Spouse Visa - Changing to European Passport

[goals22]

Hi All,

Me and my wife(from south-america) got married(civil) one and a half years ago in the UK. As a result she successfully obtained a two year spouse visa.

Prior to our marriage she had been in Spain for several years and was then awaiting her spanish citizenship(Spanish passport). The reason we did not wait for this and instead obtained a spouse visa in the UK is because we wanted to be together in the UK sooner rather than later.

She has now received her Spanish passport and thus is a European Citizen. I wanted to ask 2 questions;

1) I want to change her immigration status as she is now a European(Spanish) citizen. What is the best way to make the UK border agency aware of this? Do we need to fill in form? or visit the an UK border agency office to do this?

2) We have recently had a child and would like to claim child benefit. I assume that once the change is made to her immigration status by the UK Border agency(i.e on spouse visa she has NO access to public funds), then they will advise the Inland Revenue etc who currently have her status as being on spouse visa also.

I am not sure if this is something that happens often so any guidance in this matter is appreciated.

Thanks

[Greenie]

As your wife is a European national there is nothing she needs to do in terms of informing ukba that she is now European to change her immigration status at the very fact that she is European means that as long as she is exercising her treaty rights for example as a worker, student, self employed self sufficient person she can remain in the UK. If she wanted confirmation of her entitlement to live here as a European national she could apply for a residence card on form Eea1. However in order to qualify for permanent residence using the Eea route she would need to live in the UK for 5 years is accordance with the regulations- i.e. As a European national exercising her treaty rights. How long has she lived in the UK on her spouse visa? Don't forget that she only needs to complete 2 years on this visa before she can apply for ilr.it might be better for her to remain in the UK in accordance with the termof her spouse visa and apply for ilr using that route which she is able to use even though she is
European.

Regarding the issue of claiming benefits-as someone with ilr or British citizenship-you don't say which you have-there is no problem with you claiming child benefit even though your wife has no recourse to public funds on her visa. You can also make a joint claim for tax credits depending on your household income.

[goals22]

Thanks for your detailed response.

She has resided in the UK for 1 year 11 months now (the spouse visa expires at the end of August). Is there any value in applying via Form Eaa1 to gain a residence card? Surely having a Spanish passport will allow my wife to do everything she needs to in the UK? or is there a specific reason why it's useful to have that type of residence card as opposed to her European passport.


In regards to Benefits I am a British Citizen. The reason I queried this was because as part of her spouse visa it states that she does not have "recourse to public funds" and that no-one can claim on her behalf also. That indicated to me that neither her nor I could claim child benefit for our child.

Thanks again

[Greenie]

If she meets the requirements for applying for ilr as your spouse then she might as well do this before her visa expires otherwise she will need to spend 5 years in the UK as a European national exercising her treaty rights before the can qualify for permanent residence under the Eea regulations. No there is no need for her to apply for a residence card she can just rely on her European passport if she wants.

You are mistaken about the benefits. You are entitled to claim any benefits to which you are entitled including child benefit and tax credits in the manner i have described. If you take a look at the claiming benefits section of the forum particularly the sticky topics you will see a number of posts on this issue.

[goals22]

Greenie,

Thanks again for your detailed responses. The information you have provided is really helpful.

Regards