Can I apply??

[tbs79]

Hi,

I'm an EEA national and my wife (brazilian) is living with me in the UK.

Her first visa was:
entry clearance : 01/2004 to 01/2005 then (1 year)
EEA family member: 02/2005 to 02/2010 (5 years)
Permanent Residence: 07/2010

Can she apply for the british citizenship? Or do we need to wait
until July 2011 for it ?

I'm a confused:
It says:

If you are a national of a country in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland, or you are the family member of such a person, you will automatically have permanent residence status if you have exercised EEA free-movement rights in the UK for a continuous five-year period ending on or after 30 April 2006. You do not need to apply for leave to remain. You should have held permanent residence status for 12 months before you apply for naturalisation.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/briti ... uirements/

Does it mean that after the 5 years is ok to apply for the naturalisation or we must wait one year after getting permanent residence ?

Thanks

[vinny]

When did she initially enter the UK or remain as an EEA family member?

She should have automatically gained PR after 5 years as an EEA family member.
Then, she needs a further year before being eligible.

[tbs79]

Hi, thanks for your reply.

When did she initially enter the UK or remain as an EEA family member?

She entered in the UK on 03/2004 (on an entry clearance for an EEA family member).
This visa was valid for 1 year, after that a we got a 5 years EEA family visa.


In total she has 5 years and 11 months on a EEA family visa. (until february 2010).

Then, on february we applied for permanent residence and the visa was issued on 07/2010.

She should have automatically gained PR after 5 years as an EEA family member.
Then, she needs a further year before being eligible.

So, in total we got 6 years and 4 months.

Do I need to wait until 07/2011 when PR completes 1 year, or is it ok to apply now ?

Thanks.

[vinny]

Should be okay to apply now. However, she would need sufficient evidence. See also Naturalization after PR – Shocking Revelations from NCS.

[tbs79]

Hey, thanks for your help.

I've read that post. I can provide all documents they need. No problems

Would you recommend an application using NCS or just a standard mail application ?

[vinny]

If she uses the NCS, then there are a number of advantages:

* last year only 2% of applications made this way were unsuccessful. This compares with 10% refusals for other applications;
* you can keep hold of your documents (like your passport) - we can, however, request the originals if we need them.