Proof of living in the UK for naturalisation

[Matti1990]

Hello better informed users!

I filled in my online application for citizenship through naturalisation and saw this in the list of documents to provide:
"If you are an EEA National, you need to include letters from employers, educational establishments or other government departments, indicating your presence in the UK during the relevant 3- or 5-year period."

I have lived in the UK since 2005; got ILR through the EU settlement scheme in early 2020. In my 5 year qualifying period (last 5 years) I have not left the UK at all.

My passport obviously doesn't have any stamps (I read somewhere a passport is sufficient for this requirement if it is stamped) as EU passports were never stamped. They're simply scanned at the border. In any case I only have my current passport which was issued in 2020 (my prior one 2010-2020 has been destroyed) and I never left the UK anyway so there wouldn't be a record.

I have been employed for most of the period in question (apart from 6 months unemployed in early 2020, and then a year and half when I was attending university, 2020-2022). I had been employed full time in the UK for 8 years prior to this and since (2022-2024) also, but the only records I have are HMRC online records. I did not keep any P60s and such.

What is the best way for me to go about this? Should I contact my former employers (I've had numerous employers - 4 in total over the 5 year period) and university and request letters? That sounds extremely time consuming and may not work. Surely HMRC have the records - it is incredibly frustrating that they can't just share these with the Home Office.

Last year when I was sponsoring my wife's Spouse Visa they accepted bank statements and other documents, but these are listed as not acceptable for a citizenship application.

Any help/advice is appreciated.

[alterhase58]

Do you have P60s for each year or even part years? Note that the applicant has to provide the relevant documents, UKVI doesnt go round departments asking for documents, unfortunately.
This is just for proving residency, employment details and pay are not examined. If you have gaps you could also obtain a list of employment from the HMRC website.

[Matti1990]

Do you have P60s for each year or even part years? Note that the applicant has to provide the relevant documents, UKVI doesnt go round departments asking for documents, unfortunately.
This is just for proving residency, employment details and pay are not examined. If you have gaps you could also obtain a list of employment from the HMRC website.

Thank you for the reply.

As I stated above, I don't really have any P60s - I always use the HMRC website if I want information about my pay and earnings. I only managed to find one P60 and it doesn't cover much of the time in question (it was for a short term job). I also had the period where I was unemployed and the period at university without evidence either (although I can provide my degree certificate?).

[contorted_svy]

You can request a SAR free of charge to UKVI, you should receive it in a month or so, and apply using that. That will prove you travelled and when and is accepted as proof of residence.

[Matti1990]

You can request a SAR free of charge to UKVI, you should receive it in a month or so, and apply using that. That will prove you travelled and when and is accepted as proof of residence.

Thank you - I have never heard this mentioned by anyone before. I will look into it.

[Matti1990]

Hello everyone!
I posted about this topic before (last year) because even though I have been living in the UK since 2005 when I was 15 years old I had a struggle evidencing my last 5 years of residency with the documents the Home Office is willing to accept.
This is because for a time period after Covid hit (March 2020-August 2020) I was unemployed (I was claiming Universal Credit until I started a university course that September). This means I couldn't provide letters from employers evidencing that time period, all I had was bank statements showing I was receiving UC, but the government website clearly states bank statements cannot be used for proof.
Last year I was advised that I should request a statement of benefits from the Department of Work and Pensions which would evidence I was claiming the UC. I have been attempting this all year (I put in at least 10 requests in the last 10 months) but I have had no response beyond a letter that my address doesn't match their records. There doesn't seem to be any way to contact them and complain, even though I tried different departments - the bureaucracy is a total disaster.
Recently I heard the government is planning to extend the evidencing period from 5 years to 10 years, which would mean I again the lack evidence required.
I have all the evidence from September 2020, so I would have to wait until September this year to apply or I can apply now with what I have and the bank statements as evidence for July-September.

I honestly don't know what to do because I don't want to have a failed application (I can't afford that financially) but on the other hand evidencing the 10 years seems like an impossible task so I am very worried they will extend the requirement before September...

Does anyone think there is any other way of evidencing the two months I am missing?

[contorted_svy]

The changes you are referring to have only been proposed and aren't law yet - and these proposals would apply to ILR, not to citizenship. Just apply in September this year, quite unlikely they would push this change so quickly, it hasn't been discussed much since the white paper and I am not aware of any progress towards any rule change. Also I had advised you should request a SAR. Have you done so?