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Hi,

My wife is German and I am from outside the EU, in 2010 I have applied for permanent residence as a spouse of an EU citizen because my wife was exercising her treaty rights, filled the EE4 form and eventually I was given indefinite leave to remain, after that I also got my British passport.

We have been living in the UK since then and we now would like to apply for British passport for my wife, as she has exercised her treaty rights which allowed me to get my ILR, what is the process for this? When I got my ILR there was not any paperwork indicating she now has permanent residence in the UK, do we need to apply for permanent residence card for her now? Because of my application does she not already qualify PR?

Thanks

manrtk wrote:Hi,

My wife is German and I am from outside the EU, in 2010 I have applied for permanent residence as a spouse of an EU citizen because my wife was exercising her treaty rights, filled the EE4 form and eventually I was given indefinite leave to remain, after that I also got my British passport.

We have been living in the UK since then and we now would like to apply for British passport for my wife, as she has exercised her treaty rights which allowed me to get my ILR, what is the process for this? When I got my ILR there was not any paperwork indicating she now has permanent residence in the UK, do we need to apply for permanent residence card for her now? Because of my application does she not already qualify PR?

Thanks

As soon as your wife has been in UK, exercising treaty rights continuously for 5 years as a qualified person she will automatically acquire PR.

Based on your stated history it appears she has already acquired PR.
Once acquired, PR can only normally be lost due to an absence from UK of 2 years or more.

Note an adult has to apply to naturalise first; if successful, a British passport can then be applied for (separately).

So if you have sufficient documentary evidence (& all other requirements have been/can be met for the privilege of citizenship) your wife could apply to naturalise asap.
As the spouse of a BC she has no need to be free from immigration time resrictions (eg hold PR) for 12 months before applying to naturalise.

However, if you have any doubt (or a possible lack of adequate documentary evidence) a lower-risk strategy would be to apply for the optional 'confirmation of PR' card first of all.

This approach risks only the £65 PR fee & comes with a right of appeal;
whereas a naturalisation application costs considerably more (£1000+) & there is no right of appeal if refused.

Good luck.

noajthan wrote:

manrtk wrote:Hi,

My wife is German and I am from outside the EU, in 2010 I have applied for permanent residence as a spouse of an EU citizen because my wife was exercising her treaty rights, filled the EE4 form and eventually I was given indefinite leave to remain, after that I also got my British passport.

We have been living in the UK since then and we now would like to apply for British passport for my wife, as she has exercised her treaty rights which allowed me to get my ILR, what is the process for this? When I got my ILR there was not any paperwork indicating she now has permanent residence in the UK, do we need to apply for permanent residence card for her now? Because of my application does she not already qualify PR?

Thanks

As soon as your wife has been in UK, exercising treaty rights continuously for 5 years as a qualified person she will automatically acquire PR.

Based on your stated history it appears she has already acquired PR.
Once acquired, PR can only normally be lost due to an absence from UK of 2 years or more.

Note an adult has to apply to naturalise first; if successful, a British passport can then be applied for (separately).

So if you have sufficient documentary evidence (& all other requirements have been/can be met for the privilege of citizenship) your wife could apply to naturalise asap.
As the spouse of a BC she has no need to be free from immigration time resrictions (eg hold PR) for 12 months before applying to naturalise.

However, if you have any doubt (or a possible lack of adequate documentary evidence) a lower-risk strategy would be to apply for the optional 'confirmation of PR' card first of all.

This approach risks only the £65 PR fee & comes with a right of appeal;
whereas a naturalisation application costs considerably more (£1000+) & there is no right of appeal if refused.

Good luck.

Many thanks for the quick response, good to know I have multiple options.

I have another question, we have 2 children born in 2004 and 2007, both were born before we obtained permanent residence in the UK, they both have German passports and we would like to apply for residency, is it enough that only I am registered as BC in order for them to get residency under section 1(3) of the British Nationality Act?

Thanks

manrtk wrote:I have another question, we have 2 children born in 2004 and 2007, both were born before we obtained permanent residence in the UK, they both have German passports and we would like to apply for residency, is it enough that only I am registered as BC in order for them to get residency under section 1(3) of the British Nationality Act?

Thanks

See my answer in your other thread for this question.