Italian living in UK refused PR

[elder statesman]

The facts:

I am an Italian woman and have lived in the UK just over 20 years. I have a British husband and two children born in the UK. I applied for a Permanent Resident Card and was refused because:

I took a 10 month course at a college in 2007 and didn't take out private medical insurance.

I claimed tax credits. (I was, however, living in the country for six years before I claimed any tax credits and was self-sufficient up until that point). I now no longer claim tax credits and haven't done so for over 4 years. I will never need them again because our circumstances have significantly improved.

I am now self-employed and have been self-sufficient again for four years. However I am a low earner (10k per year) because I have children to look after. I work part-time to contribute extra for the family. Because of my low earnings, however, the HO do NOT deem me as self-sufficient. My husband does not claim any benefits for our family. We are self-sufficient as a family.

The HO said I have not shown enough economic activity to show my business exists. I have no concerns about this because I can supply ample invoices and bank statements to move this.

My question:

Can I appeal? Do I have a chance? Any advice would be useful. I feel terrible right now, depressed.

I don't understand this Treaty of Rights? If the treaty says I must have private medical then why did the NHS treat me and others like me in the first place. Likewise with self-sufficiency. Why did the system allow me to claim tax benefits when the treaty prohibits this.

And why didn't someone tell me all this when I entered the country?

[noajthan]

Most unfortunate.

EU rights come with responsibilities.
Such as the need to understand what you are doing when you migrate somewhere.

The need for the person to not be an unreasonable burden on the state's social assistance system is actually enshrined in the EU Directive itself (and simply transposed into UK law - as it must be across all EU memberstates).
It is not about use of NHS and whether you can or cannot do so.
That is governed by other laws.

In fact treaty rights did not exist 20 years ago when you arrived in UK.
Were you stamped into UK with ILR? Some people have, to their joy, found that they were.
Check your old passports from 19-forgotten.
If so then there is no need to worry about treaty rights and PR.

Otherwise you need to show you have been exercising treaty rights as a qualified person for 5 continuous years.
And with no prolonged absences either during those 5 years or afterwards. (Because any PR could then have been lost).

So you have to show you fall into one or more categories of:

• worker
  self-employed
  jobseeker
  student - with CSI (or alternative)
  selfsufficeint - with CSI.

Don't jumble student and selfsufficient together - they are different.
But both categories do require the applicant to have CSI.

Personal income and resources are not the only factors for the selfsufficient - you can include family support.
A self-employed income of 10K may be enough to show you are a genuine and effective worker.
So when did you apply?
Can you post any refusal points from your HO letters (omit personal details).

If you were exercising EC rights up to 2006 you could have acquired PR as early as 2006.
That is before your problematic college course in 2007.
With PR status from 2006 there would be no need to exercise treaty rights after that - so no more need for CSI.

A selfsufficient person can be financed by family/husband - so perhaps that is your case.
And the CSI could come, for example, from hubby's health insurance, perhaps provided by an employer.
Check if this applies to you.

Otherwise, worst case (and with Brexit looming), you would be well advised to regularise your position in UK and apply for a RC so you have at least some EU documentation in hand.
Could prove a prudent investment for when any transitional arrangements are announced for the '000s in your position, still in-flight on EU migration trajectory.

But do check old passports for any ILR stamp first.
And see if you can collate enough evidence of exercising EC rights in the years leading up to 2006 - you may be able to reapply on that basis.
Good luck.

[elder statesman]

Interesting...

I cannot find an ILR (whatever that is) on any of my old passports.

I had a clean six years when I first arrived in the UK (1997 to 2006) but was supported by my husband and did not have private medical insurance. I was not self-employed then and was looking after my first-born.

When you say RC, is that a five year temporary resident card? How, where, do I apply for that?

[noajthan]

Interesting...

I cannot find an ILR (whatever that is) on any of my old passports.

I had a clean six years when I first arrived in the UK (1997 to 2006) but was supported by my husband and did not have private medical insurance. I was not self-employed then and was looking after my first-born.

When you say RC, is that a five year temporary resident card? How, where, do I apply for that?

ILR - indefinite leave to remain. It is settled status granted by UK domestic law rather than EU law.

A stay at home mom without CSI is not a qualified person.

Does hubby have insurance that may have covered you in a later 5 years period

You seem to have selfsufficiency and selfemployment mixed up .
What were specific points of refusal for the last application
Also worth checking if you applied properly on basis of being selfemployed or whether you can reapply on that basis - with better evidence.

Get up to speed on MET which caseworker will use to help her decide if she considers you to be a worker:
https://www.freemovement.org.uk/using-m ... ne-worker/
- this is over and above the cleaner, purer EU law which only says you have to demonstrate genuine and effective economic activity as a worker/self-employed.

A RC is an optional (but useful) confirmatory card that indicates your status.
Form for RC - once you have evidence of being a qp:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... orm-eea-qp

[elder statesman]

Thanks for your help on this. It's straightforward and good.

