background Information:
• I am a non-EU national.
• I received the generic email to apply for settled status before completing 5 years (I applied after 4.5 years, and the AI mentioned they can see my National Insurance records showing 5 years).
• During this time, my EU spouse obtained British citizenship.
• The Home Office informed me that my application is invalid and advised me to apply for the “Lounes application.” I have since received the application form.
• My initial residence started on 3rd February 2020, and I was granted pre-settled status on 13th March 2020.

Questions:
1. When can I apply for settled status?
• Can I apply 28 days before my 5 years of continuous residence is completed? Should I apply 28 days before my residence card start date, or the date I received EU settled status?
2. What documents do I need to submit?
• Do I need to send my original passport and my Biometric Residence Permit (BRP)?
3. What supporting documents should I send to the Home Office?
4. When will I get my passport back if I send it?
5. What is the typical timeline for a decision on this application? Background Information:
• I am a non-EU national.
• I received the generic email to apply for settled status before completing 5 years (I applied after 4.5 years, and the AI mentioned they can see my National Insurance records showing 5 years).
• During this time, my EU spouse obtained British citizenship.
• The Home Office informed me that my application is invalid and advised me to apply for the “Lounes application.” I have since received the application form.
• My initial residence started on 3rd February 2020, and I was granted pre-settled status on 13th March 2020.

Questions:
1. When can I apply for settled status?
• Can I apply 28 days before my 5 years of continuous residence is completed? Should I apply 28 days before my residence card start date, or the date I received EU settled status?
2. What documents do I need to submit?
• Do I need to send my original passport and my Biometric Residence Permit (BRP)?
3. What supporting documents should I send to the Home Office?
4. When will I get my passport back if I send it?
5. What is the typical timeline for a decision on this application?

[meself2]

Should I apply 28 days before my residence card start date, or the date I received EU settled status?

Do you have settled status then?

[Kazlee]

Sorry Pre Settled status

[alterhase58]

The "28 days" doesn't apply to EU Settled Status, you must complete five years.
It's just a concession (not a rule) for people on UK visa routes applying for UK ILR (not EUSS).

[Ixeon659]

My wife has applied for the Settled status (Lounes) just a week ago, will make a post when it is fully processed.
Regarding your questions:
1) 28 days rule doesn't apply here, but you can fill in the form early and date it with 3rd of February 2025. Send it a little bit earlier, maybe on 2nd of Feb.
2) You need to send your passport and your BRC (originals), also you need to send your sponsors documents (their EU and UK passports/ID cards) but there is no need to send originals, you can send certified copies (you can certify them at the Post Office).
3) Any documents that prove you have been a resident for these 5 years, like P60s, council tax bills, yearly bank statements, rental agreements, landlord letters etc. No need to send too much, choose the most appropriate ones. You also can type your NI number there and tick the box, that you allow them to check your residence through you NI.
Also you need to send your sponsor's documents (passports certified copies) and some proofs he was working/self-employed/student/self-efficient before he/she acquired his BS and that he/she continues to be this person. Some recent P60s, Self-assessment tax returns, invoices for the job or letters from university will do.
4) We still haven't received our documents back (we sent everything on 11 of December), but other people say it usually takes a few weeks to get the documents back.
5) The guidance tells it usually takes a month to process it, but it can be longer. Again, some people say sometimes it took less than one month, I think it could be because there is a dedicated team who process paper applications and there are so few of them so sometimes they are processed quicker than numerous online applications.
When I check my wife's status online, I can already see that they already updated the photo in her status from the paper application, so it means the application is being processed.

[Kazlee]

Hi Mate , thank you so much it’s very kind of you and it’s very clear.

I have one more question.

As my wife is both EU and British citizen I can apply for the Citizenship straight away right. Furthurmore I have over stayed between 2016-2019. Will this affect the citizenship ?

[Ixeon659]

Once you get your settled status via Lounes, you are eligible to apply for BC straight away, without waiting one year. But BC also requires for you to be of "a good character", being an overstayer is a serious offence and they are likely to refuse your application. They need 10 years of legal residence, so basically you will need to wait until 2029 so you can apply for BC without any issues. But that's a topic for another thread, you can make a new topic in British citizenship board regarding that.

