Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many EU citizens resident in the UK are eligible to apply for permanent residency.

EEA nationals who have exercised a Treaty right in the UK, for a continuous period of 5 years, acquire an EU right to reside here permanently. Exercising a Treaty right in the context means that the EEA national must have been a worker, a self employed person, a self sufficient person or a student.

Once they have fulfilled the relevant criteria, an EEA national automatically acquires this EU right to reside here permanently. They do not need to apply for documentation confirming this right.