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she has bank accounts here, she has a car, a mobile phone and she's occasionally been to the doctors
All of which should count as official proof of residency.
It's a shame this despicable government don't show genuine leadership and give all existing EU citizens in this country permanent leave to remain now. Instead they are using it as a bargaining position with the EU. Which is an utter folly.
I suppose this is partly what I'm asking... how does (or how will) the government define being a resident? From a 'plain English' sense, she absolutely is resident in the UK - she has lived here and considered it her home for the past 10 years, but the reason that I'm concerned is that I don't know exactly what will and will not count as "resident" in legal terms.
Over the course of her time here she has certainly had some levels of documentation (she's been both an undergraduate and a postgraduate student here, she's been employed here both as casual labour and as skilled labour), however the worry is the period of the past 2 years.
We moved in with my mum about 2 years ago, and over the same period her sole employment has been outside the UK. By any normal use of the English language she has still "lived" in the UK throughout this period - She eats, sleeps and drinks here, when she travels abroad it is always on a return ticket, she has bank accounts here, she has a car, a mobile phone and she's occasionally been to the doctors ... If these things count, then there is no problem, but if the definition of "residency" is more stringent and requires her to show utility bills or payslips, or NI contributions for this time then we might struggle. Hence my question about what counts as proof of residency?
Most of her work is conducted on a computer or online so there is no need for her to be in any particular location. Her employer is happy for her to work from home with frequent Skype meetings with colleagues and occasional visits to the office every couple of months.