There is a trend of some adminstrative formalities causing many people to get caught out! If a person is a student, he/she (it
) is more or less likely to be aware of the requirements to have a PRIVATE (NOT NHS) medical insurance in order to have been continuously exercising Treaty Rights.If an EEA national is a worker/self-employed, they need only comply with the requirements of the Worker Registration Scheme (WRS) (if from the A10 countries), and then there is no requirement to have a medical certificate etc.
However, if an EEA national wishes to apply for a Document Certifying Permanent Residence on an EEA3 form and his family member will wish to apply for a Permanent Residence card on an EEA4 form, they will need to prove that the EEA national had exercised the Treaty Rights in any of the categories for the 5 years.
In order to successfully apply for either of the above, one must prove:
A) 5 years' continuous RESIDENCE and
B) 5 years' continuous EXERCISE OF TREATY RIGHTS (in ANY category).
While RESIDENCE requirement can be proved easily and absences of up to 6 months in any 1 year do not break the continuity, the Treaty Rights a bit dodgy.
If you are a robot/not affected by the credit crunch and never had any breaks between the jobs, apart from the holidays- this DOES NOT APPLY to you.
However, if you are one of the many who, during the 5 years, changed jobs (or intend to!) and had a substantial break while looking for one, BE AWARE:
Many people who worked for many years, and stopped working for whatever reason, are supposed to do AT LEAST SOMETHING!!!
1) REGISTER with a JOB CENTRE as JOB SEEKERS while looking for another job. This is one of the requirements BOTH in the UK legislation (Regulation 2006) and the EU Directive 2004/38. If you do this, and you genuinely seek employment, you are still technically a WORKER (even though unemployed) for the purposes of the Directive and more importantly, there is no break in B) above- your exercising of the Treaty Rights; or
2) Take out a COMPREHENSIVE MEDICAL INSURANCE (NOT NHS) (and have enough money, generally not a problem). This way, you technically SWITCH into another category- becoming a self-sufficient person and your exercise of Treaty Rights has NO BREAKS as per B) above.
What many people do, like myself, ignore the paperwork requirement and are simply NOT AWARE of the requirements.
So, all the hard work you did for a number of years, does NOT count towards anything, you simply drop to the back of the line and start from ZERO.
Please, if you think you will not be working, do take out that lousy PRIVATE health insurance, or register as a job seeker, [and even CLAIM off the government while seeking employment (provided your previous employment was ended not because of your fault)].
As many people between their jobs simply take time off thinking it's ok, when it comes down to applying for PR, you will need to prove the full 5 years'. And if there are any breaks, it's no good to argue that you are an NHS patient, or you found a job in a couple of months of seeking, without registering with a job centre.
And, your family member gets affected as well!!!
Finally, if you are an EEA national but are NOT working, and your non-EEA national is working, YOU are NOT a worker but a SELF-SUFFICIENT person and require a private medical insurance for BOTH yourself AND the person working?! It's ridiculous, but true.
Don't give UKBA even half a chance please, be one step ahead at all times and it's always a good idea to read up application forms for PR even when you're in your 1st year of exercising Treaty Rights.
I have had my input in the discussion below, and noted that a case will need to go to court to rule on the proportionality of the sanctions imposed on poor unwary applicants, who are caught out through no fault of their own.
http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... ht=#318043
Post Post Scriptum:
There is one TRICK for NON-EEA nationals to STILL get the PR even though their EEA national is not able to prove the Exercise of Treaty Rights for the full 5 years, but the method is DRASTIC!!!
Get DIVORCED after at least 3 years. In this case, all YOU would need is to show that at the time of the initiation of Divorce the EEA national was exercising Treaty Rights. That's all, there is no need to prove that the EEA national had been exercising them for the whole 3-year period. This way, you RETAIN the rights on your own and after the 5 years can apply for PR regardless of the status of your EEA national.
This doesn't mean dumping your EEA spouse, but simply temporarily divorcing, if only getting remarried the very next month or two!
This is just a "loophole" I thought of and wanted to share my view. There are many non-EEA nationals who would rather have a PR than another Residence Card.
Good luck, and if you find ANY of the above confusing, just ask!
Merry Xmas and a Very Happy New Year!!!!!