EEA 4 ROUTE OR NATURALISATION FOR NON EEA SPOUSE?

[polandcalling]

Hello I am new to the forum and I hope someone will be able to help me here.
November 2005, I arrived from Poland to Uk and have been working as Self-Employed since then with no gaps.
September 2007, I got married to NON-EEA citizen from Panama in her country.
November 2007, my Non-EEA spouse arrived in UK with an EEA Family Permit valid from 29 Oct 2007 to 29 April 2008 to join me in UK.
October 2008, She got the Residence Card (EEA 2) valid until October 2013
February 2009, My wife gave birth to our first n only child who holds both a Polish and a Panamanian passport as we were told she was not entitled to British Passport.
January 2011, My wife started working part time (still in the same job until present)
March 2011, I Got Permanent Residence status ( I was issued with a PR card)
I believe I have been entitled to apply for Naturalisation as a British Citizen from March 2012 (a year after I got PR). Is that right ???
I passed the Life in the UK test just a month ago by the way. Now my questions are:
1.- Did my wife become a Permanent Resident in November 2012? (She arrived here in Nov 2007 with EEA Family Permit) or will she become a permanent resident in October 2013? (she got Residence card in October 2008) which of those dates count to qualify for permanent residence?
2.- If the first date counts (Nov 2012) is she entitled to apply for Naturalisation as a British Citizen in November 2013? (she will have been in UK 6 years by then)
3.- problem is, her 5 year Residence Card expires in October 2013, despite this, will she still be allowed to apply for Naturalisation in Nov 2013? Also her boss is quite aware of this and told her that he would terminate her job in October this year (which is when her 5 year Residence Card expires) unless she renews her visa, but we don’t want to go through the EEA 4 route as it is a nightmare.
4.- So is it better for us if I apply for Naturalisation first, become British so then she wouldn’t have to wait till November 2013 to apply for naturalisation? I think that as a wife of a British Citizen, she is entitled to skip that one year, is it??. Or is it best for both of us to apply for Naturalisation as British Citizens at the same time in November 2013? How about my child? Do we include her in our application too?
I am desperate for answers and any help will be very much appreciated.

[Jambo]

1. November 2012 after 5 years of residence (assuming she spent more than 6 months a year in the UK).
2. Yes.
3. She can apply for EEA4 but not wait for the decision. She will get a CoA valid for 6 months which will probably be accepted by her employer. She can ask to get all the documents back so she can apply for naturalisation.
4. That's an option. Applying together you get a £200 discount. On the other hand, if you apply now and your wife as soon as you are BC, she will probably be BC around November (it's about 2 months for an application). Also, in November there will be new English requirements to meet for naturalisation so you may want to apply before.

See Q1, Q2 & Q5 in Citizenship FAQs - Common Questions - Read before posting. Scroll down for the children section.

[polandcalling]

Jambo thanks v much for your reply. Now I know for sure that my non-eea wife became automatically a permanent resident in November 2012 and that in November 2013 she will be entitled to apply for Naturalisation as BC.
If she applies for PR (EEA4) now, a COA may take time and won't satisfy her boss. She printed all the information regarding automatic residence after 5 years in uk for non-eea spouses of eea nationals and that it is not a must to apply for PR (EEA4) but he did not even bother to read it and just said to her very clearly that unless her visa gets renewed, he will terminate her employment in October 2013 which is when her 5 year residence card expires. My wife tried to apply for another job but she got turned down because of her visa running out soon and surprisingly employers seem not to understand quite well European Law concerning non eea spouses of eea nationals.
Anyway, thanks to your advice I have decided to apply for naturalisation as BC and include my 4 year old daughter in my application. Hopefully I will become British before October 2013 so then my wife could apply soon after and not wait until November 2013, is that right??
I am considering using the NCS, do they help you at all in filling in the forms or at least do they reassure you if you have filled in the application form in the right way?
I am also a bit worried about the referee thing, can a retired teacher be one of my professional referees? I have looked at the list and it does say teacher but how about if they have retired already?
also my daughter has been going to her nursery for 2 years now and I am considering asking the Manager of her nursery to act as one of her professional referees, but she has only known her for 2 years and not 3 as it should, would that still be ok? I cannot ask GP or dentist as we moved house like 3 times in almost 6 years and had to register in different surgeries. Any advice will be highly appreciated. thanks very much for reading my post.

[Jambo]

Could you please stick to one post. I think the British Citizenship is the right place for your questions.

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

Please continue in your other thread.