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Hi, I am an EEA national who has been living in UK for 4 years. I am a 3rd year university student and I've lived in London with my parents and two younger brothers.
My father has been a licensed worker during the 4 years. (purple certificate for Croatian nationals)
Recently my brother and I applied for a work license and we've been asked to provide evidence of CSI in the form of either private insurance or European Health Insurance Card. The latter as I understand does not apply to us as we intend to permanently stay in UK.
After doing some research on CSI I've learnt the seemingly bad news that not only are we not eligible for the work permit until we obtain CSI but also the 4 years we lived here do not count toward the 5 year requirement for permanent residence.
Is this really the grim reality or is there any way that my family can hope for permanent residency in one year, applying as dependents of my father (who as a licensed worker doesn't need CSI for permanent residency).
I would really appreciate it if someone could help out with the situation.
Many thanks in advance.

mmac12 wrote:Hi, I am an EEA national who has been living in UK for 4 years. I am a 3rd year university student and I've lived in London with my parents and two younger brothers.
My father has been a licensed worker during the 4 years. (purple certificate for Croatian nationals)
Recently my brother and I applied for a work license and we've been asked to provide evidence of CSI in the form of either private insurance or European Health Insurance Card. The latter as I understand does not apply to us as we intend to permanently stay in UK.
After doing some research on CSI I've learnt the seemingly bad news that not only are we not eligible for the work permit until we obtain CSI but also the 4 years we lived here do not count toward the 5 year requirement for permanent residence.
Is this really the grim reality or is there any way that my family can hope for permanent residency in one year, applying as dependents of my father (who as a licensed worker doesn't need CSI for permanent residency).
I would really appreciate it if someone could help out with the situation.
Many thanks in advance.

Hi mmac12, the regulations regarding Croatian nationals are unduly complex but a couple of points that might help you assess your situation:

1. Since you are currently a university student, you qualify for free movement rights in your own right. However, you will need to have comprehensive sickness insurance (CSI), as you correctly point out.

2. You will also meet the CSI requirement if you have a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) issued by Croatia or an EEA state other than the UK. There is a legal technicality about your future intentions and the EHIC, but it is really only a formality. Once you apply for Perm Res, it is sufficient that you had an EHIC during any period when you were a student or self-sufficient - it is irrelevant at that stage whether you intended, at the time, to remain in the UK permanently or not.

3. Her Majesty's Government have intimated that they are minded to waive the CSI requirement in the new post-Brexit regulations, which is a promising development for the scores of students and self-sufficient people who never took out insurance. Details tbc.

4. You may also qualify for free movement rights as a family member of a worker (your father). In that case, you would not need to meet the CSI requirement at all. If you are under the age of 21, you will meet the family member requirement in Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2016 reg. 7(1)(b)(i).

5. Independently of the preceding points, a Croatian national may apply for a blue registration certificate giving full access to the UK labour market if they are degree-educated. You will need to apply using the Highly Skilled Migrants (HSM) process/CR2 rather than the processes applicable to other EEA nationals who are not subject to labour market restrictions: https://www.gov.uk/croatian-national/bl ... ertificate

So if you apply either in your own right (as a student) or as a dependant, you will be entitled to a blue certificate and your period of residence will count in full towards Perm Res. Otherwise, you may still be allowed to work if you use the HSM process.