Residence Permit - Do I relly need it?

[kasia]

Hi,
Hope someone can help me.
I was planning to send EEA1 form to apply for residence permit but i'm not sure if i relly need this. I'm from Poland working in UK for over 4 years. I'm planning to stay here for good because my fiance is not a Pole and we decided that it will be easier for us to live in UK.
In a couple of years i want to apply for British passport (i guess it will make my live here easier) and now i'm confused what shall i do next. I'm already registered under WRS.

[John]

You were already legally working in the UK on 1st May 2004 when Poland joined the EU? If so, why are you registered under the WRS?

In any case, yes, I think you should go for your Residence Permit. That in your passport will confirm to any employer that you don't need to register under the WRS.

Your fiancé ... can I ask ... from which country?

[olisun]

If so, why are you registered under the WRS? <== I thought everybody from the new EU countries who wanted to work in the UK had to register under the WRS

from the OP thread: from Poland working in UK for over 4 years. <== on a WP ?

[kasia]

I was here as a student and working part time only so i had to register.
My fiance is from Afghanistan, he is waiting for ILR (sent his documents on February, is it normal to wait this long? ) sorry for off topic

[JAJ]

You were already legally working in the UK on 1st May 2004 when Poland joined the EU? If so, why are you registered under the WRS?

In any case, yes, I think you should go for your Residence Permit. That in your passport will confirm to any employer that you don't need to register under the WRS.

Your fiancé ... can I ask ... from which country?

If the OP has been working in the UK legally for 4 years, is there an option to go for ILR now? Then after 1 further year, naturalise as a British citizen (if Poland has no problem with dual citizenship, or if keeping Polish citizenship isn't important).

[Kayalami]

Kasia,

On what basis have you been working for the last 4 years i.e. Work Permit etc?

[kasia]

Hi Kayalami,
I was working on student visa untill June 2002, after i went back to Poland and i stayed there for four months. I was back in UK in Oct 2002. I think i can't apply for ILR bcoz i wasn't continuously here for four years.

I was thinking about another option as me and my fiance planning to get married when he will get his ILR but we are worrying that he might get refused. I could apply for ILR as his wife. I don't know what should i do.

[John]

I was back in UK in Oct 2002.

Hi, you haven't actually answered Kayalami's very reasonable question :-

On what basis have you been working for the last 4 years i.e. Work Permit etc?

-: or a slight variation on that ... on what basis have you been working since October 2002?

[kasia]

Hi John,
I had a Leave to remain visa (student visa) and i could work only 20 hours.

[John]

OK, so let's try and get this right!

You are now registered under the WRS. Accordingly you are not yet entitled to apply for a Residence Permit, until near the end of the one-year of that WRS registration. You will indeed want to do so because only by getting that Residence Permit will you be able to work in the UK without being WRS-registered, given that you are from an A8 country.

Your time spent in the UK before you became WRS registered? You were a student and, as you say, you were limited to 20-hours work per week, at least during term-time. That time in the UK on a student visa will not assist in you getting ILR (except under Long Residence concession, and you don't qualify for that).

My fiance is from Afghanistan, he is waiting for ILR (sent his documents on February, is it normal to wait this long?

On what basis has he made his application? Long Residence Concession? It can easily take a year or more to decide such applications, especially the 14-year variety.

What is the plan? After he has got his ILR the two of you will get married? And then after that you will apply for a spouse visa ... to expedite your own ILR.

In a couple of years i want to apply for British passport

Well first you need to get your ILR! On your facts, if then married to a British Citizen, you might possibly be able to apply for naturalisation immediately after the ILR ... otherwise you will need to wait for a further year. So very doubtful you will achieve British Citizenship "in a couple of years".

[kasia]

Thank you John for quick response,
I got my WRS Card on August 2004 so i think i can apply for Residence Permit now as it is more then twelve months, sorry i wasn't writing clearly earlier.

On what basis has he made his application? Long Residence Concession? It can easily take a year or more to decide such applications, especially the 14-year variety.

He's been here on ELR for four years, we thought that it will take not more than 6 months to get LTR for him and yes we want to marry when he will get it. And after he wants to apply for naturalisation.

Anyway i'm going to do that Residence Permit, for five years i'm gona be clear with Home Office and later i will think what to do next.
Thank you again John

[Kayalami]

Kasia,

British passports only issued to British Nationals (encompasess citizens plus other categories). In your case you need to obtain British Citizenship. You 1st need to obtain ILR. Such can be obtained by EEA nationals who have exercised treaty rights over a consecutive period of 4 years. New ascensions nationals (excluding those from Malta and Cyprus) do not qualify for treaty rights until they complete 1 yr on WRS. So your timeline to naturalise is:

1 yr on WRS
4 years on full treaty rights - then apply for ILR.
1 Yr on ILR- then apply for naturalisation as a British Citizen.

i.e. 6 yrs from the time your WRS granted you may hold BC - of course you need to include processing times for the relevant applications.

Nationals of the original EEA countries e.g. France, Italy etc can apply for ILR on a retrospective basis i.e. if they have been in the UK for 4 years they can apply for residence permit and ILR simultaneously. This retrospection does not apply for the new ascension nationals since the period before 1 May 2004 may not be considered towards a residence permit no can time on WRS status considered for ILR. You may get ILR earlier through your spouse.

[kasia]

Thanks Kayalami,

Time is everything, i will wait few more years before i start thinking of naturalisation, i wasn't only sure if i should go for Residence Permit, now everything is clear for me.
I hope my fiance will get his Indefinite Leave and we will be able to plan our future

[John]

Kayalami, is the following a possible slightly quicker route?

After the fiance has got his ILR it looks to be the case that he will be able to apply for naturalisation as British after the ILR has been held for one year, or maybe even sooner if ILR is granted and it is at least 18 months since the application for ILR was made.

Anyway, after the ILR is granted, if the two of them get married Kasia will of course be married to someone settled in the UK. She could then apply for a two-year spouse visa ... and also ILR near the end of that two year period ..... I think sooner than under other routes.

When she gets her ILR it looks to be the case that she will be able to apply for naturalisation immediately, on her facts, because by then she will be married to a British Citizen and will have been in the UK over three years.

[Kayalami]

John,

Totally agree. The route you state is plausible but hinges on the fiance’s ILR from ELR going through. As per IND’s processing times and anectodal evidence on the bb such can takes anything up to well over 1 year. ILR needed to proceed to marriage in the first place given COA issue. Depending on when the OP commenced the relationship and when marriage first discussed it may be that this could have occurred pre the fiance’s ILR submission. In this way the OP would have been included as a dependent and obtained ILR in tandem with the spouse.