Certificate of Permanent Residency

Permanent Residency is acquired automatically when you have been in the United Kingdom, exercising your treaty rights. You must demonstrate that you are a ‘qualified person’ for a period of 5 years in order to qualify. Currently, you are not required to apply for a Certificate of Permanent Residency. However if you want to continue on to Naturalise as a British citizen, you need to hold a Certificate of Permanent Residency as proof to demonstrate that you have lived and worked in the UK for the qualifying term.

Certificate of Permanent Residency Requirements

You are an EEA National.
You must show you have been exercising your treaty rights as a ‘qualified person’ in the UK for the full 5 year term.
Qualified person is defined in the EEA Regulations 2016 as a; Job Seeker, Worker, Self Employed Person, Self Sufficient Person or Student.
Continuity of residence is not broken from a leave of absence for 6 months or less per year. Anything more than 6 months may be considered as a break of leave.
Unlike Indefinite Leave to Remain, you do not need to sit the Knowledge of Language and Life in the UK test in order to qualify for a Certificate of Permanent Residency. However you will be required to fulfil the requirement should you wish to go on to Naturalise as a British citizen.

Certificate of Permanent Residency Process

You can keep your passport while your application is being processed by using the European Passport Return Service.
The fee for this service is approximately £10 per applicant.
Otherwise, All EEA applications are considered via the postal and premium route.
The processing fee is £65 per applicant
The application may take up to 6 months to process.

Key information

An EEA National is now required to successfully apply for a Certificate of Permanent Residency before applying to Naturalise.

EEA Nationals who currently hold a Certificate of Permanent Residency, may be required to switch into a new ‘Settled Status’ in order to qualify to Naturalise.