How many years of evidence/documents do I need for my application?

[Theox]

Hi, I'm living in London 12years...on the first 2years I completed my studies and I'm working since then...I'm in the process of completing my application for permanent residence in uk, but I have a couple of questions...
1)it's extremely hard to find evidence of everything I did for all these years, so is it ok if I show evidence for the last 5-6 years...tax return, council tax, bills, etc...or do I have to find documents for the whole 12years I've been living here?
2)same question but regarding my days I was out of UK...is 5-6years enough or do I need to go further back?
3)do I have to send my original passport together with the other documents? And how long do I have to wait till I get it back? I booked short holidays to Greece for Xmas, so I guess it's better if I send the application in January
Thanks a lot, Theo

[GMB]

I assume you're applying for Permanent Residence based on the time you've been here, so:

1)do I have to find documents for the whole 12years I've been living here?
No, only for any 5 year period during the 12 years. It doesn't even have to be the most recent 5 years, but you need to show that you exercised treaty rights during the whole of whatever period you pick.
2)same question but regarding my days I was out of UK...is 5-6years enough or do I need to go further back? It's for whichever 5 year period you're using for 1), but with a couple of caveats: a. you only have to list trips where the total number of days absent exceeds 6 months in ANY 12 month period (not just in a calendar year), so most people never have to list any at all (I didn't, even though I travel frequently); and b. the first and last day of each trip doesn't count towards the 6 month total.
3)do I have to send my original passport together with the other documents?
As an EEA national you can use the European passport return service, which allows you to keep your passport during the application process. See: https://www.gov.uk/government/collectio ... rn-service

I recommend you read the EEA(PR) Guidance Notes, current version, before filling out the form. See: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... tes-v3.pdf

[Theox]

Great! Thank you very very much!