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Hello
I am an Italian citizen living in UK since 2010. I am hoping to apply for permanent residency via the EEA form, however I am not clear about the section on Absence.

Am I correct in understanding that this should only be filled in for long term absences, such as working on oversea assignments, not for any short holiday taken outside the UK?
Any explanation on this would be appreciated.

With thanks.

soloblue wrote:Hello
I am an Italian citizen living in UK since 2010. I am hoping to apply for permanent residency via the EEA form, however I am not clear about the section on Absence.

Am I correct in understanding that this should only be filled in for long term absences, such as working on oversea assignments, not for any short holiday taken outside the UK?
Any explanation on this would be appreciated.

With thanks.

All absences. The reason is to establish whether or not you have maintained continuity of residence in UK.

soloblue wrote:Hello
I am an Italian citizen living in UK since 2010. I am hoping to apply for permanent residency via the EEA form, however I am not clear about the section on Absence.

Am I correct in understanding that this should only be filled in for long term absences, such as working on oversea assignments, not for any short holiday taken outside the UK?
Any explanation on this would be appreciated.

With thanks.

No, you need to report any and all absences. Even if you went over to Dublin for 2 days for a long weekend.

So every time you left the UK for holiday, family visits, business etc, they need to go into that section for the past 5 years.

Thank you - it is rather difficult to remember where and when I went on holiday back home or for just few days in the last 5 years! unfortunately there is no record of it in my passport...
poor me!

soloblue wrote:Thank you - it is rather difficult to remember where and when I went on holiday back home or for just few days in the last 5 years! unfortunately there is no record of it in my passport...
poor me!

Not just 5 years but since you arrived in UK.

Simply state month/year if you cannot remember specifics.

Thank you...thinking about it,I really see no reason for it if I provide letters from my employers confirming that I was woring for the company in london...the home office should self understad that one cann' t work if he/she is away of the UK? Of course one would only have a limited annual leave under contract.
Thank you for the advise...

soloblue wrote:Thank you...thinking about it,I really see no reason for it if I provide letters from my employers confirming that I was woring for the company in london...the home office should self understad that one cann' t work if he/she is away of the UK? Of course one would only have a limited annual leave under contract.
Thank you for the advise...

Some members apply for confirmation of PR having spent 2 or more years of their 5 year qualifying period out of UK.
Clearly a caseworker needs to be satisfied that every application is compliant with EU law - hence the questions.

noajthan wrote:

soloblue wrote:Thank you - it is rather difficult to remember where and when I went on holiday back home or for just few days in the last 5 years! unfortunately there is no record of it in my passport...
poor me!

Not just 5 years but since you arrived in UK.

Simply state month/year if you cannot remember specifics.

I was actually told to only record absences for the qualifying 5 years, not since I had arrived. I had arrived in 2009 but my qualifying period started in 2011 when the WRS was abolished. I phoned HO and I was told I only needed to record my absences from when the qualifying years had started, i.e. 2011

tresgoya wrote:I was actually told to only record absences for the qualifying 5 years, not since I had arrived. I had arrived in 2009 but my qualifying period started in 2011 when the WRS was abolished. I phoned HO and I was told I only needed to record my absences from when the qualifying years had started, i.e. 2011

The HO helpline is unreliable and can give inconsistent advice for which it is not accountable. (That may be the case here too - but noone here claims to be the HO).

OP may or may not know or understand when their qualifying period is. Its not necessarily just the "last 5 years".

For all anyone knows the OP's qualifying period started on their arrival in UK.

HO will want to know of any/all absences since any PR may have been acquired.
And PR may have been acquired in a different period to that the OP believes to be the case.

noajthan wrote:

tresgoya wrote:I was actually told to only record absences for the qualifying 5 years, not since I had arrived. I had arrived in 2009 but my qualifying period started in 2011 when the WRS was abolished. I phoned HO and I was told I only needed to record my absences from when the qualifying years had started, i.e. 2011

The HO helpline is unreliable and can give inconsistent advice for which it is not accountable. (That may be the case here too - but noone here claims to be the HO).

OP may or may not know or understand when their qualifying period is. Its not necessarily just the "last 5 years".

For all anyone knows the OP's qualifying period started on their arrival in UK.

HO will want to know of any/all absences since any PR may have been acquired.
And PR may have been acquired in a different period to that the OP believes to be the case.

But in my case surely they cannot refuse application because I didn't include my absence period for 2009-2010, can they? With lack of WRS those periods wouldn't matter.

also see this thread: eea-route-applications/residency-card-pr-t201431.html

it's unrealistic to expect people to recount 20 years of travel in some cases...

tresgoya wrote:But in my case surely they cannot refuse application because I didn't include my absence period for 2009-2010, can they? With lack of WRS those periods wouldn't matter.

also see this thread: eea-route-applications/residency-card-pr-t201431.html

it's unrealistic to expect people to recount 20 years of travel in some cases...

Tell it to HO.

I didn't speak of refusal.

I explained different people have different circumstances, the caseworker will decide whether a period qualifies or not.
If someone limits their application to only one qualifying period and suppresses other information and then gets it wrong then clearly they have limited their chances and will be refused.

