EEA national born in Singapore married to British Citizen

[Bikbergen]

Hi All,

I've been reading various posts only to find conflicting information regarding form AN naturalisation.

I lived in the UK from 1995 to 2005 before my British wife and I moved to the continent for work.

We've been back in the UK since 2013 (3 years).

I'm confused about the route to take for naturalisation to become a British Citizen.

Do I need the PR card since I'm married to a British citizen? I thought not, isn't that a different route to naturalisation as opposed to applying on a EEA basis?

The PR card requirement for EEA lists 5 year residency, I've only been back in the UK for 3 years or could I apply on the basis of living in the UK from '95 to '05?

I don't really want to spend the time and money to obtain a PR card if it isn't necessary.

There is a another level of complication as I was born in Singapore, a British colony in 1962 before it became independent. Singapore joined Malaysia in 1963 and left to become independent in 1965.

Could I apply for British Citizenship on the basis of being a BOC even though I hold a EEA passport?

This would certainly be a easier route as it would not require naturalisation.

I thank everyone for there help in advance.

Kind regards,
Alfred

[CR001]

You need a PR card before you can apply for citizenship. This requirement became mandatory on 12th November 2015.

PR is automatically attained. Applying for a PR card is only confirmation of the status.

The long absence from the UK would have likely broken your continuous residence. However, if you did attain PR before, it is important to note that PR status is lost after 2 years absence from the UK.

[noajthan]

I have no knowledge of BOC so not considering that avenue.

Acquiring PR is the EU migration route to privilege of citizenship (!).

£65 fee is a small price to pay compared to the travails and costs that hard-pressed Brits and their non-EEA families have to go through on UK domestic migration route.

On what basis did you come to UK in 1995?
Were you stamped into UK with ILR back then?

Otherwise its unclear how you could have acquired PR on basis of living in UK with a British spouse.

It appears you have inadvertently undertaken the Surinder Singh route by relocating to the continent for 8 years.

• Was this an EU memberstate?
  Was spouse a qualified person (working or selfemployed) there?

If so you may reside in UK under EU rules on your return on the basis that sponsor is a proxy EEA national.

In any case, you will acquire PR status after 5 years in UK;
ie in 2018 (assuming no prolonged absences).
(You cannot patch your time in UK together piecemeal fashion in order to make up 5 years - that is not compatible with EU law).

Then, as intimated above, shoot for confirmation of PR and then think about applying for naturalisation and subsequent British passport.

[Bikbergen]

Thanks for the initial replies but none of it is making sense to me.

There was no ILR or PR when I first entered the UK in 1989 for a job I was offered back then, I applied for my NI number and that was it. I left the UK for the continent in '92 only to come back for a long stretch from '95 to 05.

I never required any other paperwork as I am a EU citizen and hold a EU passport.

The AN guide states that you can apply to become a British citizen after 3 years residency when married to a British citizen so there seems to be a contradiction with the 5 year requirement for a PR card?

Can someone explain this to me?

[noajthan]

Thanks for the initial replies but none of it is making sense to me.

There was no ILR or PR when I first entered the UK in 1989 for a job I was offered back then, I applied for my NI number and that was it. I left the UK for the continent in '92 only to come back for a long stretch from '95 to 05.

I never required any other paperwork as I am a EU citizen and hold a EU passport.

The AN guide states that you can apply to become a British citizen after 3 years residency when married to a British citizen so there seems to be a contradiction with the 5 year requirement for a PR card?

Can someone explain this to me?

Oops, on a small screen and missed that you are EEA. Apologies.

In that case if you did acquire PR status in your prior life in UK then that will have lapsed due to 8 year absence from UK.

You will have to reacquire PR by exercising treaty rights in own right - it takes 5 years.

The clause on 3 years residence only addresses residency in UK.
That's different from freedom from immigration time restrictions and settled status (PR) which is also required in order to naturalise - and which still takes 5 years.

The AN guidance is quite clear on that too:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... r_2016.pdf
- section 2, page 6

Also worth checking your old passports from back in the day - you may just happen to find an ILR stamp there.

[secret.simon]

How did you acquire BOC citizenship?

In any case, BOC citizenship does not give you any advantage when it comes to applying for British citizenship. You could have registered as a B ritish citizen if you never have held any other citizenship or nationality. As you do hold an EEA citizenship, that provision does not apply to you.

Even the spouse of a British citizen needs to be free of immigration requirements at the time of application of naturalisation. That means holding either ILR or PR, both of which take five years to acquire. The provisions for the immigration journey (which terminates at ILR/PR) and that of naturalisation are made under different laws and rules and do not necessarily tally. PR is of course acquired automatically under EU law and has nothing to do with UK law.

Both of them can be lost by an absence from the UK of more than two years. So, even if you had it in 2005, you may have lost it after your substantial absence from this sceptred isle.

There are also other requirements, such as being physically present in the UK three/five (if you are married to/not married to a British citizen) years to the day before the date of the application.