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dolorosa_12Previously in this series, applying for an EEA (QP) registration certificate.
The usual disclaimer: I am not an immigration lawyer, and I am not an immigration advisor. Do not take this post as the be all and end all on this particular subject. Your first port of call should always be the official guidance on the UKVI website.
Today I'm going to look into applying for EEA (Permanent Residence) documentation, usually known as the EEA (PR) document certifying permanent residence. This document is applicable for the following people:
EU/EEA/Swiss residents of the UK who have held the EEA (QP) card for a minimum of five consecutive years, continued to exercise treaty rights throughout those five (or more) years and have not done anything to break their continuity of residence in the UK (i.e. haven't been away for long periods of time since receiving the QP card).
EU/EEA/Swiss residents of the UK who have lived in the UK for a minimum of five consecutive years and exercised treaty rights for those five consecutive years without any gaps, and who have not left the UK for any extended periods of time during those five years.
Non-EU/EEA/Swiss family members of either of the above who have held an EEA (FM) or EEA (EFM) card for a minimum of five consecutive years and whose EU/EEA/Swiss family member still lives in the UK and exercises treaty rights, or already has their own EEA (PR) document.
I will cover the last category of people in another post, but suffice it to say now that non-EU/EEA/Swiss family members can apply on the same EEA (PR) application form as their EU/EEA/Swiss family member, and I recommend doing so as it will mean both applications are assessed at the same time.
The form you will need, as well as guidance, can be found here. I recommend reading both carefully before making your application.
You can apply using the form, or in person for an expedited service (booking information for this in on the form), although be aware that if you have non-EU family members, they are not able to use the in-person service. The in-person service costs more than applying by post.
There is a new pilot project allowing people to apply online rather than via post. I have no experience of this as it didn't exist when my partner made his application last year, but the link to apply online is here. Please note that you cannot apply online if you fall in the 'student' or 'self-sufficient' categories, or if you are financially dependent on, or financially responsible for, other family members. If in doubt, use the paper form.
Once you've read the guidance notes, think about how you qualify - how have you exercised treaty rights, over the five consecutive years, and how will you prove that? A reminder of the categories, and types of evidence required:
If you are a worker, you will need to state whether your work is full-time, part-time, or fixed-term. Your employer will either need to fill in the employer declaration on the form, or write a letter (I would recommend using institutional/company letterhead) confirming that you work for them, your start date (and end date if fixed-term), and your salary. If you have a national insurance number, this will need to be entered onto the form. I would also recommend including either payslips, or an itemised bank statement showing payments coming in. If you hold multiple jobs, you can include them all on the form, but each one will need its own employer declaration/letter and payslips.
If you are self-employed, you will need to show evidence of economic activity. You will need to include a 'unique taxpayer reference number', and things like tax self-assessment codes, proof of payment of class 2 or 4 national insurance contributions, invoices for work done, business accounts, business bank statements, and so on.
If you are a student, you will need a letter from your education provider stating that you are a student there, duration of the course and degree that will be awarded. You will also need to show evidence of how you will fund your studies - letters showing you are funded by scholarships or bursaries, statements from your parents, spouse or partner that they are supporting you financially (possibly with one of their payslips included), evidence of part-time work or personal savings, and itemised bank statements showing money coming in.
If you are self-sufficient, you will need to show evidence of funds - itemised bank statements, evidence of a pension and so on.
A reminder: if you are exercising treaty rights as a student or a self-sufficient person, you must include evidence that you have comprehensive sickness insurance. This needs to be either private health insurance, or a non-UK EHIC. It doesn't matter that you are allowed to use the NHS - YOUR APPLICATION WILL BE INVALID WITHOUT PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE OR AN EHIC. If you are planning to use your years as a student or self-sufficient person, they will not count towards permanent residence without this health insurance, except in one circumstance, which I will outline below.
If you are a jobseeker, you will need to show evidence of proof that you are looking for work - a bank statement showing receipt of jobseeking benefits, letters/emails inviting you to interview, copies of job applications sent, rejection letters and so on. Although it is not stated anywhere in the guidance, applications with long stretches of time (more than three consecutive months) in the jobseeking category are often rejected for permanent residence, so if at all possible, I advise you to use the time spent jobseeking in your five-year period as self-sufficient category.
