Romanian Wife Indefinite Leave to Remain

[Xodus1988]

Hi, My wife came to the UK from Romania in July 2012 and we have been married since November 2012. Im a British Citizen and i'm wondering how she can apply for an indefinite leave to remain as we need it so she can get British citizenship. I read she can apply for citizenship after 3 years of marriage but not sure if she got indefinite leave to remain when we got married. I hope someone here has had experience with this and can help me as the government website doesn't really give us a straight answer.

Thanks in advance

[noajthan]

Hi, My wife came to the UK from Romania in July 2012 and we have been married since November 2012. Im a British Citizen and i'm wondering how she can apply for an indefinite leave to remain as we need it so she can get British citizenship. I read she can apply for citizenship after 3 years of marriage but not sure if she got indefinite leave to remain when we got married. I hope someone here has had experience with this and can help me as the government website doesn't really give us a straight answer.

Thanks in advance

What is wife's current immigration status?
Is she really on UK immigration route (leading to ILR)?

Or is she here on EU migration route, which would lead to permanent residence (PR)?
If so, has wife been (& is she still) exercising treaty rights as a qualified person (eg worker, student etc)?

Any prolonged absences from UK since arrival?

[Xodus1988]

What is wife's current immigration status?
Is she really on UK immigration route (leading to ILR)?
Or is she here on EU migration route, which would lead to permanent residence (PR)?
I'm not sure about the answers to any of these questions

Edit: I'm guessing is the EU migration route as she is an EU citizen


Any prolonged absences from UK since arrival?
She has only been out the the country for a maximum for 30 day per year to see family.

If so, has wife been (& is she still) exercising treaty rights as a qualified person (eg worker, student etc)?
Shes not working, i claim esa and she on that benefit claim with me.

Ive heard she can apply straight for british citizenship as we have been married for more than 3 years is that true

[noajthan]

What is wife's current immigration status?
Is she really on UK immigration route (leading to ILR)?
Or is she here on EU migration route, which would lead to permanent residence (PR)?
I'm not sure about the answers to any of these questions

Edit: I'm guessing is the EU migration route as she is an EU citizen


Any prolonged absences from UK since arrival?
She has only been out the the country for a maximum for 30 day per year to see family.

If so, has wife been (& is she still) exercising treaty rights as a qualified person (eg worker, student etc)?
Shes not working, i claim esa and she on that benefit claim with me.

Ive heard she can apply straight for british citizenship as we have been married for more than 3 years is that true

Not exactly, the spouse of a BC has to demonstrate residency for 3 years but that is only one requirement for a successful section 6(2) application.

If your wife did not come to UK on any visa ie under UK Immigration Regulations (which is unlikely anyway) then your wife will be on EU migration route.

Assuming she is on EU route then, to naturalise, wife will need confirmation of PR status (DCPR).

To acquire permanent residence (PR) she will have to have been a qualified person for a continuous period of 5 years.
So she won't have acquired PR yet.

To be a qualified person she needs to be working or self-employed (or a jobseeker).
If none of those she can be a student or a self-sufficient person. But she will have to have some form of CSI in place (health insurance).

Note NHS access does not count as CSI!
And wife should not be placing an undue burden on the social assistance system of UK (ie by claiming benefits).

If she is a qualified person then all good, carry on until year 5. Then apply for confirmation of PR.
Then dig into requirements for the privilege of citizenship - see forum FAQS for a headstart.

If not a qualified person then wife needs to regularise her stay in UK asap. Especially with all this Brexit talk.
The simplest way to do that would be to purchase CSI & to review use of state benefits.