Self-sufficient
· Studying
Regulation 15 states that the following are eligible for residence:
· EEA nationals who have resided in the UK for a continuous period of 5 years;
· Non-EEA national family members who have resided in the UK for a continuous period of 5 years;
· A worker or self-employed person who has ceased activity;
· The family member of a worker or self-employed person who has ceased activity;
· A person who was the family member of a worker or self-employed person, where: The worker/self-employed person has died; and the family member resided with him/her immediately before his death; and the worker/self-employed person had resided continuously in the UK for at least the two years immediately before his/her death or the death was the result of an accident at work or occupational disease;
Applicants will need to complete application form EEA3 available on the UK Border Agency website. Non-EEA national family members will need to complete application form EEA4.
Once permanent residence is acquired, if the EEA national leaves the UK for more than 2 consecutive years, they can lose their right to residence or if they become a threat to public policy, health or security (in line with regulation 19 (b) ).
Continuous Residence
In order for residence to be considered as ‘continuous’, applicants should not have been away from the UK for more than 6 months of each year although exceptions can be made in some circumstances such as maternity or bereavement.
How we can help
If an applicant has held held an EEA Registration Certificate or an EEA Residence Card for five years or more, and would like to apply for permanent residence, our experienced lawyers can assist. Applicants can benefit from
· Our full application service or
· Our document checking services
Full application service
This comprises of an initial attendance advising of documents required, the completion of the application form, collation of documents and evidence and the preparation of submissions to the Home Office based on the EEA regulations and Human Rights Act. If there are any issues of concern for instance, long absences, then these will be dealt with in submissions.
Document Checking Services
For applicants seeking to complete the application themselves but who would like one of our experienced lawyers to double check and evaluate the application so as to ensure it is ready and to minimise the risks of the application being returned, then this is an ideal service. For further information on this service please click here.