PR of unmarried partner of EEA who becomes British citizen

[ng_84]

Hello,

I'm trying to get my head around the EEA PR rules and subsequent claims to BC for unmarried partners of EEA citizens exercising treaty rights. I first provide details about our situation before asking specific questions:

Family of three:
1) EEA citizen, working continuously in the UK since 2011; application for PR submitted two weeks ago (February 2017).
2) non-EEA unmarried partner in durable relationship (extended family member) with RC since January 2014 (i.e. after birth of our child).
3) child with EEA and non-EEA nationalities. Born in summer 2013.

My partner (the non-EEA) will have the right to apply for permanent residency in 01/2019 and BC in 01/2020. Since we are not married, the date of RC is the starting point for the five years to PR. I could get BC one year after having PR confirmed. Depending on how quickly my PR applications is handled, this may be somewhere around summer 2018. Our child could be registered as a British citizen now (I have PR; just not yet 'in writing').

Questions:
1) Once my partner has gained PR and that has been confirmed in writing, do I (the EEA sponsor) need to continue exercising treaty rights?
2) Related to (1): If I become a BC after her gaining PR (e.g. in summer 2019), does that affect her status and her ability to apply for BC in 2020? Or is PR independent of a sponsor (i.e. you need an EEA sponsor to obtain PR but not to maintain it)?
3) If our child would become a British citizen now, would that somehow jeopardize my ability to sponsor my partner as an EEA citizen?

Thank you
ng

[alterhase58]

I am no expert with this but I have seen quite a few postings here that suggest if EEA sponsor becomes BC then s/he cannot be sponsor anymore, as BC comes under UK immigration rules, not EEA. Child BC as such has no effect. Maybe consider partner gets BC first, then you .... others may wish to comment (or correct my understanding).

[ng_84]

Thank you alterhase.

Yes, I have heard that as well. Perhaps a better question is whether someone who's gained PR still requires a sponsor. If I obtain BC after she obtaines PR then that may have no effect on her anymore...

Getting BC after Brexit may be a bit problematic for me. Germany isn't too keen on dual citizenship with non-EU countries and I wouldn't want to give up my German citizenship to become a British citizen :-/ Hence my desire to at least submit BC application before Brexit but after her PR confirmation. But timelines might not work out anyway...

[alterhase58]

You can apply for a "Beibehaltungsbescheinigung" from Bundesverwaltungsamt which would allow you to hold dual citizenship > check Deutsche Botschaft website consular section. Clearly on the UK side there will be PR timing issues.