Family member of an eu citizen who holds PR

[rubencol88]

Hi:
I am a non EU citizen. I am currently married to an EU citizen. I have been living and working in Britain for five and a half years.

I received my permanent residency on February 26th,2018. To do this, I had to prove my marriage to her. According to the document I received, I am now eligible to apply for citizenship one year after February 26th, 2018. So I plan on applying for citizenship on February 26th, 2019.

The issue is that we have decided to separate. We would like a divorce as soon as possible.

I have two questions regarding this issue.

1) Do I need to still be married to the person who made me eligible for permanent residency to apply for citizenship? (I.e. Can I divorce before applying for citizenship?)

2) Will Brexit effect my application, considering it is happening one month after my citizenship application would be submitted?
Thank you so much for any advice

[CR001]

1. No but if you are married and not yet divorced, you must state in the form that you are married.

2. No. Brexit has NOTHING to do with citizenship laws which are UK specific.

[Richard W]

2. No. Brexit has NOTHING to do with citizenship laws which are UK specific.

That's not entirely true. At some point, permanent residence will cease to confer settled status on those who are ordinarily resident. The EU has no say in whether permanent residence confers settled status, which is required for naturalisation. A statutory order could take effect making that change in November this year. I would expect the change to happen at the end of the transition period, but if there is no withdrawal agreement, it could reasonably happen as soon as the UK left the EU. Both of these dates are after the intended date of application for naturalisation.

To be safe, the OP should apply for settled status as soon as he can.

[rubencol88]

To be safe, the OP should apply for settled status as soon as he can

Thank you so much for your reply.
Do I need to still be married to this EU citizen to apply for settled status? In other words, can I get the divorce and still apply for settled status?

[Richard W]

In other words, can I get the divorce and still apply for settled status?

Yes.

[rubencol88]

Thank you. I really appreciate the help
There is one more question.
Let’s say I get my settle status, can I became citizens after That?
And how long I have to wait?

[Richard W]

Let’s say I get my settle status, can I became citizens after That?

Yes.

And how long I have to wait?

You still have to wait until 26 February 2019. The requirement is to have held settled status (in the old sense) for one year. There is no rule that you cannot hold the status for different reasons at different times and still qualify.

[vilebratt]

2. No. Brexit has NOTHING to do with citizenship laws which are UK specific.

That's not entirely true. At some point, permanent residence will cease to confer settled status on those who are ordinarily resident. The EU has no say in whether permanent residence confers settled status, which is required for naturalisation. A statutory order could take effect making that change in November this year. I would expect the change to happen at the end of the transition period, but if there is no withdrawal agreement, it could reasonably happen as soon as the UK left the EU. Both of these dates are after the intended date of application for naturalisation.

To be safe, the OP should apply for settled status as soon as he can.

You are making several assumptions. Where did u get the info about a statutory order in November? Settled status will only begin accepting applications in March 19. The present proposal is to give settled status even if there is no agreement. Settled status will be akin to the present PR however an application (free) would have to be made.

[Richard W]

2. No. Brexit has NOTHING to do with citizenship laws which are UK specific.

That's not entirely true. At some point, permanent residence will cease to confer settled status on those who are ordinarily resident. The EU has no say in whether permanent residence confers settled status, which is required for naturalisation. A statutory order could take effect making that change in November this year.
...
To be safe, the OP should apply for settled status as soon as he can.

You are making several assumptions. Where did u get the info about a statutory order in November?

I do not have a list of statutory orders that will come into effect in November, so such an order could be made. Did you not see the word could?

Settled status will only begin accepting applications in March 19.

They're already being accepted, but only from a few people near Liverpool. My understanding is that the system was intended to be full operational by the end of 2018. It has been promised to be fully operational by 30 March 2019.

The present proposal is to give settled status even if there is no agreement. Settled status will be akin to the present PR however an application (free) would have to be made.

The only adults whose applications are free are those who hold PR or already hold ILR.

'Settled status' has two major different meanings.* One is the meaning that is relevant to nationality law, and is held by residents with ILR, PR, right of abode (British citizens and certain other Commonwealth citizens) and those with a qualifying CTA entitlement (Irish citizens only). The other is holding the form of ILR that is being granted under the EU settlement scheme.

To naturalise, one must hold settled status in the first sense. However, there has been no promise that holders of PR will not lose settled status in the first sense before they acquire ILR under the EU settlement scheme. Part of the idea of settled status is that residents lose it only in exceptional circumstances - in particular, they will not lose it by inaction. However, PR holders will lose the right to remain if they do not apply for ILR under the EU settlement scheme. Their current situation is anomalous.

*The Immigration Rules uses it in a sense that is more restrictive than the first sense.

[vilebratt]

2. No. Brexit has NOTHING to do with citizenship laws which are UK specific.

That's not entirely true. At some point, permanent residence will cease to confer settled status on those who are ordinarily resident. The EU has no say in whether permanent residence confers settled status, which is required for naturalisation. A statutory order could take effect making that change in November this year.
...
To be safe, the OP should apply for settled status as soon as he can.

You are making several assumptions. Where did u get the info about a statutory order in November?

I do not have a list of statutory orders that will come into effect in November, so such an order could be made. Did you not see the word could?

Settled status will only begin accepting applications in March 19.

They're already being accepted, but only from a few people near Liverpool. My understanding is that the system was intended to be full operational by the end of 2018. It has been promised to be fully operational by 30 March 2019.

