Reply to: Applying for permanent residence in the UK

[Eirikur]

Mrs HS is Belgian and has lived in the UK for 30 years, holds a senior role in an international airline and has been married to me ( a true Brit) for 7 years.

When all this kicked in she was quite nervous of the future as no one was really declaring their position. As a result she applied for a Residency Card which involved completing an 82 page form and providing evidence of employment and residency. Once this was received, the uncertainty was still there and whilst my view of them never kicking out all EU citizens didn't reassure her, she decided to apply for a British passport.

The process for this is quite lengthy. She firstly took a British Citizenship exam and passed. Look it up, I guarantee 90 % of posters here would fail. The next stage was a personal grammar and conversation test where she had to specify 5 subjects and be prepared to have a conversation about them all which she passed. All this has cost around £200 to date. The next stage is to apply for a British passport. This CURRENTLY costs £1,500 and requires a ceremony where she needs to declare allegiance to the Queen. This stage of the process can take 12 months.

Not a moan (though I personally think the whole Brexit thing is a shambles) just relating her story for those in a similar position.

And that is not the end of the process, to get a first British passport she will take another 6 months after the citizenship ceremony. You need to give personal references, go to an interview where they ask things about your daily life such as how do you go to the supermarket and what is the colour of your front door, this is to find out if you really are who you say you are

[Hertsseasider]

Mrs HS is Belgian and has lived in the UK for 30 years, holds a senior role in an international airline and has been married to me ( a true Brit) for 7 years.

When all this kicked in she was quite nervous of the future as no one was really declaring their position. As a result she applied for a Residency Card which involved completing an 82 page form and providing evidence of employment and residency. Once this was received, the uncertainty was still there and whilst my view of them never kicking out all EU citizens didn't reassure her, she decided to apply for a British passport.

The process for this is quite lengthy. She firstly took a British Citizenship exam and passed. Look it up, I guarantee 90 % of posters here would fail. The next stage was a personal grammar and conversation test where she had to specify 5 subjects and be prepared to have a conversation about them all which she passed. All this has cost around £200 to date. The next stage is to apply for a British passport. This CURRENTLY costs £1,500 and requires a ceremony where she needs to declare allegiance to the Queen. This stage of the process can take 12 months.

Not a moan (though I personally think the whole Brexit thing is a shambles) just relating her story for those in a similar position.

[Eirikur]

Also EU nationals pay attention to this also on the same link:

"If you already have a permanent residence document it won’t be valid after the UK leaves the EU.
A new scheme will be available for EU citizens and their family members to apply to stay in the UK after it leaves the EU. "

Yes exactly what I said in the post above

[zonkkk]

You do need a PR doc to apply for British Citizenship. Remember PR is EU rules, BC is British which means paperwork...

You are right! At the beginning of 2016 it wasn't a requirement!
Here's the link confirming what you said:
https://www.gov.uk/eea-registration-...nent-residence

Also EU nationals pay attention to this also on the same link:

"If you already have a permanent residence document it won’t be valid after the UK leaves the EU.
A new scheme will be available for EU citizens and their family members to apply to stay in the UK after it leaves the EU. "

[Eirikur]

To be fair though PR means PR in EU and UK wont be in EU.

You dont need a solicitor, pop along to immigrationboards.com all free and they know more about this then any generic solivitor os OISC advisor

No I am a EU citizen with a card that clearly states it gives me the right for permanent residence in the UK. The text literally says "Document certifying permanent residence" This card was not mandatory, but at the time I decided to apply for it anyway one of the reasons is that recruitment agencies don't understand that The Netherlands an EU country is, so I could always show them I have permanent rights to live and work here.

Everybody who has this card will need to re apply for a new PR card after Brexit.

[stek]

I've gone through the whole process, all I can say get a solicitor. ALso if you get a permanent residence card now you will have to re-apply after brexit. Yes Permanent doesn't really mean permanent in this country

To be fair though PR means PR in EU and UK wont be in EU.

You dont need a solicitor, pop along to immigrationboards.com all free and they know more about this then any generic solivitor os OISC advisor

[Eirikur]

I've gone through the whole process, all I can say get a solicitor. ALso if you get a permanent residence card now you will have to re-apply after brexit. Yes Permanent doesn't really mean permanent in this country

[stek]

You don't need a permanent residence document if you want to apply for citizenship if you are from the EU.
As a European citizen you automatically acquire permanent resident status after 5 years of exercising treaty rights.

6 years of exercising treaty rights will qualify you for British citizenship.

You do need a PR doc to apply for British Citizenship. Remember PR is EU rules, BC is British which means paperwork...

[zonkkk]

To be able to apply for British citizenship. A document of permanent residence is a prerequisite for that.

The main reason for getting the citizenship is hedging against uncertainity due to Brexit. I need to be sure that I will be able to keep on contracting after Britain leaves the EU, whatever the conditions for EU citizen will be.

You don't need a permanent residence document if you want to apply for citizenship if you are from the EU.
As a European citizen you automatically acquire permanent resident status after 5 years of exercising treaty rights.

6 years of exercising treaty rights will qualify you for British citizenship.

[Luigi]

To be able to apply for British citizenship. A document of permanent residence is a prerequisite for that.

The main reason for getting the citizenship is hedging against uncertainity due to Brexit. I need to be sure that I will be able to keep on contracting after Britain leaves the EU, whatever the conditions for EU citizen will be.

I was exactly in your situation and I enclosed the P60 forms from the last 5 years (for both DCPR = Document certifying Permanent Residence and Naturalisation)

[kYuZz]

Why?!

To be able to apply for British citizenship. A document of permanent residence is a prerequisite for that.

The main reason for getting the citizenship is hedging against uncertainity due to Brexit. I need to be sure that I will be able to keep on contracting after Britain leaves the EU, whatever the conditions for EU citizen will be.

[kYuZz]

Have you tried asking them? That's what I would do first.

Yes, I called the Home Office and they said that they can't provide any advice and that the only way for me to get a definite answer is to speak to a solicitor.

[stek]

AIUI, OP will have already acquired PR under the EC directive, the PR card itself merely affirms his rights. And is all free.

He can't apply for ILR since that UK immigration rules, he's under EU rules.

That leaves British Citizenship, which is under UK law only and costs around a grand as has been said - no income prove is required just that you where physically present in UK on the exact day 5 years prior to application date and has nothing on his record that implies bad character such as unspent points on licence, CCJ's etc.

@OP - is it citizenship you mean?

[borderreiver]

I'm a European Union citizen and I'm going to apply for permanent residence in the UK.

I would wait until there's clarity on what's going to happen. Lots of EU citizens have already applied for PR (and got it), only to be told that when the new system is in place - whatever that will be - that they'll have to apply again. For them it was a massive waste of time and money.

[Platypus]

This sounds like exactly the kind of issue you should seek professional advice over.

Exactly so. There are lots of immigration lawyers out there who specialise in this stuff. Given that the fee (nearly £1000 IIRC) is non-refundable in the event of a failed application, why risk it?