Is EU Settled Status Exactly The Same as Indefinite Leave to Remain?

[Premierrrr]

Hi all,
I am an Irish citizen, and have been living in the UK for 10 years. I married my non-EU spouse in 2019. I applied for EU settled status, so that she could apply for pre-settled status based on our marriage. She will then be eligible for settled status in 2024.

My understanding is that she would then need to wait a further year, until 2025 in order to apply for British citizenship. We are keen to speed up this process, and as far as I can see, if a person has settled status/indefinite leave to remain and is married to a British citizen, they can apply for citizenship straight away (in 2024) rather than waiting the additional year.

I wondered if this works if I, as her EU (Irish) husband who sponsored her pre-settled status based on my EU status, then become a British citizen before 2024? As in, can the same person (me) be an EU citizen for the purpose of my spouse's pre-settled/settled status and then be a British citizen for the purpose of speeding up the time she can apply for citizenship - allowing her to do it in 2024 rather than 2025?

I am keen to find this out, as I understand it will cost me £1300 to apply for a British passport, and it will be solely for this purpose, as having a British passport wouldn't give me any additional benefits.

[kamoe]

if a person has settled status/indefinite leave to remain and is married to a British citizen, they can apply for citizenship straight away (in 2024) rather than waiting the additional year.

Correct.

I wondered if this works if I, as her EU (Irish) husband who sponsored her pre-settled status based on my EU status, then become a British citizen before 2024? As in, can the same person (me) be an EU citizen for the purpose of my spouse's pre-settled/settled status and then be a British citizen for the purpose of speeding up the time she can apply for citizenship - allowing her to do it in 2024 rather than 2025?

Correct. The requirement is that the spouse be a British citizen. It does not matter if they are a dual national, or when they acquired British citizenship. If by the date of her application you are a British citizen, it does the trick.

However... your becoming a British citizen before she is granted Settled Status can slow down her process of obtaining Settled Status, because if you are a dual national, she would need to apply via the Lounes route, which, as far as I know, cannot be done online, but on paper form!

I am keen to find this out, as I understand it will cost me £1300 to apply for a British passport, and it will be solely for this purpose, as having a British passport wouldn't give me any additional benefits.

If this is the only reason for you to acquire British citizenship, it is up to you to decide. One year goes by real quick, I find. it might or might not compensate the extra £1300.

[Premierrrr]

Hi all,

I am an Irish citizen, and have been living in the UK for 10 years. I married my non-EU spouse in 2019. I applied for EU settled status, so that she could apply for pre-settled status based on our marriage. She will then be eligible for settled status in 2024. Does anyone know if this process is automatic, or takes multiple months to apply for settled status?

My understanding is that she would then need to wait a further year, until 2025 in order to apply for British citizenship. We are keen to speed up this process, and as far as I can see, if a person has indefinite leave to remain and is married to a British citizen, they can apply for citizenship straight away (in 2024) rather than waiting the additional year. In this instance, does the settled status she will have achieved 5 years after our marriage, count as equivalent to Indefinite Leave to Remain?

I am considering applying for British citizenship in order to allow her to apply for British citizenship in 2024, rather than 2025. I wondered if anyone knows if the same person (me) can be an EU citizen (Irish) for the purpose of my spouse's pre-settled/settled status and then be a British citizen for the purpose of speeding up the time she can apply for citizenship - allowing her to do it in 2024 rather than 2025?

I am keen to find this out, as I understand it will cost me £1300 to apply for a British passport, and it will be solely for this purpose, as having a British passport wouldn't give me any additional benefits.

[Premierrrr]

Thank you very much for your reply. When you say 'slow down the process' regarding settled status - do you know why this is or have any idea what the timescales would be?

I had originally thought the process of her converting her presettled to settled status would be quite automatic and wouldn't require me, as her spouse, to provide any info on whether I had become a dual national in the meantime etc.

[Premierrrr]

On further research, I'm still hoping she wouldn't have to go down the Lounes route given I already have settled status issued 3 years ago and Lounes seems to be for those that were dual nationals at the time of applying for settled status themselves.

Are you certain she would need to go with Lounes route to get settled status, based on the fact that I became a British citizen after getting my settled status?

[kamoe]

Lounes seems to be for those that were dual nationals at the time of applying for settled status themselves.

No.

Lounes is not for dual nationals. It's for non-EU family members of dual nationals. Big difference. So it doesn't apply to your application but to hers. It applies to her applications to pre-Settled or Settled status if the sponsoring EU national is a dual EU/UK national.

Your sentence doesn't apply to anyone, since a British citizen can't apply for Settled Status themselves.

Are you certain she would need to go with Lounes route to get settled status, based on the fact that I became a British citizen after getting my settled status?

