EU National married to British Citizen

[SchnookoLoly]

Hi all,

I apologise if this has been posted before - I've just spent a few hours searching through past threads and am still a bit confused, so I'm hoping for a bit of help.

I am a dual Canadian/Portuguese citizen. I moved to the UK in 2008 after getting a transfer with my job. I have been living and working here continuously since (except for a few trips home etc). I entered on my Portuguese passport.

Last month, I married a British citizen - he was born in the UK.

I'm a bit confused now about whether or not I'm eligible for British Citizenship. From reading on the Home Office website, they make reference to being eligible if I'm married to a Brit and I've been resident in the UK for a continuous period of 3+ years and fulfil the time-in-UK requirements (I do), but then other places reference 5 year requirements for EEA people.

Any clarification on what exactly the route to BC is would be a huge help.

(In case anyone is wondering, I would prefer to have a British passport instead of a Portuguese one, as the amount of bureaucracy and paperwork that Portugal puts you through to even renew a passport is astronomical, and in some ways, applying for BC is more straightforward than even renewing my PT passport! Nightmare!)

Thanks in advance!

[Greenie]

The requirements for naturalisations as the spouse of a British citizen not only require 3 years residence but also require that you are free from immigration restrictions at the time of your application (e.g. ILR granted under the immigration rules, or PR acquired under the EEA regs). It takes 5 years of exercising treaty rights in the UK to acquire PR after which you may be eligible to apply for naturalisation.

requirements for naturalisation as the spouse of a british citizen

[JGNS25]

Can she apply then if she have been already in britain for period of 3 years? Before the marriage? She didnt have any restrictions

[secret.simon]

The original question is three years old. I'm fairly certain the person who asked it will have got their answer by now.

[SchnookoLoly]

I am the OP on this one.

So after tons of research, reading the actual legislations, and all the rest of that, I was required to spend 5 years as a resident in the UK before applying for citizenship, not 3.

However, I *was* exempted from the one year of naturalization that most EEA citizens have to complete after the 5 years as a result of being married to a Brit. My 5-year residency was up in September 2013, I applied for citizenship in October 2013, and had it granted in December 2013.

Last I checked, the documentation has actually been updated in the application forms and guides to make this more clear, that EEA citizens married to British citizens are still subject to the 5-year residency requirement before they can qualify for citizenship.