Most people applying for EEA (PR) documentation are not going to have stayed in one category for the whole five years - you may have entered the UK as a student in 2011, studied for three years, and then got a job in 2014, been jobseeking for several months in 2015, and then found work shortly thereafter, where you've remained until now. This is perfectly normal, and as long as you have evidence proving your status in all the relevant categories at the relevant times, your application should be fine. You need to make sure there aren't any big gaps in your timeline - basically that you can account for the five years, and that they fit into a coherent, understandable narrative about what you've been doing with your time in the UK.
People in all categories will also need the following documents:
Original documents sent to your address and addressed to you that prove five years of continuous residence. These need to be things like bank statements, rental contracts, council tax bills, electricity, gas or water bills, letters from your doctor or dentist, or letters from a government department. They will need to cover the five years, and come from multiple sources. (As an example, my partner sent ten documents, one from early and one from later in each of the five years. They included: bank statements, gas bills, water bills, rental contracts, council tax bills, a police background check done when he was working in a school, and a letter from the electoral register stating the occupants of the house.) It is really important that these are original documents - applications are refused if they're not. I realise this is a ridiculous requirement, given how much is done online, so you may need to ask your bank, energy providers and so on to send you statements/bills etc covering the various years. Most providers will be able to help with this, but it might take some time to organise, so factor that in to your preparations.
One thing to be aware of: if you have been here longer than five years, you can use any five consecutive years in the time period to count towards permanent residence - it doesn't have to be the five most recent. If, for example, you came here as a worker in 2006, worked until 2012 and then started doing a PhD, but didn't get comprehensive sickness insurance because you weren't aware of this requirement, you can use the years 2006-2011, applying using your worker status then, and as long as you can show continuity of residence after that, what you did after 2011, as long as you didn't leave the UK for long stretches of time, is irrelevant. You need to make sure that you state which years you are using to count towards permanent residence, however.
This option of using earlier years is also useful if you're keen to apply for British citizenship as soon as possible. You're normally required to hold a permanent residence document for at least a year before you can apply for citizenship, but if you can prove that you acquired permanent residence earlier (e.g. you use the years 2011 to 2015), as soon as you've been issued with the EEA (PR) card, you can apply directly for citizenship. I will cover this in more detail in a post dealing with applying for British citizenship by naturalisation, but ask me more about this in the comments if you want more information now.
You will also need:
2 recent passport photos conforming to British passport/identity document standards. There is guidance about this in the application form, and all passport photos taken in photo booths should be the correct type. If you get your photo taken professionally, make sure you ask for it to be taken according to British passport specifications - the photographer will know what is correct.
Proof of identity - either your EU/EEA/Swiss ID card, or your EU/EEA/Swiss passport. If you have both, I recommend using the ID card, as this means you can hold onto the passport and use it for travel within and outside the EU while your application is being processed.
If you have changed your name, you will need to show proof that it was changed legally. A marriage certificate, deed poll or equivalent will be necessary.
You will also need to include dates for all your trips in and out of the UK covering the five-year period. If you don't remember these, you may have saved booking confirmation emails from airline companies that can help you out. There are other ways to get this information, although I'd have to investigate further, so if you need help with this, let me know. Basically you need to prove that you haven't been out of the country long enough to break continuity of residence.Please note: all documents must be in English or Welsh. If they are not in English or Welsh, you will need to pay to have them translated, and the translator will have to write a letter stating it is a true and accurate translation. You should then include both the originals and the translations.
Fill in the form accurately and truthfully. There is a section on claiming benefits: as an EU/EEA/Swiss resident of the UK, you are entitled to claim relevant benefits, so don't lie here! It's worth alerting your employers or educational institution that you are making this application, as the caseworkers will occasionally verify your application by, for example, calling your employer. Make sure you have put the correct bank details in the payment section, as the application will be sent back if they can't withdraw the fees.
If any family members are applying at the same time, it's worth sending their applications in the same envelope and listing them in the relevant section on your form. That way they can all be dealt with together.
I recommend photocopying or scanning your application so that you have a record of exactly what you wrote, just in case the caseworker makes a mistake. I also suggest making things as easy as possible for the caseworker: keep the pages of the application in the correct order, leave the sections that don't apply to you blank, and put all your supporting documents in a coherent order. If you have a complicated situation (multiple jobs, for example, or a lot of translated documents), perhaps provide a table of contents or a cover letter outlining your timeline of exercise of treaty rights and the documents supporting each stage of this timeline.
I also recommend using recorded or special delivery so that you can track the application once you've sent it. Some people also include a self-addressed special delivery envelope in the application so that they'll know when their application has been processed and is being sent back.
