EEA Permanent Residence

To successfully apply for an EEA Registration Certificate, you must meet the following criteria:

• You must be a citizen of one of the EEA member states
• You must be working, actively seeking employment, studying or be able to financially support yourself and have required levels of sickness cover. The status of ‘working’ covers both those who are in employment, as well as those who are self-employed.

It is important to note that, if you have been living in the UK for less than five years, you must apply for an EEA Registration Certificate rather than EEA Permanent Residence.

Upon successful application, your EEA Registration Certificate will be issued to you and will take the form of either a standalone document or a passport endorsement which looks similar to those used for some visa types. A Registration Certificate lasts for five years. After this time, you may then go on to complete a Permanent Residence application for the UK if you meet the requirements for doing so.

This is done by applying for a document certifying Permanent Residence, the process for which can be easier if you have previously applied for and successfully obtained your EEA Registration Certificate. You can read more about EEA Registration Certificates and Residence Cards here.

Although Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) has been triggered and negotiations have now begun for the UK to leave the EU, the rights of EEA citizens to Free Movement remain unaffected for the time being, although there is still much uncertainty around whether this will remain the case.

It is extremely prudent for EEA nationals living in the UK to take steps towards securing their status in order to ensure their rights are protected, given that the terms of the UK leaving the EU are not yet known. Whilst it is highly probable that EEA nationals who have been in the UK for a period of five years or more and have gone on to obtain Permanent Residence will be able to continue enjoying the same rights once the UK leave, we have no indication as yet whether this will be the case for those who have resided in the UK for less than five years or those who have remained for longer than this period but not yet applied for residence. Whilst applying for proof of residence such as an EEA Registration Certificate has been considered unnecessary by many EEA nationals until now, it is strongly recommended that you obtain confirmation of your legal status if you think you may be impacted by any transitional arrangements agreed as part of the UK’s departure from the EU.

If you have been living in the UK for more than five years, you may be eligible for EEA Permanent Residence. This would allow you to live and work in the UK after Brexit, regardless of the outcome of negotiations. In order to remain in the UK, the EEA national must have exercised their treaty rights through employment, self-employment, self-sufficiency or study.

You must also satisfy one of the following conditions:

• You are an EEA national ‘qualified person’, either worker, self-employed, self-sufficient, student or job-seeker
• You are a family member or extended family member of an EEA national qualified person or permanent resident
• You are a former family member of an EEA national if you have retained your right of residence after an EEA national died, left the UK, or ended your marriage/civil partnership through a divorce, annulment or dissolution
• You are a family member of a British citizen who worked or was self-employed in another EEA state before returning to the UK.