EU national married to a UK citizen and living in UK

[Robb660965]

My wife is Finnish (EU national) she has lived and worked (with the exception of maternity leave) in the UK for 10+ years, she does not currently work as she is looking after children. We have been married for 3 years and have two children and a mortgage. She has a national insurance number. She does not have nor applied for permanent residency or to become a British citizen. I am a British Citizen and have been since birth, our children have British passports. Does the following criteria entitle my wife to permanently reside in the UK? If and when we leave the UK, is is possible that there is a risk that my wife will be deported if the UK government does not make an agreement with Finland? If this is the case would I be correct in saying that the only guaranteed way of ensuring permanent residency in the UK would be for her to apply for British Citizenship?

Many thanks

[ohara]

Hello from a fellow Finn.

Do not panic.

Permanent residency on the EEA migration route is not applied for, it is acquired automatically. If your wife has worked in the UK for a continuous period of at least 5 years since 2004 then she almost certainly already has PR. She can apply for a DCPR, or document certifying permanent residence. This is just a document which confirms she has PR status. Assuming she meets all of the other requirements, she can then apply for British citizenship.

If you can give us a rundown of your wife's economic activity in the UK, we can help to determine when she may have acquired PR.

In the worst case Brexit scenario, if EEA citizens do start getting removed, I think due to her circumstances your wife would be fairly close to the bottom of the list of those who had to go. Long residence, PR, married to a British citizen, with kids in the UK all would be in her favour.

[Robb660965]

Thank you for your reply, I meant to say in original post "If and when we leave the EU" not UK.

much appreciated