Applying for EEA - overstayer

I am a British Passport holder, my husband is south african, and we currently reside in Ireland. He holds a Stamp 3 valid for 1 year in Ireland. I am working here, and have been for the last year. We have been together for 4 years, and married last year in South Africa.

We were thinking of applying for an EEA family permit in a couple of months using the surinder singh ruling but the one main obstacle we are facing is the fact that my husband overstayed his original working holiday visa in England. But we left of our own accord in May 06 to live in South Africa (we since moved to ireland)

Could anybody advise on anything they know about this, and how we should approach the process with this in mind?

megmog wrote:We were thinking of applying for an EEA family permit in a couple of months using the surinder singh ruling but the one main obstacle we are facing is the fact that my husband overstayed his original working holiday visa in England.

According to a European law, this is a not a reason for refusal. This is because it did not happen under European law, and because only proportionate responses are allowed. In my reading, this means overstaying does not qualify as a reason for refusal.

However, you can be sure that they will look at your application very closely. So you want to get everything right. Especially you need to provide evidence of working for at least 6 months in Ireland, and I may be helpful to have a contract ready for the UK, too.

Could anybody advise on anything they know about this, and how we should approach the process with this in mind?

That would depend on how you left the country. Did they identify your husband as an overstayer? If so, they will probably find the records when they process the application for the EEA family permit.

Also the new application form for a EEA family permit asks you for all international travel within the last 10 (!) years. I don't think it is reasonable to give a complete answer there (I am sure I crossed boarders hunderds of times), so you might just give a general statement such as "frequent travel within Europe".

As to what they do with this information: they only just introduced the new form, so there is not much experience yet.