Permanent Residence

This may have been covered before but any help would be appreciated. I have a Lithuanian client who came to the UK in 2004 and registered her employment straight away with the Home Office. After 12 months she received a particular card from the Home Office, it’s proper name she cannot recollect (any help here). After three and a half years of constant full time employment she returned to Lithuania for 12 months. She then returns to the UK in 2009 and started full time work up until today.

QUESTION - She did not reregister her employment after returning in 2009 so are there any problems for her if she was to apply for permanent residence with a view to some time later possibly applying for dual nationality. Any guidance/advice would be appreciated.

I think she should be ok. A8 nationals who have worked for 12 months cease to be required to register: see Reg 2(4) of the Accession (Immigration and Worker Registration) Regs 2004. I’m not certain about the 12 month gap but I can’t see anything in the Regs which says it resets the clock. She should therefore be fine.

And even if you go from May 2011 when the restrictions ended, if she plans to carry on working for the next year and a bit at least, then she would have 5 years and permanent residence come May 2016.

Remember she would also need 12 months’ permanent residence in addition to the 5 years spent obtaining that right (so 6 years in total) if she wants citizenship.

I’m guessing the card she was given after 12 months was a registration certificate certifying her right to reside.

Permanent residence card

You can apply for a permanent residence card after you’ve lived in the UK for 5 years. This will prove your right to live in the UK permanently.

All the following must apply for you to be eligible:
you’ve lived with your European Economic Area (EEA) family member in the UK for a continuous 5 year period (and not left the UK for more than 6 months in any year)
your EEA family member has been a worker, self-employed, self-sufficient, or student throughout the 5 years

Download and fill in the permanent residence card application form. Post it to the Home Office with the £55 fee per person and supporting documents listed on the form.

My client is applying for permanent residency after 5 years of qualifiying residence. Her fixed-term DLA award is also up for renewal and I’ve noticed that they ask all about benefits that the applicant has claimed/is claiming on the EE4 form.

Does anyone have any experience of how much weight the Home Office put on the amount of benefits income an applicant has/has had when making a decision on a permanent residency application? I didn’t think benefits claimed was part of the criteria but I guess it must be or they wouldn’t ask about it on the form.

I’m supposed to be helping her to get the DLA award renewed but it might not be in her best interests if it weakens her residency application.

geep - 10 March 2015 11:40 AM

My client is applying for permanent residency after 5 years of qualifiying residence. Her fixed-term DLA award is also up for renewal and I’ve noticed that they ask all about benefits that the applicant has claimed/is claiming on the EE4 form.

Does anyone have any experience of how much weight the Home Office put on the amount of benefits income an applicant has/has had when making a decision on a permanent residency application? I didn’t think benefits claimed was part of the criteria but I guess it must be or they wouldn’t ask about it on the form.

I’m supposed to be helping her to get the DLA award renewed but it might not be in her best interests if it weakens her residency application.

I don’t know exactly what the HO do with the information but I guess they ask about it in case the applicant is claiming to have resided as a self-sufficient person. Gettings benefits would be a factor against a finding that they were so residing. If her 5 years was, e.g., as a worker or family member of a worker, then getting DLA will make no difference.

And just to be picky: she’s not applying for permanent residency. She has a permanent right to reside (assuming she actually does have it) by operation of law. She’s simply applying for a card which certifies she has that right. As far as I know, the DWP will check the history anyway even if the claimant has a permanent residence card.

I see what you’re saying, Matthewjay, about the right to reside already existing, but the length of the form doesn’t make it feel like you’re verifying something that already exists!

My client’s problem is that her 5 years of legal residence was accrued via a partner from whom she is now separated. He’s refusing to supply any information about his circumstances (employment etc.), so we’re having to scrape togehter whatever info’ we can get hold of and then ask the Home Office to find the rest from other goverment departments - which they may not do (though I did find some caselaw that said they have a duty to). It’s looking like a ‘fingers crossed’ application at the moment.