Retained Rights of Residence Application

Retained Rights of Residence Application

You can also apply if you used to have a family member, or an extended family member, who was a permanent resident or qualified person. This is called a ‘retained right of residence’. You may get this if, for example:

Your marriage or civil partnership to an EEA citizen has ended (with a divorce, annulment or dissolution)

Your EEA family member has died and you lived in the UK as their family member for at least one year before their death

You’re in education and you’re the child of an EEA citizen (or their current or former spouse or civil partner) who has left the UK or died

Your child has a retained right of residence because they’re in education in the UK (and you have custody of them)

You’ll need to prove:

That your family member, or extended family member, was a permanent resident or qualified person at the time your family relationship ended

How the relationship ended, for example, a death certificate or decree absolute if you divorced

You can only retain your right of residence as an extended family member if both the following apply:

You currently hold a valid residence card as the extended family member of an EEA national

You meet all of the relevant conditions

You cannot retain your right of residence if you were the unmarried partner of the EEA national and that relationship has broken down.