Immigrationboards.com

Hello,

Could you please tell me if my fiance and I have a chance to become British citizen?
We are both Europeans and very much attached to London.

Him: He has lived 7 years in London, studied 6 years, worked and paid council tax for one year.
Me: I lived 7 years in the UK, studied 2 years, have had small jobs and worked as an artist.

Last year, we moved to his homeland and we planned on selling his flat to buy a flat in London. We kept on going back to London for work and personal exhibitions.

Can we apply for British citizenship if we move back to London and buy a flat?

6 months outside of the UK resets your clock for permanent residence. Brief visits back without exercising your Treaty rights won't qualify as continual residence.
Also apart from the period of absence, the time spent as a students will only qualify towards PR if you held Comprehensive Sickness Insurance (CSI) or an EHIC card issued by your own country.

Confirmation of PR is now mandatory for British citizenship.

Hello,

How is it possible to check how many days I was out of the UK last year and during the 5 last years?

Posts merged.

migmig wrote:Hello,

How is it possible to check how many days I was out of the UK last year and during the 5 last years?

You need to be responsible for tracking yourself.

First rule of UK immigration:
look ahead to your next application (and the next);
and
engineer your life to generate the necessary papertrail; cultivate contacts as potential referees & etc etc.

Hi thanks for your reply. Is it not possible to use my passport to see how many days I was outside the UK? Is it not the way the authorities will check that?

I read that absences can be up to 730 days when being a resident for 7 years. I am still paying taxes in UK even when being absent and we bought a house. Does that not make any difference?

If you provide them with all travel documents you ever used to enter the country they'll know each time you entered (because passport or ID gets scanned) but that doesn't tell them when you left every time, depending on where and when you left.
(EEA nationals generally don't get their passports stamped within Europe so you can't use them to check exit and entry - I find boarding passes or bookings are the only way to be certain.

You're expected to provide your information and they will then check to confirm it as far as possible.

I find searching my main email account for bookings useful for piecing together my comings and goings.

Also did both of you have health insurance during your studies otherwise regardless of how long you left your time won't count towards PR.

You may also have breached the rules of your bank and mortgage provider by not informing them that the UK is no longer your country of residence.

Thanks for your reply. We bought a house very recently when we returned.
I had an european health insurance during my studies. I lived 3 years in the UK before my studies(2years) and 2.5 years after. Does that make a difference? Or my 2 years of studies just fail my amount of time spent in the UK?

migmig wrote:I read that absences can be up to 730 days when being a resident for 7 years. I am still paying taxes in UK even when being absent and we bought a house. Does that not make any difference?

Its you thats applying to naturalise not your house or your electricity account etc.

The idea is to prove that your future plans and commitment and life lies in the UK. And that involves a certain amount of physical presence in the UK as per the requirements.

Have you checked the AN requirements yet?
Have you actually acquired PR yet?
Have you got the DCPR/PRC you need to naturalise?

Thanks. I understand that.

Can anyone tell me if I have the right amount of time required otherwise?
I lived 3 years in the UK before my studies(2years) and 2.5 years after. Does that make a difference? Or my 2 years of studies just fail my amount of time spent in the UK?
I left more than 90 days but I am fully committed to the to life and work in the UK.

migmig wrote:Thanks. I understand that.

Can anyone tell me if I have the right amount of time required otherwise?
I lived 3 years in the UK before my studies(2years) and 2.5 years after. Does that make a difference? Or my 2 years of studies just fail my amount of time spent in the UK?
I left more than 90 days but I am fully committed to the to life and work in the UK.

Time accrued for PR or for naturalisation?

If you were settled before you you left UK you could have lost PR due to 2 years absence.
So have you acquired PR - and got a valid DCPR/PRC?

If you are still still settled (with PR) read the AN guidance and figure out how many years you need to defer your naturalisation application such that the 2 years absence 'times out'.

If you have not yet acquired PR (or have lost it) you have bigger challenges (because of Brexit) before getting to the privilege of citizenship later.

Thanks for your reply.
I should explain again: I am european and I lived: 3 years in the uk followed by 2 years studying in the UK followed by 2.5years in the UK. 7.5 years all in all. But I was out for more than 90 days...
I am looking into applying for citizenship but I haven't started the process yet.

migmig wrote:Thanks for your reply.
I should explain again: I am european and I lived: 3 years in the uk followed by 2 years studying in the UK followed by 2.5years in the UK. 7.5 years all in all. But I was out for more than 90 days...
I am looking into applying for citizenship but I haven't started the process yet.

Less than 90 days in a year (if that is all it is) is fine for naturalisation.

But start at the beginning with the fundamental requirement for a Union citizen: have you acquired PR?

No I haven't applied to PR yet. I guess I should hurry to do that...?

migmig wrote:No I haven't applied to PR yet. I guess I should hurry to do that...?

Its now a mandatory requirement for citizenship (for Union citizens and family members).

So I salute your proactivity in looking ahead but you do need DCPR in the bag first.

Did you have CSI in place during your carefree student years?

Ok thanks for informing me! I will look into the DCPR application first.
I didn't have CSI when I was a student, I had an European Health Insurance Card.

migmig wrote:I didn't have CSI when I was a student, I had an European Health Insurance Card.

Was the EHIC issued by the UK or your home country?

It was issued by my home country. What does that change? Besides my students years in the UK I lived 5.5 years there. Do students years reset my clock for permanent residence? Even if it was in the middle of my stay?

Let's take a pause here and review your position.

To apply for British citizenship, you need to have PR.

To acquire PR, you (or an EEA sponsor, typically a spouse) need to have exercised treaty rights in the UK for five continuous years. Any break in the exercise of treaty rights resets it back to zero.

Exercising treaty rights means doing one of the following;
Working (includes maternity leave)
Seeking work (upto six months)
Studying (only counts if you have either CSI or a non-UK EHIC Card)
Self-sufficiency (only counts if you have CSI)

You can mix-and-match from the list above, so long as it is continuous, you will have acquired PR.

You apply with proof of having gained PR to get a Document Certifying Permanent Residence from the Home Office.

migmig wrote:It was issued by my home country. What does that change? Besides my students years in the UK I lived 5.5 years there. Do students years reset my clock for permanent residence? Even if it was in the middle of my stay?

Not if you had CSI/non-UK EHIC card throughout.

Also remember that mere residence does not count. You need to have exercised one of the specific treaty rights listed above continuously.