Failed citizenship application due to PR

[alex131]

Hi,

Apologies if there is already a thread about this which I should've posted in.

I've lived in the UK since Sep-2010 and am an EEA citizen.

I recently applied for British citizenship (Feb-2017) as a worker, but was refused on the grounds of not meeting the permanent residency requirement. Just got this answer yesterday (May-2017).

When I applied for permanent residency (Sep-2016), they sent me a document which has "registration certificate" written on it, not "permanent residency".

I wasn't aware this document wasn't enough, as I hadn't received any communications from the Home Office indicating that my application for a "permanent residency" was, in fact, unsuccessful.

They also did not provide any explanation as to why I did not receive the "permanent residency" document and why they sent me a "registration certificate" instead.

I've now lost approximately £1,300 because of this.

Do I have any options? I'm seeing an immigration lawyer next week.
Any advice would be appreciated.

Many thanks,
Alex

[secret.simon]

Can you give us a detailed history (in month/year) of your life in the UK?

[alex131]

2010-Sep to 2012-Sep -> student
worked part-time here and there during this period with small bursts of full-time employment over holiday periods.

2012-Sep to 2013-Sep -> placement year, worked full-time.
2013-Sep to 2014-May -> returned as student, finished my degree (whilst working part-time).
2014-May to present -> full-time employed.

[secret.simon]

Unless you had CSI (private health insurance) or a non-UK EHIC card as a student, that time does not count for the purpose of residence.

The period that you worked (part-time or full-time) does count, provided the work was "genuine and effective".

You require five continuous years of working (assuming no CSI) to acquire PR. So, did you have CSI or a non-UK EHIC card when you were a student?

Was your part-time work between September 2013 and September 2014 continuous or were there breaks in that work?

[alex131]

Thanks secret.simon.

I did not have any private health insurance as a student.
So when I applied (2016-Sep), I only had, at best, 4 years of continuous employment (FT and PT) which isn't enough. Fair enough.

And, to be sure, looks like I can only apply for PR in 2019. Again, fair enough I guess.

However

My issue is with the way Home Office handled my PR application.

They did not notify me I failed to get PR, instead they sent me a document which has, on its front, "UK residence documentation for a national of an EEA state". This led me to believe I had the document for which I had applied for.

If you go to buy milk in the store and the cashier hands you a bottle that says "milk", is a layperson expected to put it under a microscope to see if it's actually milk? (best analogy I could come up with)

At the end of the day, yes, I should've been more careful and done some more research to be sure I had the right document. That's all on me.

At this point I'm just trying to get my £1,300 back, as I feel deceived by the Home Office.

Thanks,
Alex

[Chelsuz85]

Thanks secret.simon.

I did not have any private health insurance as a student.
So when I applied (2016-Sep), I only had, at best, 4 years of continuous employment (FT and PT) which isn't enough. Fair enough.

And, to be sure, looks like I can only apply for PR in 2019. Again, fair enough I guess.

However

My issue is with the way Home Office handled my PR application.

They did not notify me I failed to get PR, instead they sent me a document which has, on its front, "UK residence documentation for a national of an EEA state". This led me to believe I had the document for which I had applied for.

If you go to buy milk in the store and the cashier hands you a bottle that says "milk", is a layperson expected to put it under a microscope to see if it's actually milk? (best analogy I could come up with)

At the end of the day, yes, I should've been more careful and done some more research to be sure I had the right document. That's all on me.

At this point I'm just trying to get my £1,300 back, as I feel deceived by the Home Office.

Thanks,
Alex

What did you pay £1,300 for?

[alex131]

Naturalization application was around 1200 I believe.
+ biometric registration
+ PR application $65
+ post and other small expenses.

All in all it's around £1,300 for the whole thing.

[dapto10]

My issue is with the way Home Office handled my PR application.

Hi Alex,

Can you confirm you have used the right EEA application form and have sent it to the correct address?

The application forms for RC(QP) and DCPR are different and the departments dealing with them are different. And the supporting documentation required is different. Your DCPR would have been rejected for the same reasons - mainly lack of CSI.

Can you tell us which application form exactly you have used to apply for your certificate?

[alex131]

Hi Dapto10,

I used this 85 page form:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... _03-16.pdf

And I sent it to this address, as specified on the form:
Home Office – EEA applications
PO Box 590
Durham
DH99 1AD

For context, a friend of mine applied in March 2017 for this (I applied in September 2016) and she received an email explaining why she failed and why they were giving her a "registration certificate" instead. I never received any communication / explanation.

Best,
Alex

[Raff113]

Hi please don't take it personally but I don't think you have any ground of claiming your fee back tbh, in the end of the day it was you who did not understand what type of document they HO sent you?
If you did bother to read permanent residence requirements properly before applying and I assume that you did, you would know that you did not qualify for a PR in first place but still decided to give it a go? Registration certificate was simply the only document you qualified for at that moment of time.

[alex131]

Thanks Raff.

I did meet with an immigration lawyer and there's no chance I'm getting a refund.
I was told to contact the home office to understand exactly why my permanent residency was refused so that next time I apply I have everything in order.

Thanks everyone for your help.

Alex