The present proposal is to give settled status even if there is no agreement. Settled status will be akin to the present PR however an application (free) would have to be made.

The only adults whose applications are free are those who hold PR or already hold ILR.

'Settled status' has two major different meanings.* One is the meaning that is relevant to nationality law, and is held by residents with ILR, PR, right of abode (British citizens and certain other Commonwealth citizens) and those with a qualifying CTA entitlement (Irish citizens only). The other is holding the form of ILR that is being granted under the EU settlement scheme.

To naturalise, one must hold settled status in the first sense. However, there has been no promise that holders of PR will not lose settled status in the first sense before they acquire ILR under the EU settlement scheme. Part of the idea of settled status is that residents lose it only in exceptional circumstances - in particular, they will not lose it by inaction. However, PR holders will lose the right to remain if they do not apply for ILR under the EU settlement scheme. Their current situation is anomalous.

*The Immigration Rules uses it in a sense that is more restrictive than the first sense.

I do not need lessons in English from you, inspite of you flying the English flag. Could and would are semantics.
Obviously you are an ignoramus masquerading as an immigration lawyer. Settled status is available around Liverpool only in a test area like some universities and selected organisation. Not many here fall into that special category so the date to go by is March 19.
The present situation is anomalous as long as the act is not passed in Parliament just as Brexit is anomalous. It may never happen.
Are u trying your language skills here?? OR are you trying to confuse people?

[Bella21]

Thanks for advises....I'm a bit confused now....can i still apply for citizenship with non eu permanent residence card? As far as i understood changes may happend in November 18 but for now it is still ok to use permanent residence card even if we separated now (I'm non eu)?
Thank you..

[Daniann]

Thanks for advises....I'm a bit confused now....can i still apply for citizenship with non eu permanent residence card? As far as i understood changes may happend in November 18 but for now it is still ok to use permanent residence card even if we separated now (I'm non eu)?
Thank you..

Hi Bella21,
Yes you will regardless you still married or not , please se the guide :
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... idance.pdf
Relax , concentrate in your life ...

[vilebratt]

Thanks for advises....I'm a bit confused now....can i still apply for citizenship with non eu permanent residence card? [b]As far as i understood changes may happend in November 18As far as i understood changes may happend in November 18[/b] but for now it is still ok to use permanent residence card even if we separated now (I'm non eu)?
Thank you..

Can you please inform us what changes you have heard of?? I personally have not heard of any changes that may be introduced in November. Or are u refering to Richard W's claim that such changes are planned?

[vilebratt]

I cannot find anything regarding changes in Nov 18. Why do people act like know it alls and post gibberish that causes anxiety amongst people who are not aware of facts? Such persons should be warned and banned from here.

[Bella21]

I reffered to Richard W, just read the thread above and got worried that something may happen in November....sorry if i confused anyone, i just asked a question...

[rogerr]

hi guys stop to worrie about this now ,because still no body knows what going on ,new sheme will open on march 2021 and will tell you what to do .

[Daniann]

hi guys stop to worrie about this now ,because still no body knows what going on ,new sheme will open on march 2021 and will tell you what to do .

March 2019 not March 2021

[rogerr]

hi guys stop to worrie about this now ,because still no body knows what going on ,new sheme will open on march 2021 and will tell you what to do .

March 2019 not March 2021

Sorry . March 2019

[Richard W]

I reffered to Richard W, just read the thread above and got worried that something may happen in November....sorry if i confused anyone, i just asked a question...

There is typically 2 months advance warning of a change in the EEA regulations. Now + 2 months = November.

I just dug this up in the statement of intent:

EU citizens and their family members do not need to do anything immediately: there will be no change to their current rights until the end of the implementation period on 31 December 2020, and the deadline for applications to the scheme for those resident here by the end of 2020 will be 30 June 2021.

Now, I think this statement is based on the assumption of there being a withdrawal agreement. However, the earliest we will know that there will be no withdrawal agreement is, I believe, March 2019. As it would be legally messy to remove settled status (as in the nationality laws) from only some permanent residence card holders, it does seem that PRC holders will keep their rights until at least the date of withdrawal. Given the legislative time scale, they should be safe throughout April 2019 whatever happens - but it has always been unwise to trust a British government.

As to the timing of the implementation of the EU settlement scheme, the statement, in the same source, is:

As is now standard for the launch of new services in government, there will be a private beta phase to enable us to test the system and processes at scale so we can ensure that they work effectively, followed by a phased roll-out from late 2018. We will set out further details of this over the summer. The scheme will be open fully by 30 March 2019.

Does anyone have more recent information?

I read the date of 30 March as taking into account the probability of unexpected difficulties.

[Daniann]

And what about :

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... ssible.pdf

I thought it’s will come into effect shortly regardless there is deal with EU or no deal .. in this case all the EU citizen and their family who already had their PR issued they can converted into ILR ( settled statues )

[vilebratt]

Dannian I recommend you stop paying heed to Richard W" and his gibberish.
His claim that its unwise to trust the British govt is hilarious but what can one do when an individual is delusional?? Why is he living in the UK? His reason(s) will be amusing to say the least. If he were English he would not be reading these posts.
He is even envisaging a situation where DCPR will be invalidated and European citizens will be mass deported!!!!! Yes Rees Mogg made that statement but thats just politicking.
Imagining asking 5% of the population to leave!!!!!