Once you're ready, send off your application, and let the wait begin!
In the next post in this series, I will cover the process of making an application as the non-EU/EEA/Swiss family member of an EU/EEA/Swiss person.
Please feel free to comment with any questions, corrections, or requests for clarification. If you want your request kept private, you can send me a private message via Dreamwidth or Livejournal, or comment with your email address and I will email you.
The usual disclaimer: I am not an immigration lawyer, and I am not an immigration advisor. Do not take this post as the be all and end all on this particular subject. Your first port of call should always be the official guidance on the UKVI website.
Today I'm going to look into applying for EEA (Permanent Residence) documentation, usually known as the EEA (PR) document certifying permanent residence. This document is applicable for the following people:
I will cover the last category of people in another post, but suffice it to say now that non-EU/EEA/Swiss family members can apply on the same EEA (PR) application form as their EU/EEA/Swiss family member, and I recommend doing so as it will mean both applications are assessed at the same time.
The form you will need, as well as guidance, can be found here. I recommend reading both carefully before making your application.
You can apply using the form, or in person for an expedited service (booking information for this in on the form), although be aware that if you have non-EU family members, they are not able to use the in-person service. The in-person service costs more than applying by post.
There is a new pilot project allowing people to apply online rather than via post. I have no experience of this as it didn't exist when my partner made his application last year, but the link to apply online is here. Please note that you cannot apply online if you fall in the 'student' or 'self-sufficient' categories, or if you are financially dependent on, or financially responsible for, other family members. If in doubt, use the paper form.
Once you've read the guidance notes, think about how you qualify - how have you exercised treaty rights, over the five consecutive years, and how will you prove that? A reminder of the categories, and types of evidence required:
If you are a worker, you will need to state whether your work is full-time, part-time, or fixed-term. Your employer will either need to fill in the employer declaration on the form, or write a letter (I would recommend using institutional/company letterhead) confirming that you work for them, your start date (and end date if fixed-term), and your salary. If you have a national insurance number, this will need to be entered onto the form. I would also recommend including either payslips, or an itemised bank statement showing payments coming in. If you hold multiple jobs, you can include them all on the form, but each one will need its own employer declaration/letter and payslips.
If you are self-employed, you will need to show evidence of economic activity. You will need to include a 'unique taxpayer reference number', and things like tax self-assessment codes, proof of payment of class 2 or 4 national insurance contributions, invoices for work done, business accounts, business bank statements, and so on.
If you are a student, you will need a letter from your education provider stating that you are a student there, duration of the course and degree that will be awarded. You will also need to show evidence of how you will fund your studies - letters showing you are funded by scholarships or bursaries, statements from your parents, spouse or partner that they are supporting you financially (possibly with one of their payslips included), evidence of part-time work or personal savings, and itemised bank statements showing money coming in.
If you are self-sufficient, you will need to show evidence of funds - itemised bank statements, evidence of a pension and so on.
A reminder: if you are exercising treaty rights as a student or a self-sufficient person, you must include evidence that you have comprehensive sickness insurance. This needs to be either private health insurance, or a non-UK EHIC. It doesn't matter that you are allowed to use the NHS - YOUR APPLICATION WILL BE INVALID WITHOUT PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE OR AN EHIC. If you are planning to use your years as a student or self-sufficient person, they will not count towards permanent residence without this health insurance, except in one circumstance, which I will outline below.
If you are a jobseeker, you will need to show evidence of proof that you are looking for work - a bank statement showing receipt of jobseeking benefits, letters/emails inviting you to interview, copies of job applications sent, rejection letters and so on. Although it is not stated anywhere in the guidance, applications with long stretches of time (more than three consecutive months) in the jobseeking category are often rejected for permanent residence, so if at all possible, I advise you to use the time spent jobseeking in your five-year period as self-sufficient category.
Most people applying for EEA (PR) documentation are not going to have stayed in one category for the whole five years - you may have entered the UK as a student in 2011, studied for three years, and then got a job in 2014, been jobseeking for several months in 2015, and then found work shortly thereafter, where you've remained until now. This is perfectly normal, and as long as you have evidence proving your status in all the relevant categories at the relevant times, your application should be fine. You need to make sure there aren't any big gaps in your timeline - basically that you can account for the five years, and that they fit into a coherent, understandable narrative about what you've been doing with your time in the UK.
