Proof of residence for EEA Naturalisation

[ariskar]

Dear forum members,

In the naturalisation application form AN, page 29 (revision Feb 2017) it is mentioned that:

Evidence of lawful residence during the 5 (or, if the applicant is married or in
civil partnership to a British citizen, 3) years before the date of the application: required for
applications made on the basis of residence in the United Kingdom: required for all applicants
• Your passports Or
• Letters from employers, educational establishments or other Government Departments
indicating presence in UK

Question:
An EEA applicant who holds EEA(PR) certificate and applies with his/her national iD, is required to provide proof of residence, due to lack of stamps, etc.?

If so, is the applicant supposed to provide evidence only for the last year (that they held PR (settled) status), or for the full 5 (+1) years? Those documents would have been already accepted by HO on the basis of issue of EEA(PR).

Also the excerpt from the Guide AN p.p. 14-15, which is also somewhat unclear:

Evidence of lawful residence during the 5 (or, if the applicant is married to or in civil
partnership to a British citizen, 3) years before the date of the application
• Your passports
• If you are unable to provide your passport explain why on page 22 and supply
letters from employers, educational establishments or other government
departments indicating the applicant’s presence in the United Kingdom during
the relevant period
If your passport is not stamped when you come into the United Kingdom, for example
because you have a right of abode in the United Kingdom or you are a national of the
15
“Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” or Taiwan, you must send your passport and
also provide alternative evidence of residence as above. If you are an EEA national
you must additionally provide the information listed below.

...
(for EEA route only)

• A document certifying permanent residence or a permanent residence card
issued by the Home Office.

Thank you in advance for your time and assistance. I would particularly appreciate the input of EEA citizens who applied for naturalisation.

P.S. I suppose the same question would logically apply if an EEA citizen provides a stamp-free passport due to travel only within EEA freedom of movement area...

[Trabant]

Hi.
I got naturalised 2 months ago.
I did submit proof of residence here for the past 5 years before application. I did submit p60's for 5 years and additionally few payslips for the current year.
You are correct that the reason for submitting this is that our passports aren't stamped.

Good luck

[ariskar]

Hi.
I got naturalised 2 months ago.
I did submit proof of residence here for the past 5 years before application. I did submit p60's for 5 years and additionally few payslips for the current year.
You are correct that the reason for submitting this is that our passports aren't stamped.

Good luck

Thank you Trabant, this is useful.

I guess I will do similar then, unless someone else has other explanation. It is a bit strange to ask for those proofs again, as any EEA naturalising has already submitted documents for 5 years of "qualifying" residence through EEA(PR) application for the permanent residence certificate. The certificate number and proofs for the last 1 year should normally suffice for them from a "logical" standpoint...

Just weary of having to submit again almost 2kg of supporting documents used for EEA(PR) to them (employment + studies + utility bills + self employment + invoices, etc.)...

[Trabant]

The good thing this time is - if you'll use NCS the only original they'll post is the proof of life in the uk test pass. The rest of the documents will be copied and originals will be returned to you at the point of the appointment. It does cost a bit - but it was much safer for me.
I find it funny as well - but if they want it so much - I gave it to them again
good luck.

[alterhase58]

Also remember that EU regulations are separate from UK internal nationality laws, the two Directorates don't necessarily talk. BTW, NCS will likely refuse to take 2kg of documents, all you need is say the P60 for the five years up to AN application, or even simpler, letter(s) from employer(s) confirming you work or have worked for them. Useful if you have been with one employer for five years or more, just one or two A4 sheets to be submitted. Good luck.

[ariskar]

Thank you both. I share the same view with Trabant. I am using NCS for naturalisation & passport application.

I have been student, employed, jobseeker and self employed (continously)... hence the large amount of different documents (P60, university, self assessment SOA, JSA, etc.) to provide for the entire 6 years (5+1) period.

NCS would indeed help picking most relevant documents out of these, alterhase58.

Side talk:
However, last time I checked for naturalisation it was not a requirement to be employed, self-employed or studying, (i.e. qualified person), just lawfully resident and having settled status (PR/ILR) for 1 year (or no time if spouse of BC). What about lets say a spouse of an EEA UK lawful resident/settled person that has not been working, for instance lived in UK 6 years as a EEA national housewife of another EEA "qualifying resident", holding EEA(PR) based on spouse's "qualifying" activity residence?

[alterhase58]

Correct - Employment is not a pre-condition for naturalisation. But using P60 and/or employer letters is a way of documenting residency.

[tallahassee]

Hi all,

While have I my own thread for my application, I had a question directly linked to OP's so I thought it would make most sense to post it here.

I applied back in September as EEA national and as proof of residence I used six P60s (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 & 2017), as well as an employment letter saying I had been employed with my company since Sep 2011.

What worries me slightly is that my employment letter (dated Aug 2017) didn't explictly state that I am currently still working there (although it obviously didn't state an end date either). Is this good enough? Or should I have sent further payslips for this year (e.g. between 2017's P60 and September 2017)?

[ariskar]

Hi all,

While have I my own thread for my application, I had a question directly linked to OP's so I thought it would make most sense to post it here.

I applied back in September as EEA national and as proof of residence I used six P60s (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 & 2017), as well as an employment letter saying I had been employed with my company since Sep 2011.

What worries me slightly is that my employment letter (dated Aug 2017) didn't explictly state that I am currently still working there (although it obviously didn't state an end date either). Is this good enough? Or should I have sent further payslips for this year (e.g. between 2017's P60 and September 2017)?

I think you have nothing to worry about:

As long as you provided continous P60's and a recent letter from the same employer, I doubt they will even verify those further. In that case though:

Your letter is dated 1 month before the application. It doesn't state that you have ceased activity. If they doubt over the past 1 month, it is too short a gap to be considered.

If the doubt is if you were indeed working between 6 April 2017 and August 2017, firstly they can directly check with HMRC (PAYE) information based on your NINo. If they don't look into HMRC records, they can check entry and exit information (Advanced Passenger Information or exit passport checks since spring 2015). In the worst (unlikely) case they will ask you for clarification or further evidence. I highly doubt they would consider asking.

Even if you were (assumed) not employed between 6 April 2017 and August 2017, but already held PR status and lived in the UK without activity within the last year (proof: bank statements, council tax, utility bills, etc.) you were allowed to do so. For the EEA(PR) qualification period you were required to exercise your rights in a proven scope of: work, studying, self employment, looking for job, self sufficiency. During the additional 1 year qualifying period after PR for citizenship residency requirements fulfillment you were not required to have any of these activities or be exercising treaty rights as an EEA national.

Lastly, employment or other activity is not a requirement for obtaining citizenship, as another forum member mentioned earlier. I hope this helps.

[tallahassee]

Thank you so much ariskar for your detailed response. I really do hope everything will be ok =)