What's needed to upgrade to permanent residence in the EU

As implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) enters its fifth year in 2025, for many British citizens legally resident in the European Union (EU), Brexit can barely be described as ‘oven ready’ or ‘done’. For those citizens who were granted temporary or ordinary WA status, the next milestone in their journey approaches – upgrading from temporary to permanent residence.

While the path to securing a permanent residence card necessitates thorough preparation and planning, the subsequent benefits make the effort are worthwhile. Here we take a closer look at how acquiring permanent residence can help secure your future.

The emerging picture, five years on

Since the implementation of the WA, most UK citizens legally resident in the EU as WA beneficiaries have not experienced serious problems. This does not mean however that there are no problems at all. Indeed, while we initially saw a large volume of routine cases, more complex issues are now occurring as time progresses. Social security and pension questions, along with questions about absences from countries of residence, education, family reunification and the status of spouses with whom there was no relationship before the end of the transition period are just some examples of the issues now arising.

Against this backdrop, upgrading from temporary to permanent residence becomes all the more important and is recommended.

Upgrading to permanent residency – important points to note

While your WA status is maintained whether or not you choose to upgrade to a permanent residence card, upgrading your card to show that you have acquired permanent residence is strongly recommended since this has clear benefits and will ultimately provide you, as British citizens, with more long-term security. You can read more on how upgrading to permanent residence can benefit British citizens in our blog here.

• Timely application is essential. In principle, the process of upgrading to permanent residence should be uniform across the EU27 (the 27 countries comprising the European Union). As part of this process, there are a number of conditions that need to be satisfied in order to complete the upgrade. To apply for a permanent residence card, some conditions may need documentary evidence and/or may take time to prove. Although it is impossible to estimate more precisely how long the entire application process will take, our advice here is clear: start preparing as soon and as early as possible, as you become eligible to apply for a permanent residence card.

• While there is no specific deadline to upgrade to a permanent residence card – as was the case with the securing residence rights before the WA was implemented in 13 EU countries that applied ‘constitutive’ systems – it is advisable for applications to be made as soon as you fulfill the conditions and can show that you have been legally resident under the WA for five years even if this is before your current temporary residence card expires.
• It is also important that you state clearly that you are applying for a permanent residence card under the WA. This is essential to avoid potentially higher costs and the possibility of having to sit language competency tests that may come with national immigration statuses for example. NB: Language competence cannot be applied as a condition for permanent residence by national authorities under the WA.

• Five years of documented legal residence. You will need to show evidence that you were legally residing in your EU country of residence for a period of five years at the time of applying to upgrade. Legal residence as an EU citizen in the country before the WA was implemented (i.e., before you received your temporary/WA card) can also be counted as part of the five years.

• No absences of longer than six months. As part of this, you must also show that you have not been absent from the country for longer than six months in any given year. A year in this case is counted from the date you first became legally resident in the country. We recommend that you also check this thoroughly and, where necessary, seek additional advice. The European Commission (EC) guidance note on absences contains useful information on absences and how to calculate them. In some exceptional cases, note that longer absences are possible.
• If the national authorities tell you that you cannot apply to upgrade to permanent residence, explain clearly that you have been legally resident for five years. The EC has also issued a guidance note on permanent residence which we recommend that you print out and take with you when you speak to the relevant national authorities about your application.

• Showing proof of legal residence: employment, self-employment or self-sufficiency/studies Legal residence means that you have either been resident as a worker (employed or self-employed), or self-sufficient or a student with comprehensive health insurance. When you apply for your permanent residence card, you will therefore need to show evidence of this covering the entire five-year period.

• Comprehensive health insurance coverage during the entire five years. Finally, your application will also need to show, if applying as self-sufficient or a student, that you held comprehensive health coverage throughout the five years leading up to acquiring permanent residence and that there were no gaps in that health insurance coverage.

Preparing the application for upgrading your card is somewhat easier for those employed by a company or organisation as most of the conditions can be more readily proven and documented. The self-sufficient and self-employed may have slightly more hoops to jump through, for instance where joint bank accounts are held. However, the good news is that, once you have applied for and obtained a permanent residence card, and the conditions for permanent residence have been met, future applications for renewal of your card should then be more straightforward.

2025 – a big year for permanent residence upgrades

It is likely that a large number British citizens resident in the EU as the WA was implemented had not been in their EU country of residence for five years and thus acquired temporary or ordinary residence under the WA at that time. Particularly in countries where a low number of permanent residence cards/permits were issued initially, this could mean significant numbers of applications for upgrades being made within a short period of time as we go into the fifth year of WA implementation. We therefore expect that the number of applications for upgrades to permanent residence cards will remain high overall through 2025 and into 2026.

So again, the advice of British in Europe is: start gathering your documentation, seek advice where necessary, and apply for an upgrade to a permanent residence card as soon as you have fulfilled the conditions of five years’ legal residence for permanent residence.