Holding UK permanent resident status
Holding the status of UK permanent resident means that, as a non-UK citizen, you have the right to live permanently in the UK, without having to exercise your Treaty rights.
Permanent residence refers to your residence status and does not affect your citizenship. If you apply for UK permanent residence as the citizen a non-UK country, then you retain that country’s citizenship. You do not become a UK citizen through permanent residence.
EEA nationals automatically gain permanent residency after 5 continuous years in the UK exercising Treaty rights. To evidence your status, you will need to apply to the Home Office for a permanent residence card.
Benefits of being a UK permanent resident
You have access to healthcare, pensions and other social benefits, and are not subject to immigration restrictions. Although you may travel abroad, you may not spend longer than 2 years outside the UK. If you do, your permanent residency may be withdrawn.
You may also be eligible to vote if you are an EU or qualifying Commonwealth country citizen.
Limitations of permanent residence
To maintain your UK permanent residence, you must spend no longer than 2 years outside the UK, maintaining ties to this country and considering it as your home.
The right of permanent residence may also be withdrawn at any time on the basis of public security, public health or public policy.
UK permanent resident to British citizen
A primary benefit of holding UK permanent resident status is the ability for EEA nationals to apply for British citizenship.
Since November 2015, EU citizens have been required to provide documentary evidence of their permanent residence status in order to apply for British citizenship.
The British Nationality Act 1981 states that to apply for British citizenship, a person must be free from immigration restrictions and must have possessed UK permanent resident status for a minimum of 1 year.
The exception is where the individual is married or in a civil partnership with a British citizen. In which case, they may apply to naturalise as soon as they receive their permanent residence card.
Eligibility for UK permanent resident status
Eligibility for UK permanent resident status relies on two main factors:
• continuous residence in the UK for a period of 5 years
• that during those 5 years you exercised at least one of the Treaty rights continuously or that you are a family member of a person who has fulfilled the above Treaty rights.
What are the Treaty rights?
Excersing your Treaty rights meansundertaking one of more of the following qualifying activities during the 5-year qualifying period:
Worker
Applicants must provide supporting evidence such as an employment contract or a payslip. Should your employment come to an end, you may still qualify as a worker if:
- illness or injury prevented you from working on a temporary basis
- you were involuntarily made unemployed, registered as a jobseeker, and were employed for 1 year or more before unemployment. Your period of unemployment must have lasted for 6 months or less, or you must offer evidence that you are looking for work in the UK and are likely to find work.
- you commenced vocational training after involuntary unemployment or left work voluntarily to take up vocational training which is relevant to previous employment.
Jobseeker
The applicant must prove that they are actively seeking employment in the UK and are likely to gain employment.
Self-employed person
Any self-employed applicant must provide evidence of their self-employment in the UK.
Student
For an applicant to be recognised as a student, they must provide evidence that they are enrolled on an educational course at an establishment that is registered on the DFES Register of Education and Training Providers.
Self-sufficient person
Applicants must prove that they have sufficient funds to support their lifestyle, and that of any family member, while living in the UK, and that they are not reliant on the UK government in the form of benefits or similar.
Family members
The family member of any applicant who has exercised one of the above rights may also apply for UK permanent resident status.
Derivative Right of Residence
However, a person who has a derivative right of residence is not eligible for UK permanent resident status.
A derivative right of residence may be granted to persons in the following circumstances:
• the primary carer of an EEA national under 18 years old and living in the UK as a self-sufficient person who would not be able to remain in the UK if their primary carer left the UK indefinitely
• the applicant has at least one parent who is an EEA national living in the UK or having lived in the UK in the past. Both the applicant and their EEA national parent must have lived in the UK at the same time, the parent must have been a worker in the UK, and the applicant is in education in the UK.
• the primary carer of a person who meets the above category (1 EEA parent living in/lived in the UK, that they lived in the country at the same time as their parent who was a worker in the UK, and are in education in the UK) and that the person whom they provide care for would be unable to continue their education in the UK if their primary carer left the UK for an indefinite time
• primary carer of a British citizen who lives in the UK, and that the British citizen would be unable to live in the UK or any other EEA state if their primary carer left the UK for an indefinite time
• under 18 years old, doesn’t have leave to enter or remain in the UK under the Immigration Act 1971, their primary carer is eligible for a derivative right to reside in the UK, and their primary carer would not be able to live in the UK should the applicant leave the UK indefinitely
In this context, a primary carer is the legal guardian or direct relative of a person in their care, where they have primary or shared responsibility for that person.
How to apply for UK permanent resident status
Provided you meet the eligibility criteria, you can apply for documentation certifying your UK permanent resident status through the EEA (PR) application process, either online or by using a paper form.
If you take the online option, you will be required to print off your completed form and send it by post to the Home Office with your original documents.
Note that the online system cannot be used for applications by the following:
• family members who are not applying at the same time as the qualifying EEA national
• students or self-sufficient persons financially responsible for family members or financially reliant on a family member
• persons with retained rights of residence
• persons applying under the Surinder Singh category
Brexit and UK permanent resident status
The UK government is proposing to introduce a new ‘settled status’ for EU citizens living in the UK post-Brexit. The details are yet to be formally agreed as part of the Brexit negotiations, and the proposals must then be passed into UK law by Parliament.
Under current proposals, the government is assuring that EU citizen who currently holds UK permanent resident status may transfer it to settled status free of charge once the new system is in place.
Under the current proposals for settled status:
• Persons who have been continuously and lawfully living in the UK for 5 years by 31 December 2020 may apply to stay in the country indefinitely under ‘settled status’ and later apply for British citizenship if they wish.
• Persons who arrive in the country by 31 December 2020 but have not lived continuously and lawfully in the country for 5 years when the UK leaves the EU, may remain here until the 5-year period is reached, and then apply for settled status.
• Family members living with or joining EEA nationals in the UK by 31 December 2020 will be eligible to apply for settled status when they have lived here continuously and lawfully for 5 years.
• Where their relationship already existed on 31 December 2020, close family members may join EEA nationals living here after the UK leaves the EU.
Applications for UK permanent resident documentation– How we can help
DavidsonMorris is a leading UK immigration law firm specialising in EEA permanent residence, British citizenship and naturalisation applications.
With UK’s exit from the EU and the implementation of the new settled status, taking specialist legal advice can only help in clarifying what can be a complex and worrying situation, improving your chances of a successful application and helping you to settle permanently in the UK.
You can contact us if you are seeking legal help in relation to an EEA permanent residence application. Our team will provide you with a professional, friendly, reliable service to avoid any issues or delays with your application.
Author
Founder and Managing Director Anne Morris is a fully qualified solicitor and trusted adviser to large corporates through to SMEs, providing strategic immigration and global mobility advice to support employers with UK operations to meet their workforce needs through corporate immigration.
She is a recognised by Legal 500 and Chambers as a legal expert and delivers Board-level advice on business migration and compliance risk management as well as overseeing the firm’s development of new client propositions and delivery of cost and time efficient processing of applications.
Anne is an active public speaker, immigration commentator, and immigration policy contributor and regularly hosts training sessions for employers and HR professionals
