MrBishment wrote:CR001 said something quite opposite:
CR001 wrote:Yes, a Document Certifying PR is mandatory for citizenship since November 2015.
Also, if PR is acquired automatically after 5 years of living in the UK, then how is the certificate not a proof of the fact that I lived in the UK for the last 5 years... Seems bit illogical to me. Could you clarify, please?
No, we have said the same thing.
You, perhaps through woolly thinking about free movement and/or due to misinformation, have completely misunderstood as you seem to think you are 'applying for PR'.
You cannot and do not 'apply for PR'.
There are two aspects to permanent residence:
- 1) PR (status) is acquired automatically by fulfilling certain conditions.
2) What one can apply for is an optional EU document called DCPR/PRC.
DCPR/PRC merely confirms whether someone has PR status. It does
not confer that status.
The UK HO (for reasons best known to itself) has recently made the
optional EU document a
mandatory prerequisite for those on EU route who apply to naturalise.
Naturalisation has different requirements for residence and absence compared to requirements for acquiring PR.
Did I mention different legal frameworks.
Why would you expect alignment and coordination between EU law and UK domestic law?
Or even joined-up thinking?
You are dealing with
Kafkaesque bureaucracy that has taken decades to evolve.
And an application for privilege of citizenship is not an action replay of an application to confirm PR.
You can acquire PR status by living in UK for perhaps 50% of time (even less in special circumstances).
Proudly present your DCPR in such a scenario and you will be refused citizenship as you cannot be absent for 50% of time under requirements for the privilege of citizenship.
Furthermore, DCPR does not prove you were
physically present in UK 5 (or 3) years previously - another mandatory requirement when naturalising.
Nor does it prove that you were absent less than 90 days in last 12 months.
Its another common misunderstanding that PR relates to activity in past 5 years. Not necessarily so.
However the naturalisation process does count backwards from date of application - and reaches back 5 or 10 years for various questions.
Clearly some people can and do acquire PR and DCPR way
back in the day - so a DCPR does not necessarily date from the past 5 years.
Suggest you check the AN requirements very carefully - before you risk your coin.
And don't take DCPR for granted.
As an A8 national you probably needed to register for WRS if a worker.
Or, if a student, CSI will have been required.
Make sure you had those ducks in a row first.
