Proof of 5yrs PR-Passport application child of EU Nationals

[skek1984]

For the past 24 hours I have been reading up and going back and forth to Home Office and HMRC to clarify what we need to prove either mine or my wife's 5 year PR exercise of treaty rights for our newborn to claim a British passport.

I have been going mad and it is beyond me why it has to be so complicated.

A few info about our case:

Both me and my wife are EU Nationals (Cypriot) and have been working in the UK for at least the last 5 years prior to the babies birth, but we have actually been living and working in the UK for 13 and 9 years respectively. I thought I could apply for his passport but I got 2 months JSA between jobs which apparently disqualifies me and baby's passport application would be refused.

Whether that is true or not I don't know and if anyone here does it would be a great help. One Home Office document on Treaty Rights states that you can apply as long as you can prove you haven't been a burden to the benefits system. Speaking with their agents on the phone leaves me with more questions than answers.

Either way we decided to use my wife on the application as she has been working in a partnership as self-employed (her official HMRC status) for at least the past five years. Where we got stuck is in the supporting documents:

According to Home Office these have to be original documents.

No P60 are available as she is self-employed. Her employer doesn't issue payslips but instead what they call Annual Partner Statements. Can they be accepted?

Given originals are needed, any tax forms our accountant can send for us to print won't be accepted. So instead he advised we contact HMRC and get SA302, which are summaries of her self assesments for the past years. But given the baby has been born this month and the next tax return won't be filed until same time next year leaves us with a period from April 2016 - January 2017 without proof from HMRC at least. On top of that since the start of January 2017 she has been on Maternity pay as she had to give birth. Does that disqualify her also?

Bottom line is based on other members experience here what will Home Office accept as legitimate proof of Employment and Tax payments if P60 and payslips are not available? Will any official employer statements and proof of payment work? Are even original bank statements accepted? Is the fact that she's been claiming Maternity for the last month prior to baby's birth disqualifying her also?

Any light you can shed on this would be appreciated, I just feel that we and especially our baby is more than entitled for a UK passport based on the length of our stay and our status for over 5 years but cannot find a clear answer on how we can prove we are qualifying either for me or my wife.

[noajthan]

HMPO caseworkers are not necessarily on EEA-related applications and PR status.
They make mistakes.

For child to be British one parent needs to have had settled status (acquired PR in your context - ie on EU route) before child's date of birth.

You can obtain benefits letter from DWP.

Jobseeking is a legitimate category of qualified person.

Maternity leave when selfemployed is a slight grey area.

Read up on qualified persons:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... _clean.pdf

And are you using these guides from HMPO?
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... Policy.pdf
&
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... idance.pdf

[skek1984]

Thanks for the quick reply noajthan. I will look into those links and speak to DWP for that letter.

I think the question is not so much whether we are qualifying but more on how to prove we are and what HMPO will see as acceptable proof.

Any ideas how to prove the period from April 2016 - January 2017 when the baby was born given both of us are self employed and no tax return for that period will be filed until same time next year....

[noajthan]

Thanks for the quick reply noajthan. I will look into those links and speak to DWP for that letter.

I think the question is not so much whether we are qualifying but more on how to prove we are and what HMPO will see as acceptable proof.

Any ideas how to prove the period from April 2016 - January 2017 when the baby was born given both of us are self employed and no tax return for that period will be filed until same time next year....

You don't need to worry about that.

As you have been in UK 13 and 9 years, respectively, you probably acquired PR status around 8 or 4 years ago, respectively.

And for Union citizens with settled (PR) status any/all subsequent activity is immaterial. So recent tax returns don't matter.

Suggest you choose parent with strongest case (best supporting evidence) based on activities in a qualifying period from 13 (or 9 years) ago.

For parent 1: say 2004-2009.
Or any continuous 5 year period ending up until last year.

Or for parent 2: say 2008-2013
Or any continuous 5 year period ending up until last year.

Gather your evidence;
See how it all shapes up.

[skek1984]

And when it comes to evidence this is a mix of originals or printouts depending on the period. For example tax returns are submitted electronically I can only print those at home.

I started as a student in 2004-2008 with no health insurance and my understanding is there's an issue with that. From 2008 onwards I was an employee but evidence vary. If copies are accepted then I am a lot more flexible with what I can use as proof.

Could I choose any 5 years based from our stay say 2011-2016 based on which period I have the strongest evidence for?

[noajthan]

And when it comes to evidence this is a mix of originals or printouts depending on the period. For example tax returns are submitted electronically I can only print those at home.

I started as a student in 2004-2008 with no health insurance and my understanding is there's an issue with that. From 2008 onwards I was an employee but evidence vary. If copies are accepted then I am a lot more flexible with what I can use as proof.

Could I choose any 5 years based on which period I have the strongest evidence for?

Yes, no CSI (or alternative: foreign EHIC, student RC from 2011 or earlier) means student years do not count and PR clock was not running.

Yes, choose period to give it your best shot.

If you don't have originals, eg bank statements, then ask bank to stamp/authorise printouts.
Worst case submit copies and explain why.

HMPO may or may not be so rigorous as hard-nosed HO caseworkers.
But go for the best quality evidence you can muster, don't take anything for granted.

With Brexit looming, and once child's passport is in the bag, you may want to think about applying for your DCPRs to help secure your status in UK.
And if you have ambitions for citizenship yourselves the nominally optional (and purely confirmatory) DCPR is now mandatory when naturalising.

[skek1984]

Agreed about Brexit. The reason why we are not applying for a Cypriot passport and opting for British is purely logistical and because CY need 6 months to issue one but UK 6 weeks.

In theory could I use the same qualifying period and evidence for my DCPR as I do for the baby's passport?

[noajthan]

Agreed about Brexit. The reason why we are not applying for a Cypriot passport and opting for British is purely logistical and because CY need 6 months to issue one but UK 6 weeks.

In theory could I use the same qualifying period and evidence for my DCPR as I do for the baby's passport?

Yes you could - but using form EEA (PR) and applying to HO.

[noajthan]

Note jobseeking and aelfemployment don't hang well together.

If that was the case for one of you then suggest that applicant applies for DCPR as the direct family member of their spouse/sponsor (worker qualified person).

[skek1984]

Thanks. Jobseeking was after my last full time job. I was made redundant then went job seeking and got on JSA. I decided to go freelance and stopped the allowance before even getting any jobs in....

I wasn't self employed and seeking/on allowance at the same time...

[skek1984]

I guess the more consistent of cases is my wife's.

I have a mix of P60, payslips, bank statements, SA302s and the JSA letter (all original) for the period.

My wife has a series of SA302s for the period.