Made a tiny address mistake in my address update application. What to do?

[Lavlav]

Hello everyone! I am in the middle of a panic attack right now. I am en EU citizen and I have already received a Registration certificate two years ago (I do not yet have permanent residency, though). I recently moved house, and as I always do when I move to a new address, I informed the Home Office through the address update form. Usually, they just send me an email of confirmation that my address has been updated, and that is the end of it.

I made the application two hours ago. However, I made a mistake. I did not realise that there was a MyAddress and a Myaddressa (with a little 'a' added) version of my address, both registered under my postcode. I mistakenly selected the Myaddressa option from the scroll (my bank statement, which I sent as proof of address, however, does show that I live in MyAddress without the a). I did not realise there were two different addresses that were so similar, because I only moved in very recently! I am so anxious right now because I have read stories of how unfair and brutal the Home Office can be when people make the smallest mistakes in their applications and I am terrified of getting into huge trouble now, when in truth I was only trying to do things as correctly as possible! What can I do to rectify this mistake? Should I contact the Home Office by email? Should I send another application? I am extremely, extremely nervous right now!

Thank you in advance for your advice.

P. S. For contenxt, I want to specify that nothing else is out of place in terms of my status. I have private healthcare (a plan which has already been approved by the Home Office when they granted me my Registration Certificate), and everything else in order. But I made a human mistake with my application

So far, I have only found a number EU citizens can contact the Home Office at. I would prefer an email address both because I would like some written proof that I have tried to rectify my mistake, and also because last time I spoke to someone from the Home Office (to inquire about how to get a registration certificate) I was treated so rudely, with so much disgust and contempt, that I would rather avoid repeating the experience if I can.

[kamoe]

Hi Lavlav.

I'm not sure I understand what you were trying to do on the website. Were you just updating your address, or were you applying for something else (like permanent residence, or a residence card for a family member)?

In any case, relax, it doesn't sound hat bad; it's clear that it's an honest mistake.

Kamoe

[Lavlav]

Hi Kamoe! I was just updating my home address for myself! It is not something that is strictly required for EU citizens, but I do it anyway because I want to be reachable once Brexit happens, in case the Home Office needs to contact me. I want my details to be up to date, so ever since I obtain my registration certificate, each time I have moved house I have informed the Home Office about it. Usually the Home Office simply sends me an email of confirmation three days later that they have updated my records, but this is the first time I made a mistake in my application.

[kamoe]

but this is the first time I made a mistake in my application.

Again, you did not make this mistake in your application, right? You just made the mistake when you were updating your address. If so, sounds to me like this is easily corrected by updating your address again, end of story

I would think the Home Office won't care. They have never contacted me by post, it's been always by email, so collateral effect should be minimal if for a few weeks your address has an extra 'a' on it.

[Lavlav]

Thank you for your answer, Kamoe. Indeed it was not an immigration application (as I am an EU citizen), but since I have read so many horror stories about people having made tiny mistakes when giving their details to the Home Office and getting punished for it, I am simply afraid that even if it is a small mistake, the Home Office will seriously penalise me for having declared a 'wrong' address (even though there is just an 'a' added). I do very much hope I am being crazy and paranoid, by the way! In view of Brexit, I am very nervous about making this type of mistakes. I immediately sent an email to inform them of my mistake and explaining what my real address is and how they can find it on my bank statement/proof of address, and I hope they do not penalise me for this. Fingers crossed. Thank you so much for your answer

[kamoe]

Indeed it was not an immigration application (as I am an EU citizen)

Just to clarify, as a EU citizen you can make settlement applications.

since I have read so many horror stories about people having made tiny mistakes when giving their details to the Home Office

I know what you mean, but just as a personal comment, from what I've read, the type of mistakes made are sometimes not that tiny. They are honest mistakes, but important ones, that are the result of carelessness.

and getting punished for it

I would not use the word 'punish', I would rather say 'idiotically inconvenienced'.

I do very much hope I am being crazy and paranoid

You are

I immediately sent an email to inform them of my mistake and explaining what my real address is and how they can find it on my bank statement/proof of address, and I hope they do not penalize me for this.

I would be surprised if they read individual emails like this. Is there not an online form you can fill in again to update your new address? Why annoy them with this; the'll have to do this manually!

Again, postal addresses are there only for archive, preferred contact method is email, and since you are not awaiting any documents or the return of an application, your postal address isn't really critical.

[Lavlav]

What I did was send them an email at an address they have reserved specifically for online application problems. Because I am not even sure they are going to notice this mistake, they would be surprised if I sent two application in the spam of a few hours, which at first glance look completely identical, I think.

[kamoe]

Well, since you have proactively tried to correct the mistake, and there is proof, then don't worry about it. Again, you won't miss anything if the address is not correct.

Do sign up for email updates for EU nationals, as advised here: https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families (Look for the 'Signup for email updates' link))

That's all you need to do to make sure you are up to date of relevant information.

[Lavlav]

Thanks a lot for all your help.