[seekingadvice87]

Once you get your settled status via Lounes, you are eligible to apply for BC straight away, without waiting one year. But BC also requires for you to be of "a good character", being an overstayer is a serious offence and they are likely to refuse your application. They need 10 years of legal residence, so basically you will need to wait until 2029 so you can apply for BC without any issues. But that's a topic for another thread, you can make a new topic in British citizenship board regarding that.

Didn't the rules change around 2022 so that people who have overstayed in the last 10 years can still apply as long as overstaying is the only thing against their good character. People can still apply for citizenship before the 10 years.

[Ixeon659]

Didn't the rules change around 2022 so that people who have overstayed in the last 10 years can still apply as long as overstaying is the only thing against their good character. People can still apply for citizenship before the 10 years.

Yes, but only in case there are no other convictions

[seekingadvice87]

Yeah I agree too

[Kazlee]

I have applied for the Lounes applications

What’s the timeline we are looking at ?

I’m non EU and my wife is both British and French

[Iflef]

Once you get your settled status via Lounes, you are eligible to apply for BC straight away, without waiting one year. But BC also requires for you to be of "a good character", being an overstayer is a serious offence and they are likely to refuse your application. They need 10 years of legal residence, so basically you will need to wait until 2029 so you can apply for BC without any issues. But that's a topic for another thread, you can make a new topic in British citizenship board regarding that.

What is the source of this ? I have scoured the internet and nowhere I found that it is possible to apply to British citizenship straight after a lounes case . Could you direct me to the source ?

[Ixeon659]

I have applied for the Lounes applications

What’s the timeline we are looking at ?

I’m non EU and my wife is both British and French

In my case it was around 1.5 months (they returned documents in 1 month and then I received a decision in 2 weeks)

What is the source of this ? I have scoured the internet and nowhere I found that it is possible to apply to British citizenship straight after a lounes case . Could you direct me to the source ?

Lounes is when non-EEA is married to dual British-EEA citizen. It is obvious that if your spouse is British then you can apply for citizenship right after getting settled/ILR. Do you want me to give you a link to the info, that spouses of British citizens can apply for citizenship after Settled/ILR without waiting 1 year?

[alterhase58]

naturalisation guidance :
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... n-guidance

[Iflef]

Lounes is when non-EEA is married to dual British-EEA citizen. It is obvious that if your spouse is British then you can apply for citizenship right after getting settled/ILR. Do you want me to give you a link to the info, that spouses of British citizens can apply for citizenship after Settled/ILR without waiting 1 year?

I actually brought my non-EEA mom to the uk with my eu passport and after she acquired the pre settled status I gained the British citizenship . We still need to go through the Lounes route right ?

[Ixeon659]

I actually brought my non-EEA mom to the uk with my eu passport and after she acquired the pre settled status I gained the British citizenship . We still need to go through the Lounes route right ?

Yes, that's the Lounes too. It's pretty straightforward application

[lonlilie]

Hi everyone,

I hope it’s okay to ask this here.

I applied for naturalisation last week, and my wife, a US citizen, currently holds pre-settled status in the UK. Her initial 5-year pre-settled status will be completed in October 2025, but she spent almost a year abroad during this period.

I understand that if she doesn’t meet the 5-year residency requirement for Settled Status, her pre-settled status will automatically renew for another five years. However, she was away due to COVID and to support her family in the U.S., and I’ve read that such circumstances may be considered valid reasons for an extended absence, potentially allowing her to qualify for Settled Status despite the gap.

My questions are:

Will she still be able to apply for Settled Status online, given her period abroad?

If I obtain my British citizenship by then, would she need to apply through the Lounes Application route instead - does it make the same concession?

Thanks in advance for any guidance!

[Ixeon659]

I applied for naturalisation last week, and my wife, a US citizen, currently holds pre-settled status in the UK. Her initial 5-year pre-settled status will be completed in October 2025, but she spent almost a year abroad during this period.

Well, if she can prove that 1 year absence was for an important reason then they will skip it like there was no absence. My wife was also away for almost 1 year to give birth abroad, when completing Lounes paper form, there is a question about this and you will need to write something there (see attached screenshot from my wife's Lounes form)