I am suppling excerpts from the HO refusal letter stating their refusal points:

Point 1:

At section 9.4 of your application form you have stated you became self-employed in 2008 on a part-time basis working from home. You have supplied the following documentary evidence:

• Five years worth of tax computations issued by your accountant.

It is noted that the above is not supported by any further correspondence, nor has anything been received via the HMRC referencing the same therefore not acceptable to support your application.

I cannot fathom this as I submit a tax return every year and have done for 9 years.

Point 2:

Your HMRC Tax Credit are stated as being claimed jointly with your spouse, your hours worked as stated, it is noted that your earned amounts for each tax year are relatively low to be classed as a main source of income, which is not sufficient to meet the criteria of a person exercising Treaty rights as a self-employed person.

The department then list 10 years of tax credit awards, four years of which I never had. I never applied for those four years and therefore never received any payments. Strange.

Point 3

As a self-employed person you have not provided sufficient documentation regarding you taxation/national insurance and nothing with regard to your income activity since commencement of such. Evidence should be produced that confirms income such as

• trading accounts, SA302'S, NI contributions for each consecutive period, bank statements showing income and credit entries, invoices

Point 4

You provided to this department indicated you studied at ************from September 2006 to June 2007, with regard to this period nothing has been submitted to the holding of medical insurance.

I have never taken out private medical insurance, nor has my husband who is self-employed.

[noajthan]

So your evidence was inadequate to support selfemployment.
And you had no CSI so students years are lost.
That is unless you had some alternative such as a foreign EHIC or a student RC (issued before 2011).

Get up to speed on how caseworker assesses and weighs up your case:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... _clean.pdf

Note a single form of evidence is probably inadequate (as you have discovered).
You need to take a belt and braces approach with multiple complementary documents so as to submit unimpeachable evidence.

• Work contracts;
  Marketing materials;
  Invoices/receipts;
  Suppliers' invoices/bills;
  Calling cards;
  HMRC documents;
  NI contribution/payment details;
  Accounts;
  Professional accreditation;
  Membership of trade associations;
  Professional indemnity/liability insurance;

& etc etc

It also seems HO couldn't find any tax footprint in HMRC. Did you actually pay tax and NI?
However, worth noting that that lack of tax records should not lead to automatic refusal, nor should a failure to meet MET, but such shortfalls will (or should) trigger further investigation of your case.

CSI can't be backdated so not much can be done about your carefree student years.
But it may be you could make a better case for being self-employed.
Either now, to support a RC application.
Or on the basis of past years if you want to take another shot at DCPR instead of waiting a few years (by which time UK will probably be outside of EU anyway).

[elder statesman]

I have EHIC but only one issued in this country. I have had this for 10 years.

Other than the last two years, I have been slightly under the threshold to pay National Insurance.

So my only option seems to be to make a better case for being self-employed. I may have to wait a few years to meet earnings criteria if they are strict on that.

Shall I take out CSI in the meantime?

The HO refusal letter concludes by saying:

As an EEA national you are not required to leave the United Kingdom as a result of this decision

I assume after Brexit this stance might alter? Could they really can kick me out of the UK? I have a British husband and two children, one aged 14 and still dependent.

[noajthan]

I have EHIC but only one issued in this country. I have had this for 10 years.

Other than the last two years, I have been slightly under the threshold to pay National Insurance.

So my only option seems to be to make a better case for being self-employed. I may have to wait a few years to meet earnings criteria if they are strict on that.

Shall I take out CSI in the meantime?

The HO refusal letter concludes by saying:

As an EEA national you are not required to leave the United Kingdom as a result of this decision

I assume after Brexit this stance might alter? Could they really can kick me out of the UK? I have a British husband and two children, one aged 14 and still dependent.

A UK EHIC is no good in this context. If you use it you add to the burden you impose on NHS/UK plc.

Don't worry you are legally present if not yet legally resident in UK.
UK are not Philistines and noone is going to kick your door in and deport you. But what a story to tell your grandchildren.

There are strict procedures to administratively remove someone under UK's EU rules; HO have evidently already recognised you have a family and have not invoked these.

If your income is flaky then yes, CSI is a good idea.Then apply for RC as a qp.
You can probably get something for around £30 a month. Tax deductible ofcourse (if you are selfemployed).

As for life after the EU, don't be too hard on yourself, everyone is in the same boat: in the hands of any transitional arrangements and the traditional British sense of fair play.
All yet TBC.
But such arrangements are usually predicated on possession of EU documentation - hence the advice to regularise your status and at least get the RC.
Good luck.

[elder statesman]

Thanks for all your help. You have been amazing.

I assume you close this thread at some point so copied and saved all the content.

[noajthan]

Thanks for all your help. You have been amazing.

I assume you close this thread at some point so copied and saved all the content.

You're welcome.
Hopefully some of the stress and angst has lifted.

No, this thread is all about you. And as per Board policy topics are not deleted.

Feel free to come back and update as your case progresses. (Some members' cases run for years).