British citizen travelling to Europe with non EU spouse

I am British and would ideally like to travel to the UK to stay with my family with my non-EU (Yemeni) husband. However, I believe this is not so easy to do at the moment so I am thinking for us to travel to Europe and to work there. Do I need to secure a job before we are able to travel together to say, Italy? Or, can we just travel there and look for work once we arrive? How difficult is it to obtain a visa for my husband to accompany me to Europe? We will be travelling from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

MrsAlaa wrote:I am British and would ideally like to travel to the UK to stay with my family with my non-EU (Yemeni) husband. However, I believe this is not so easy to do at the moment so I am thinking for us to travel to Europe and to work there. Do I need to secure a job before we are able to travel together to say, Italy? Or, can we just travel there and look for work once we arrive? How difficult is it to obtain a visa for my husband to accompany me to Europe? We will be travelling from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Your husband will require a visa to enter a European (EU) country.
Start here with Schengen visa:
http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/yemen ... dex_en.htm

You are essentially contemplating what is called a Surinder Singh migration route.
It involves moving your 'centre of life' to an EU country so that on your eventual return to UK the HO will then treat you as an EEA national (and EU rules apply) rather than treating you as a British citizen (under UK immigration regulations). You still retain your BC ofcourse.

Some people do this via Ireland, here's an example case study:
eea-route-applications/eea2-surinder-si ... 69701.html

Thank you very much for your extremely useful reply. Can I ask you if you know what kind of visa my husband should apply for? If we apply for a tourist/short stay visa the requirements are pretty much the same as for the UK, letter from employer etc.. Is it as difficult to get a visa for Europe as it is the UK? Does European law show a bit more sympathy towards non EU husbands and EU wives? Do we tell them we are planning to look for work there when making the application? Thanks again.

MrsAlaa wrote:Thank you very much for your extremely useful reply. Can I ask you if you know what kind of visa my husband should apply for? If we apply for a tourist/short stay visa the requirements are pretty much the same as for the UK, letter from employer etc.. Is it as difficult to get a visa for Europe as it is the UK? Does European law show a bit more sympathy towards non EU husbands and EU wives? Do we tell them we are planning to look for work there when making the application? Thanks again.

In Europe (EU) the appropriate visa would be Schengen by sound of your plans.

You just need to respond to the questions on the forms; you don't need to explain future work plans.

The Schengen & UK visa systems are just different systems under different legal frameworks. Not sure 'sympathy' applies to either as it's all bureaucracy.

Longer term, if you do proceed along Surinder Singh route, you will be working under EU rules (not UK Immigration Regulations) even when you eventually return to UK.

As a BC who has had to remain within UK framework for my family's case, it does appear to me that the EU framework is preferable; (eg less discriminatory, less financially demanding).

For now, you may wish to research Schengen to start your journey back to Europe and research SS for a possible midterm plan.

Thanks for your advice.