Yes: https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-ci ... led-status

Who cannot use this service
You cannot use the online service to apply to the scheme if you’re applying as:

the family member of a British citizen you lived with in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein by 31 December 2020 and you returned with them to the UK

the family member of a British citizen who is also a citizen of an EU country, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, and they lived in the UK as a citizen of one of those countries before becoming a British citizen

the child (who is in education in the UK) of someone from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein who used to live and work in the UK
You and your child can also not apply if by 31 December 2020 you were the primary carer of a:

British citizen (and you did not have another type of permission to stay in the UK)
child of someone from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein who used to live and work in the UK - the child must be in education in the UK
self-sufficient child from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein

If you cannot use the online service
Contact the EU Settlement Resolution Centre online to find out how to apply.

Then when you call them, they send you a paper application.

[kamoe]

Thank you very much for your reply. When you say 'slow down the process' regarding settled status - do you know why this is or have any idea what the timescales would be?

They clearly don't like it and want to discourage people from doing it. There is no practical reason why they wouldn't be able to process these applications through the online form. Doesn't seem to be a timeline thread for Lounes, but knowing you have to call to request a paper from, which they prefill with the applicant's details, there's just much more room for error and delay.

I had originally thought the process of her converting her presettled to settled status would be quite automatic

Haha, sorry, no. Abandon that expectation. She applies and her application joins the queue.

and wouldn't require me, as her spouse, to provide any info on whether I had become a dual national in the meantime etc.

All non-EU family members need to prove their family relationship to the sponsoring EU national still exists to get Settled Status. Yes, she needs to supply your details again. She'll be advised what other documents to supply.

[kamoe]

Not suggesting this is what everyone should do or that it works for everybody, but for my particular case, I thought the below rationale worked:

1. EU sponsor to hold on becoming British citizenship until at least the non-EU family member receives Settled Status. Else, the process for said Settled Status will be much longer. A normal Settled Status application can take a couple of months, but will take longer via the Lounes route.

2. Consider that a British citizenship application, back to back, if run smoothly, takes about 3 months: 2 months to be approved, then about a further month until the ceremony date. Remember, one does not become a British citizen on approval of application, but after attending the ceremony. You can always make this faster by booking a VIP biometrics appointment and a private ceremony, which adds to the price you need to consider when pondering it it is all worth it.

Every case is different, timelines vary, but up to you to judge if bringing her Settled Status an average of 9 months earlier is worth £1300; or maybe less wait but + £200 for possible VIP appointment + £175 for private ceremony.

[kamoe]

* up to you to judge if bringing her British citizenship an average of 9 months earlier is worth £1300; or maybe less wait but + £200 for possible VIP appointment + £175 for private ceremony.

[Premierrrr]

OK, thanks so much for your replies. I had no idea that me becoming a British citizen could cause this delay by needing the Lounes route, so I appreciate you bringing it to my attention. With the idea of saving 9 months, is your rough calculation then that Lounes would be three months longer than a standard online settled status application for a non EU spouse. Do you know of anywhere where these timelines or published or even rough ideas are given, so that I can check in for changes over the next two years?

[kamoe]

With the idea of saving 9 months, is your rough calculation then that Lounes would be three months longer than a standard online settled status application for a non EU spouse.

What I mean is that a British citizenship application takes around 3 months back to back. So if you really wanted to speed things up as much as possible, having into account the aspect of avoiding the Lounes route, then you would:

1. Wait until she has Settled Status
2. Apply for British citizenship yourself
3. Get her to apply for British citizenship

Since she needs to wait for process 2. to complete (which takes 3 months), she will save 9 months, not 12, as a benefit for applying as a British spouse. But that is just average waiting time, yours can be shorter, AND it's all a gamble. Whilst the Lounes Settled Status will very, very likely take more time than a regular one, it might not take much more. If it takes 6 months longer, then point 1. is worth it; if it does not take more than 3 months longer, then point 1. is pointless. I'm afraid it's difficult to provide blanket estimations.

Do you know of anywhere where these timelines or published or even rough ideas are given, so that I can check in for changes over the next two years?

On this site there are usually timelines for everything, but I have not seen a timeline specifically for Settled Status via Lounes. Only for general pre and Settled Status, here, where I have occasionally seen Lounes applicants waiting much longer: eea-route-applications/eu-settlement-no ... -3150.html (I'm afraid I have not seen anything more specific)

[vinny]

They clearly don't like it and want to discourage people from doing it. There is no practical reason why they wouldn't be able to process these applications through the online form. Doesn't seem to be a timeline thread for Lounes, but knowing you have to call to request a paper from, which they prefill with the applicant's details, there's just much more room for error and delay.

Agree. It does seem to be a way to discourage and frustrate eligible applicants. It’s impractical and also adds unnecessary administrative overheads.