ILR as spouse of EEA national with PR?

[mathieu_s]

Hi,
I am French and my wife is Japanse.
We both have PR (since 2014).
My wife would like to get ILR.
She does not want to apply for BC because she wants to keep her Japanese nationality.

1) Can she apply for ILR with form SET(M), as spouse of a person settled in the uk (myslef with PR)?

2) if not, are there other ways she can get ILR?

Many thanks

[CR001]

Hi,
I am French and my wife is Japanse.
We both have PR (since 2014). Your post is unclear as you state here you both have PR but below state only you have PR???
My wife would like to get ILR.
She does not want to apply for BC because she wants to keep her Japanese nationality.

1) Can she apply for ILR with form SET(M), as spouse of a person settled in the uk (myslef with PR)? No she cannot as she does not holda
visa category (spouse visa) under the UK immigration rules that permits her to apply for ILR.

2) if not, are there other ways she can get ILR? PR under the EU rules if she has 5 year residence in the UK as your spouse.

Many thanks

[mathieu_s]

Thank you for your reply.
We both have PR but she would like to get ILR (because PR may become useless after the UK leaves the EU).
We wonder how could she get ILR.
Hope that clarifies.

[CR001]

ILR and PR are the same thing - Settled Status - one through EU/EEA rules route, the other through the UK immigration rules route. One is not better than the other one.

She cannot apply for ILR as she already holds 'settled' status and she is not on the UK immigration rules path but follow the EU/EEA rules.

[mathieu_s]

ok i understand, thank you.

If i were to become a british citizen would her PR status change?
would my wife still be able to stay in the UK?
I read that non-eea familiy members rights changes once their EEA national spouse gets BC.

And thank you for your quick previous replies!

[CR001]

ok i understand, thank you.

If i were to become a british citizen would her PR status change? No it won't. Her PR status remains in tact.

would my wife still be able to stay in the UK? Yes, but it is important to note that PR can be lost if she is absent from the UK for 2 or more years and would then have to start again from scratch on the UK immigration route if you are British.

I read that non-eea familiy members rights changes once their EEA national spouse gets BC. Only if the EEA Family Member DOES NOT have PR yet.

And thank you for your quick previous replies!

[mathieu_s]

ok that is clear and reassuring.
so to conclude she can either:
- do nothing and keep her "permanent residence card" (and take a risk with brexit)
OR
- become a british citizen

Is that correct?

Thank you very much for your help

[CR001]

Correct. Highly unlikely that her PR would just be taken away.