EEA family /permanent resident card then citizenship

[mrjohnsmith]

I looked at a large number of posts to get answers to my questions but i couldn't find.. Would be grateful if someone could provide some clarity on the following:

Background
EEA family based in UK. Mr has been living/working in UK for more than 18 years, Mrs 16 years. 3 kids, all born in EEA and all moved back to UK a month after birth, so length of stay in UK of 10 years, 6 years and 4 years.. Whole family seeking british citizenship.

Questions
1. It seems that i need to fill the EEA PR form first. Do i need to fill a form per person (ie 5 forms) or can i do one for the whole family?
2. Definition of sponsor in the EEA PR form: in my case, am i the sponsor? or sponsor definition is not applicable? sponsor concept seems confusing to me and i couldn t find a definition?
3. I read that i should seek PR for the period 2010 to 2015 to allow for the 1 year gap between PR and citizenship application, and therefore would be able to apply for citizenship as soon as i am getting a PR card. Is that correct?
4. Proof of days outside UK. Do i need to provide the exact number of days or is there room for some errors (I don't have a nice agenda with all my days outside the UK, nor i want to lied to anyone)
5. Would they consider the period from 1999 until now even if i can provide 100% proof of the number of days outside the UK? I read that Indefinite leave to remain (ILR) could be an option, but i would struggle to retrieve all my trips outside UK for such a long period
6. Why cant the immigration office use (directly) the council tax record, tax self assessment record, national insurance contribution, child benefit, GP registration, car mot, school registration, TV license. is seems to me that the government have all this information already??
7. For my son who has been less than 5 years in uk (exactly 4 years and 10 months..): can i add him to the EEA PR or do i need to wait for a full 5 years period? Do i need to delay the application for the whole family? Also can i actually use different 5 years periods for each member of the family?
8. I read that the citizenship will be granted to the kids at "the home secretary discretion". Is there a risk that i am going through all this process to finally be rejected for kids uk citizenship? what would be the alternative for the kids ( would ILR after 10 years be an option for them?)
9. Mrs has been working a few years, but then really spent time raising kids. Would that create any issues in the application? ie not working/mum at home? Clearly we are a family and have enough income from work to live.
10. Post receipt of the PR card, i guess the adult can apply for citizenship as soon as possible, and as soon as this is done, the parents should fill the MN1 form for the kids? or shall we do forms for everyone at the same time?

Help much appreciated on this. I read there is a large backlog of case, and clearly don't want to make any mistake that would delay the application.. Thanks very much

[secret.simon]

Definition of sponsor in the EEA PR form

Has either the Mr. or Mrs. exercised treaty rights for five continuous years? What are their nationalities (may have a bearing on acquisition of PR)?

4. Proof of days outside UK. Do i need to provide the exact number of days or is there room for some errors (I don't have a nice agenda with all my days outside the UK, nor i want to lied to anyone)

You will need a pretty specific (down to the day) list for the past five years for the naturalisation part anyway. So, you may want to check through your mailbox for email tickets, photo album for vacations, etc.

6. Why cant the immigration office use (directly) the council tax record, tax self assessment record, national insurance contribution, child benefit, GP registration, car mot, school registration, TV license. is seems to me that the government have all this information already??

Because they are spread across various departments and in different databases, for data protection and privacy reasons. Also, if they are housed in one database, that would be one hell of a honeypot for hackers.

[mrjohnsmith]

Thank you secret.simon

Has either the Mr. or Mrs. exercised treaty rights for five continuous years? What are their nationalities (may have a bearing on acquisition of PR)?

My understanding is that we will exercise our treaty rights for 5 continuous years through the application EEA PR (please correct me if i am wrong, i am new to all this).. Nationality is French

[noajthan]

...

Questions
1. It seems that i need to fill the EEA PR form first. Do i need to fill a form per person (ie 5 forms) or can i do one for the whole family?
2. Definition of sponsor in the EEA PR form: in my case, am i the sponsor? or sponsor definition is not applicable? sponsor concept seems confusing to me and i couldn t find a definition?
3. I read that i should seek PR for the period 2010 to 2015 to allow for the 1 year gap between PR and citizenship application, and therefore would be able to apply for citizenship as soon as i am getting a PR card. Is that correct?
4. Proof of days outside UK. Do i need to provide the exact number of days or is there room for some errors (I don't have a nice agenda with all my days outside the UK, nor i want to lied to anyone)
5. Would they consider the period from 1999 until now even if i can provide 100% proof of the number of days outside the UK? I read that Indefinite leave to remain (ILR) could be an option, but i would struggle to retrieve all my trips outside UK for such a long period
6. Why cant the immigration office use (directly) the council tax record, tax self assessment record, national insurance contribution, child benefit, GP registration, car mot, school registration, TV license. is seems to me that the government have all this information already??
7. For my son who has been less than 5 years in uk (exactly 4 years and 10 months..): can i add him to the EEA PR or do i need to wait for a full 5 years period? Do i need to delay the application for the whole family? Also can i actually use different 5 years periods for each member of the family?
8. I read that the citizenship will be granted to the kids at "the home secretary discretion". Is there a risk that i am going through all this process to finally be rejected for kids uk citizenship? what would be the alternative for the kids ( would ILR after 10 years be an option for them?)
9. Mrs has been working a few years, but then really spent time raising kids. Would that create any issues in the application? ie not working/mum at home? Clearly we are a family and have enough income from work to live.
10. Post receipt of the PR card, i guess the adult can apply for citizenship as soon as possible, and as soon as this is done, the parents should fill the MN1 form for the kids? or shall we do forms for everyone at the same time?

Help much appreciated on this. I read there is a large backlog of case, and clearly don't want to make any mistake that would delay the application.. Thanks very much

1) Sharing is fine.

2) No sponsor if main applicant is EEA.

3) You need to be 12 months free of immigration time control ie with settled status.
But you may have acquired PR years ago anyway.

4) Yes and yes.

5) Yes.
Check if you may have got ILR back in the day; if so then confirmation of PR for you is nugatory.

6) Because you as applicant are responsible for your application and for backing it up with adequate supporting evidence.
After all you are the one with skin in the game.
And this is an EU-related application nothing to do with parochial nationalistic document systems and databanks.

7) Young child cannot get PR confirmed in less than 5 years.
Delay everyone or else apply for child at appropriate time.

8] Give it your best shot. Children probably have or will have acquired PR very soon.

9) Mom is your direct family member dependent. No issues.

10) Children apply to register with or after parents naturalising.
Depends how risk-averse you are (how many fees to put on the line at one time).

[mrjohnsmith]

Noajthan: wonderful! thanks a lot, your comments are much appreciated!

[noajthan]

secret.simon has contributed valuable insights too.
Strongest applicant (in immigration context) should sponsor their spouse if one spouse cannot apply in own right.