The form is also poorly designed and yet still has to serve many different scenarios.
The form is not mandatory yet if an applicant uses the official form they also have to sign the Declaration on it, vouching for the contents and information they have submitted.

noajthan wrote:

tresgoya wrote:But in my case surely they cannot refuse application because I didn't include my absence period for 2009-2010, can they? With lack of WRS those periods wouldn't matter.

also see this thread: eea-route-applications/residency-card-pr-t201431.html

it's unrealistic to expect people to recount 20 years of travel in some cases...

Tell it to HO.

I didn't speak of refusal.

I explained different people have different circumstances, the caseworker will decide whether a period qualifies or not.
If someone limits their application to only one qualifying period and suppresses other information and then gets it wrong then clearly they have limited their chances and will be refused.

The form is also poorly designed and yet still has to serve many different scenarios.
The form is not mandatory yet if an applicant uses the official form they also have to sign the Declaration on it, vouching for the contents and information they have submitted.

ok, so in this case basically they can say I lied cause I didn't include the absences of the 2 years of WRS and cause I signed my form? This whole system is terrible, especially when compared other EU countrys' immigration rules and process.

tresgoya wrote:ok, so in this case basically they can say I lied cause I didn't include the absences of the 2 years of WRS and cause I signed my form? This whole system is terrible, especially when compared other EU countrys' immigration rules and process.

This is simply the UK's implementation of EU law, the underlying EU law has to be the same across all member states.
I can't speak for HO and caseworker's handling of your case but surely you must have read the Declaration if you signed it.

All you can do and need to do is sit tight and wait for the outcome.

noajthan wrote:

tresgoya wrote:ok, so in this case basically they can say I lied cause I didn't include the absences of the 2 years of WRS and cause I signed my form? This whole system is terrible, especially when compared other EU countrys' immigration rules and process.

This is simply the UK's implementation of EU law, the underlying EU law has to be the same across all member states.
I can't speak for HO and caseworker's handling of your case but surely you must have read the Declaration if you signed it.

All you can do and need to do is sit tight and wait for the outcome.

I dunno. When I lived in Ireland I did look into getting the citizenship cause I had my 5 years (btw IE still doesn't require EU residents to hold PR for a year prior to requesting naturalisation and I'm so regretting that I hadn't gone through with it at the time now that I'm living through this utter mess...) and I can tell you for sure they are less fussy and have less attitude about things. You can also spend 3 years out of the country after having lived there 4 years without losing your qualifying period, if you had returned to the country before you reached the 8th year counted from your entry. Iceland also has a similar rule.

I did read the declaration. However I didn't conceal the info maliciously. I didn't include it cause I had been told not to by someone who clearly doesn't know how to do her job.

This whole thing is just really dodgy. I will just try to forget about it till I heard back from them. I'm so done and fed up worrying that I almost feel like there is not even a point of caring about it anymore. If they can be difficult then they likely will choose to be difficult based on what I've read here happening to folks. Seems that is how they are told to operate from the get-go. Which is really sad and gives a bad impression about the general state of things. Just like when May suggested that we should be bargaining chips, while other EU countries are suggesting to offer citizenships to British residents.

anyway, thanks for your help! I do appreciate it.

tresgoya wrote:I dunno. When I lived in Ireland I did look into getting the citizenship cause I had my 5 years (btw IE still doesn't require EU residents to hold PR for a year prior to requesting naturalisation and I'm so regretting that I hadn't gone through with it at the time now that I'm living through this utter mess...) and I can tell you for sure they are less fussy and have less attitude about things. You can also spend 3 years out of the country after having lived there 4 years without losing your qualifying period, if you had returned to the country before you reached the 8th year counted from your entry. Iceland also has a similar rule.

I did read the declaration. However I didn't conceal the info maliciously. I didn't include it cause I had been told not to by someone who clearly doesn't know how to do her job.

This whole thing is just really dodgy. I will just try to forget about it till I heard back from them. I'm so done and fed up worrying that I almost feel like there is not even a point of caring about it anymore. If they can be difficult then they likely will choose to be difficult based on what I've read here happening to folks. Seems that is how they are told to operate from the get-go. Which is really sad and gives a bad impression about the general state of things. Just like when May suggested that we should be bargaining chips, while other EU countries are suggesting to offer citizenships to British residents.

anyway, thanks for your help! I do appreciate it.

I don't think you're comparing like with like.
if you're talking about Irish or Icelandic domestic regulations then obviously that's a whole different kettle of fish;
- apples and pears if you will.

Clearly every Westphalian-style nation state is free to define its own criteria for the privilege of citizenship of that country - what else would you expect.
But you are not applying for citizenship here.

EU law is EU law and, for example, PR is lost after 2 years of absence from a memberstate. That's not negotiable.

First rule of 'UK immigration club' is don't rely on advice from HO helpline.
And whoever Mrs May may speak for it is certainly not me.

As your application is already filed why worry about what you cannot control - it's in caseworker's court now.
Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)