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Hi everyone,

I'm trying to see if I can apply for PR and then straight for a british passport by proving PR for six years.

I originally came to the UK in 2009 but had a six month absence in 2010 so am aiming for my clock to start from fall 2010 onwards, when I came back. I was a student from 2010 to 2012 and have been working full time since 2012. I have some questions about "self sufficient" student:

- I studied at a scottish university, where tuition fees were covered by the SAAS and I did not have to pay them back. Other than that I had my own funds for living expenses etc. Will this still count as self sufficient or is this gonna trip me up? If I don't mention the tuition fees thing, will they even notice? (I do have a german EHIC for 2010 - 2012, so that's sorted)

- From 2010 to 2013 I privately rented rooms from families as a subtenant. Oral agreements, Rent paid in cash, No lease, bills, council tax, tv stuff etc for this entire period. How on earth am I going to prove resicence?

The guidance documents mention the following documents:

- Letters or other documents from government departments or agencies, for example HM Revenue and Customs, Department for Work and Pensions, DVLA, TV Licensing
- Letters or other documents from your GP, a hospital or other local health service about medical treatments, appointments, home visits or other medical matters
Bank statements/letters
- Building society savings books/letters
- Council tax bills or statements
- Electricity and/or gas bills or statements
- Water rates bills or statements
- Mortgage statements/agreement
- Tenancy agreement(s)
- Telephone bills or statements.

Do i need all of these? The only ones I could get are probably some GP letters, a P45 from a part time job between 2010 and 2011, bank statements and several letters from my university certifying that I lived where I lived. Would that be enough?

Thanks for your help!

As you had a German EHIC which can replace CSI, you have been exercising treaty rights as a student from 2010-2012, so that's all good. The fact that the tuition fees were paid for you in Scotland does not matter.
As for the proof of residence, you can use UK bank statements paired with GP records/letters and the P45 for good measure. This will most certainly be sufficient and you do not need to provide all of the documents. You can order the statements from your bank, it usually costs a tenner.

Also, you do not need to provide evidence for 6 years. If you want to apply straight for BC once your DCPR comes through, you still only need to provide evidence for 5 continuous years; just make sure that the 5 year period you provide evidence for ended at least a year ago.

Brilliant, thanks so much.

Regarding bank statements - how many do I need? I'm assuming I don't need entire years worth but maybe just two or three months per year?

And do they have to ordered from the bank and sent out or can I download and print them as well? (Checked online banking, all the statements are still on there)

Weatherwitch wrote:Hi everyone,

I'm trying to see if I can apply for PR and then straight for a british passport by proving PR for six years.

I assume you are aware that you cannot simply apply for a British passport if you are not British

If you are over 18, you need to apply for British citizenship by naturalisation, and once that has been accepted and you have attended the ceremony, then you can apply for a British passport.

And do they have to ordered from the bank and sent out or can I download and print them as well? (Checked online banking, all the statements are still on there)

If you only print them off (and do not get them stamped by your bank), the HO will consider them photocopies and your application could be rejected for not providing originals.

The ones you order from the bank are originals, the only difference is that they have the word 'duplicate' written on them. The HO usually accepts them.

ohara wrote: I assume you are aware that you cannot simply apply for a British passport if you are not British

If you are over 18, you need to apply for British citizenship by naturalisation, and once that has been accepted and you have attended the ceremony, then you can apply for a British passport.

Yeah, that's what I meant. I was simply trying to say that I would like to go the route where you apply straight for citizenship after getting permanent residence confirmed, without having to wait for a year. Shouldn't have called it applying for a passport.

Thanks for the info on the bank statements - still not sure how many I need though? All for all the years I am applying for or just a few selected?

As long as you give evidence of a PR qualifying period that ended at least a year ago, you don't have to wait at all before applying for citizenship.

Interestingly I provided evidence for the period 2009-2014 for my PR document, however the HO have clearly done their homework and they've recorded my PR date as 01/06/12. I suspect this is actually correct as I never had CSI as a student and I started full time work in June 2007.

I got my PR document last month and I applied for citizenship today.