EEA Applications
As a European Union National, you currently enjoy free movement of persons which gives you the right to come to the UK as a job seeker, self-employed person, a worker, a student or self-sufficient person. (there are restrictions for Bulgarians and Romanians).
As an EEA national excersing treaty rights in the UK you may be permitted to have family members live in the UK with you irrespective of their nationality.
As explained above, with the Brexit vote this may change but we will keep abreast with any changes as they come.
Residence Card
If you are a qualified person or a family member of a qualified person you may initially be granted temporary residence issued for a period of five years.
Having a residence card will help you:
- Enter the country quickly and easily if you travel abroad;
- Prove your right to reside and work in the UK; and
- Prove your entitlement for certain benefits and services in the UK.
Permanent Residence
If you as an EEA national or your family members have excercised treaty rights you may be eligible to apply for permanent residence.
Retained Right of Residence
If you are the family member of a qualified person and your circumstances have changed since you first obtained residence card, you may also be eligible to retain your right of residence.
This happens when:
- You divorce your EEA national spouse;
- Your EEA family member has died;
- You are a victim of domestic violence;
- You are the child of an EEA citizen (or their current or former spouse or civil partner) who has left the UK or died and are in full time education
Surinder Singh Cases
If you are a non-EEA citizen and a family member of a British citizen and have lived with him/her in another EEA country where they worked or were self-employed before returning to the UK and are able to show that your UK sponsor based their ‘centre of life’ in the EEA country in which you both were resident before returning to the UK, you may be eligible to apply for residency in the UK.
Brexit
UK has chosen to leave the European Union. UK will leave the EU on 29 March 2019. Many of us are concerned about our uncertain future in in light of our departure from the European Union. Due to the uncertainty of the future it is advisable to register your rights with the Home Office. The uncertainty over EU citizens’ rights in the UK after Brexit means many EU citizens living here are seeking UK citizenship.
If you have lived in the UK for less than five years and you are employed, self-employed, studying or self-sufficient, you and your family members can apply for a registration certificate. If you have completed a continuous period of five years in the UK as someone who is employed, self-employed, studying or self-sufficient you can apply for a document certifying permanent residence. Absences from the UK of up to six months per year do not break this continuous period. An absence of up to 12 months is allowed for important reasons such as pregnancy or childbirth, serious illness, study or an overseas posting. The date on which you completed the five-year period does not matter as long as you have not been outside the UK for a period of more than two years after completing the five-year period.
Following the confirmation of your permanent residence you can apply for British Citizenship, usually a year after the grant of permanent residence.
If you have children born in the UK, they may be British citizens. Children born in the UK on or after 30 April 2006 are automatically British if at least one of their parents completed the five-year qualifying period for permanent residence before they were born. If you completed the five-year period after they were born, you can apply to register them as British. There are different rules for children born before 30 April 2006, and different rules again for children born before 2 October 2000.