People in all categories will also need the following documents:
Original documents sent to your address and addressed to you that prove five years of continuous residence. These need to be things like bank statements, rental contracts, council tax bills, electricity, gas or water bills, letters from your doctor or dentist, or letters from a government department. They will need to cover the five years, and come from multiple sources. (As an example, my partner sent ten documents, one from early and one from later in each of the five years. They included: bank statements, gas bills, water bills, rental contracts, council tax bills, a police background check done when he was working in a school, and a letter from the electoral register stating the occupants of the house.) It is really important that these are original documents - applications are refused if they're not. I realise this is a ridiculous requirement, given how much is done online, so you may need to ask your bank, energy providers and so on to send you statements/bills etc covering the various years. Most providers will be able to help with this, but it might take some time to organise, so factor that in to your preparations.
One thing to be aware of: if you have been here longer than five years, you can use any five consecutive years in the time period to count towards permanent residence - it doesn't have to be the five most recent. If, for example, you came here as a worker in 2006, worked until 2012 and then started doing a PhD, but didn't get comprehensive sickness insurance because you weren't aware of this requirement, you can use the years 2006-2011, applying using your worker status then, and as long as you can show continuity of residence after that, what you did after 2011, as long as you didn't leave the UK for long stretches of time, is irrelevant. You need to make sure that you state which years you are using to count towards permanent residence, however.
This option of using earlier years is also useful if you're keen to apply for British citizenship as soon as possible. You're normally required to hold a permanent residence document for at least a year before you can apply for citizenship, but if you can prove that you acquired permanent residence earlier (e.g. you use the years 2011 to 2015), as soon as you've been issued with the EEA (PR) card, you can apply directly for citizenship. I will cover this in more detail in a post dealing with applying for British citizenship by naturalisation, but ask me more about this in the comments if you want more information now.
You will also need:
2 recent passport photos conforming to British passport/identity document standards. There is guidance about this in the application form, and all passport photos taken in photo booths should be the correct type. If you get your photo taken professionally, make sure you ask for it to be taken according to British passport specifications - the photographer will know what is correct.
Proof of identity - either your EU/EEA/Swiss ID card, or your EU/EEA/Swiss passport. If you have both, I recommend using the ID card, as this means you can hold onto the passport and use it for travel within and outside the EU while your application is being processed.
If you have changed your name, you will need to show proof that it was changed legally. A marriage certificate, deed poll or equivalent will be necessary.
You will also need to include dates for all your trips in and out of the UK covering the five-year period. If you don't remember these, you may have saved booking confirmation emails from airline companies that can help you out. There are other ways to get this information, although I'd have to investigate further, so if you need help with this, let me know. Basically you need to prove that you haven't been out of the country long enough to break continuity of residence.Please note: all documents must be in English or Welsh. If they are not in English or Welsh, you will need to pay to have them translated, and the translator will have to write a letter stating it is a true and accurate translation. You should then include both the originals and the translations.
Fill in the form accurately and truthfully. There is a section on claiming benefits: as an EU/EEA/Swiss resident of the UK, you are entitled to claim relevant benefits, so don't lie here! It's worth alerting your employers or educational institution that you are making this application, as the caseworkers will occasionally verify your application by, for example, calling your employer. Make sure you have put the correct bank details in the payment section, as the application will be sent back if they can't withdraw the fees.
If any family members are applying at the same time, it's worth sending their applications in the same envelope and listing them in the relevant section on your form. That way they can all be dealt with together.
I recommend photocopying or scanning your application so that you have a record of exactly what you wrote, just in case the caseworker makes a mistake. I also suggest making things as easy as possible for the caseworker: keep the pages of the application in the correct order, leave the sections that don't apply to you blank, and put all your supporting documents in a coherent order. If you have a complicated situation (multiple jobs, for example, or a lot of translated documents), perhaps provide a table of contents or a cover letter outlining your timeline of exercise of treaty rights and the documents supporting each stage of this timeline.
I also recommend using recorded or special delivery so that you can track the application once you've sent it. Some people also include a self-addressed special delivery envelope in the application so that they'll know when their application has been processed and is being sent back.
Once you're ready, send off your application, and let the wait begin!
In the next post in this series, I will cover the process of making an application as the non-EU/EEA/Swiss family member of an EU/EEA/Swiss person.
Please feel free to comment with any questions, corrections, or requests for clarification. If you want your request kept private, you can send me a private message via Dreamwidth or Livejournal, or comment with your email address and I will email you.