Family member of EEA national - FORM AN naturalisation query

[MissN]

Hello,

I am in the process of sending off my Form AN for naturalisation and just have a query I was hoping someone could help with. I have been in the UK since June 2005 as a family member of an EEA national (my partner). Under EU law, I was automatically granted permanent residence in June 2010 (my five-year anniversary in the UK) but had to wait at least 12 months before I could apply for naturalisation. I am now in the process of applying and am filling in the FORM AN.

My question is, do I need to prove that I was 'exercising treaty rights' over the last six years through my P60s, letters of employment, etc, OR do I need to prove that my partner was exercising his treaty rights over the last six years? Can anyone please advise as I have received conflicting information?

[Lucapooka]

OR do I need to prove that my partner was exercising his treaty rights over the last six years?

It's all about your partner. You need to prove that your partner was exercising treaty rights in order for you (the non-EU national family member) to be eligible on that basis. However, in some situations, this may have to be done by showing the information of the non-EU partner if the EU national´s treaty right involved being self-sufficient on the basis of his or her partner's income.

[MissN]

Thanks for your response Lucapooka. If this is the case, how come it doesnt say this in FORM AN? Section 2.4 of the form says:

"If you are an EEA national or the family member of an EEA national, please complete the following section, showing on what basis you were in the United Kingdom for the last 6 years. This is so we can see whether you were exercising your Treaty Rights for a continuous period and have acquired permanent residence in the United Kingdom."

Does this not suggest that this information should relate to that of the applicant (me)?

[Greenie]

your rights are derived from your husband's activities.

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

Hello,

I am in the process of sending off my Form AN for naturalisation and just have a query I was hoping someone could help with. I have been in the UK since June 2005 as a family member of an EEA national (my partner). Under EU law, I was automatically granted permanent residence in June 2010 (my five-year anniversary in the UK) but had to wait at least 12 months before I could apply for naturalisation. I am now in the process of applying and am filling in the FORM AN.

My question is, do I need to prove that I was 'exercising treaty rights' over the last six years through my P60s, letters of employment, etc, OR do I need to prove that my partner was exercising his treaty rights over the last six years? Can anyone please advise as I have received conflicting information?

Do you have a PR card or not? If not, may I make a suggestion? Apply for one using EEA4. The EEA4 application is free and would flush out any issues you may not have thought about. The downside is that it may take a number of months. Alternatively, have your EU partner apply for PR EEA3, that application would be dealt with more quickly (maybe a month), your status would then be easy to demonstrate.

You can apply for naturalisation directly as you appear to be planning to do, but you may put your fee at risk if for some reason you don't qualify. You don't need the PR card to naturalise. It depends on how certain you are that you can demonstrate that you qualify.

[MissN]

Thanks for all your responses.

EUsmile - thank you for your suggestion. I do not have a PR card however as I have been in the UK for more than five years as a EEA national family member, I have automatically gained Permanent Resident status and do not wish to apply for the card. As you said, the downside is the wait, and I would rather just apply for my naturalisation as I am eligible now.

I have read and re-read FORM A, the booklet and the guide and I do not see anywhere that it says that my partner must provide details of exercising treaty rights for MY application. Can anyone please show me where it says this is the case? Based on section 2.4 of the form, as shown in my previous post, it certainly does not indicate that my partner should be filling this section in.

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

...as I have been in the UK for more than five years as a EEA national family member, I have automatically gained Permanent Resident status...

Your statement above is not strictly correct, you need to add who has lived in accordance with the 2006 regulations 5 years

I'm not going to go through the AN form, but I will tell you how you and your spouse qualify for PR.

Firstly, if your spouse does not qualify for PR, you don't. You firstly need to demonstrate that he does. This can be done for example, with 5-years worth of P60s. If you lived with said EU national during his 5-years residence you also qualify for PR and by extension naturalisation.

Does this make sense to you?

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

I assume you are female (missN) and that your partner is male. I could be completely wrong of course and your post doesn't make it clear.

I've also assumed that your are married, though maybe you are not.
The reason I bring this up is that you also need to prove that you are a family member of the EU national. This is very easy if you are married or are in a civil partnership.

[Jambo]

I have read and re-read FORM A, the booklet and the guide and I do not see anywhere that it says that my partner must provide details of exercising treaty rights for MY application. Can anyone please show me where it says this is the case? Based on section 2.4 of the form, as shown in my previous post, it certainly does not indicate that my partner should be filling this section in.

The 2.4 section in the form is a new addition and is not well structured for EEA family members applying directly for BC. If you look at the last page of the form it lists the documents required and there it lists the EEA national passport and evidence etc (although one might think this is only relevant when the EEA national himself is applying).

Basically when applying directly for BC, the HO first need to establish you have acquired PR. this is essentially the same as when you apply for PR confirmation using form EEA4. Only then, the HO examine if you meet the other requirements for naturalisation.

This mean you will need to provide the evidence listed on the last page of the form under section 4. This includes your partner passport, proof of exercising treaty rights, proof of residence. Your employment record (if exists) is not relevant for the application.

You can take our advice or ignore it but I would be very surprised if the HO wont ask for your EEA partner details if you don't provide them.

[Greenie]

the basis upon which you were in the UK for the relevent 5 years is as the family member of an EEA national exercising treaty rights in the UK. It does not say so explicitly but in order to prove that you have acquired PR you must provide evidence of your husband's activities in the UK as well as your own residence.

[quickquestion]

Do you have a PR card or not? If not, may I make a suggestion? Apply for one using EEA4. The EEA4 application is free and would flush out any issues you may not have thought about. The downside is that it may take a number of months. Alternatively, have your EU partner apply for PR EEA3, that application would be dealt with more quickly (maybe a month), your status would then be easy to demonstrate.

EUsmile, does that mean if a non-EEA spouse of an EEA citizen applies for citizenship and already has the PR card she won't need to provide all the supporting documentation again?

Reason I'm asking is that my wife will soon have had her PR card for a year and we're unsure whether she will have to provide all the documentation that she had to provide for EEA4. I know you won't be going into detail re the form.

Jambo, since you referred to the form in your post, I'm tempted to leave out sections 2.4 and 2.5 in her application since she's got the PR card in her passport but it's a bit risky since the form states these sections have to be filled in by spouses of EEA citizens.

[Jambo]

If the date on the PR sticker is more than 12 months old, section 2.4-2.6 can be ignored. The same way that other irrelevant parts of the form can be ignored (for example tax office if you unemployed).

[quickquestion]

If the date on the PR sticker is more than 12 months old, section 2.4-2.6 can be ignored. The same way that other irrelevant parts of the form can be ignored (for example tax office if you unemployed).

Thanks Jambo!