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Hi

I am an Italian national living in the UK for the last 12 years. I am applying for British Citizenship and have an appointment with the Nationality Checking Service at my local council in early December (I cannot meet them earlier because I am travelling for the next 5 weeks).

I had a call from the council last night asking if I was aware of a change in the rules which says that from 12th November 2015, EU nationals applying for British Citizenship, a permanent residence card is mandatory. . This change in rule is not discussed on the home office website and the guidance notes to the British Citizenship application form (May 2015) still says that a permanent residence card is not mandatory (and you can submit something else like last 5 years P60s). Very confusing.

So my questions are:
1. Is anyone else aware of the change in rules where a permanent residence card is mandatory and if so could they point me to where on the internet I may get more information on this (Google search yielded nothing).

2. Is there anything I can submit in lieu of a permanent residence card, such as last 5 years P60s etc.

3. The permanent residence card application asks for a detail of a sponsor (including their passport, proof of relationship etc). I inherited my Italian citizenship from my mother (who doesn't live in the UK) and have lived in the UK by myself for the last 12 years. Would I have to use my mother as a sponsor or could I mark this section as n/a.

4. Finally could anyone advise of any decent immigration lawyers (preferably not too expensive) who I could speak to so I can get advise on my situation. There are a lot of lawyers found on the internet but I find that personal recommendations work best.

Many thanks in advance

This thread in the EEA forum might be a useful read. NCS are wrong in the advice they have given you.

http://www.immigrationboards.com/eea-ro ... 96431.html

SS85 wrote:So my questions are:
1. Is anyone else aware of the change in rules where a permanent residence card is mandatory and if so could they point me to where on the internet I may get more information on this (Google search yielded nothing).

2. Is there anything I can submit in lieu of a permanent residence card, such as last 5 years P60s etc.

3. The permanent residence card application asks for a detail of a sponsor (including their passport, proof of relationship etc). I inherited my Italian citizenship from my mother (who doesn't live in the UK) and have lived in the UK by myself for the last 12 years. Would I have to use my mother as a sponsor or could I mark this section as n/a.

4. Finally could anyone advise of any decent immigration lawyers (preferably not too expensive) who I could speak to so I can get advise on my situation. There are a lot of lawyers found on the internet but I find that personal recommendations work best.

Many thanks in advance

1) In the absence of concrete proof from them, it sounds like some NCS officials may have received an inaccurate briefing or training update.

2) Yes, as per AN form guidance notes.

3) If you are the EEA national apply in own right; (no sponsor)

Note: The 'confirmation of PR' card is optional & confirms rights, it doesn't grant them.

4) No comment.

Unfortunately, the permanent residence card is now a requirement for EEA nationals applying for citizenship. Booklet AN and Guide AN documents have been updated on 28 October and they specifically refer to this requirement. There is nothing about Treaty Rights anymore, just the PR card. They do not say when this will start becoming a requirement though! I strongly suggest calling HO to find out more about this.

See also: http://www.immigrationboards.com/britis ... 96899.html

The PR card requirement will actually come into force on 12 November 2015 so the NCS advisor was right.

http://www.mcgillandco.co.uk/Blog/2015/ ... tizenship/

So does this mean that someone from the EEA who was planning to apply next month on the basis of working and exercising treaty rights for the last 10 years, is now unable to do so, and needs to wait almost 2 more years? (To get the PR and then wait a year and then apply??)

It's not clear whether one year of residence will be required after the issue date of the PR card. Obie will probably be able to advise further on this. However, why two years? Surely if someone has satisfied the residency/exercising Treaty rights rule they can apply for their PR card immediately?

Casa wrote:It's not clear whether one year of residence will be required after the issue date of the PR card. Obie will probably be able to advise further on this. However, why two years? Surely if someone has satisfied the residency/exercising Treaty rights rule they can apply for their PR card immediately?

I meant UNTIL naturalisation. As it stood until now, someone who applied next month with no PR would have his citizenship in about 6 months. Now if PR is required, they have to first get that, which will surely take a few months, then wait an entire year after they have it to apply for naturalisation, and then wait another 6 months to get approved. If that's the case, being from the EEA will be not so important anymore...

Having looked at the permanent residence card application, I had 3 questions:

1. The form asks for a detail of a sponsor (including their passport, proof of relationship etc). I am EEA National living in the UK for the past 12 years. Therefore I assume I don't need a sponsor and don't have to fill out this section. Can anyone advise if this understanding is correct. ?
2. The form ask me to submit my passport with the application. I have to travel a lot for work and therefore can't be without my passport for too long. Is there any National Checking Services where I can show my passport without having to send it in the post (similar for NCS for the naturalisation process). .
3. If I do have to submit my passport, do we know how long it would take for the application to be processed and returned to me?

Kind Regards