When does an EU-citizen become a resident in the UK?

[denalo]

EU citizens are free to come and leave the UK whenever they want (at least, it has been so till now, who knows what is going to happen after 23rd of June..). So, when does an EU-citizen become a resident? What is meant by being lawfully resident in the UK? Does it mean being a qualified person who has lived in the UK for more than ... days ?? Am I a resident, if I has been studying in the uni and renting a property here for last 10 months?

[noajthan]

EU citizens are free to come and leave the UK whenever they want (at least, it has been so till now, who knows what is going to happen after 23rd of June..). So, when does an EU-citizen become a resident? What is meant by being lawfully resident in the UK? Does it mean being a qualified person who has lived in the UK for more than ... days ?? Am I a resident, if I has been studying in the uni and renting a property here for last 10 months?

Union citizens have an initial 3 months grace period in any Union state - including UK.

If you are a student do you have CSI or foreign-issued EHIC?
If so, now that your first 3 months are up, congratulations you are exercising treaty rights. If not you are not.

Get up to speed on free movement here:
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/citizen/doc ... 013_en.pdf

[denalo]

Yeah, I do! Thanks!

[secret.simon]

I would say that an EU citizen is legally resident in the UK (or any other EU country) if, after the first three months of grace, he is exercising treaty rights and is a qualified person for the purposes of the EEA Regulations or has acquired Permanent Residence in the UK.

[rooibos]

The UK doesn't have a universal and unequivocal concept of residency, like in the continent. Who is considered resident for the home office might not be so for the DWP or the HMRC.

http://tools.hmrc.gov.uk/rift/screen/SR ... user=guest

https://www.gov.uk/eea-registration-certificate

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... k-19672013

[Richard W]

I would say that an EU citizen is legally resident in the UK (or any other EU country) if, after the first three months of grace, he is exercising treaty rights and is a qualified person for the purposes of the EEA Regulations or has acquired Permanent Residence in the UK.

Three quibbles:

On what basis is the portion of the first three months not exercising treaty rights excluded in your conception?

Secondly, an EU citizen may be lawfully resident in their capacity as a family member of somebody exercising treaty rights.

Thirdly, an EU citizen may have retained rights, or even derivative rights. The last two categories may be quite infrequent as a sole basis for lawful residence, and of course derivative rights have the distinction of not counting towards permanent residence.

[secret.simon]

On what basis is the portion of the first three months not exercising treaty rights excluded in your conception?

I did not exclude the first three months. Perhaps my sentence structure is imprecise. I meant that after the first three months, the standard to be met is higher than mere residence. For the first three months, mere residence suffices.

Secondly, an EU citizen may be lawfully resident in their capacity as a family member of somebody exercising treaty rights.

Thirdly, an EU citizen may have retained rights, or even derivative rights. The last two categories may be quite infrequent as a sole basis for lawful residence, and of course derivative rights have the distinction of not counting towards permanent residence.

Correct. I was stating the broad thrust of the Regulations. If I wished to cover every detail, I would have pointed the OP to the EEA Regulations and told them that they are legally settled provided they lived in the UK in conformity with the Regulations. I doubt such an answer would suit most people. The vast majority of people on these forums asking such questions want a general answer, unless they have provided details who allow a more tailored response.

Three quibbles

Quibble away. It is always good to question and to restate and clarify when in doubt. I mean it as a compliment when I say I enjoy your pedantry, even when you have reformulated my imprecise statements in language with a narrower, more specific focus.

Having said that, I would also suggest being more socially aware of hurt that can be caused inadvertently by being too precise. There are times when being unspecific may save people hurt and at such time, it is better to keep quiet and to use obtuse language if, after much thought and analysis,you consider it necessary to speak out.