Can a non EEA citizen (wife) with ILR sponsor for a EEA Family Permit for her non-EEA husband outside UK?

This is my first post, and I am really in need of suggestions, preferably with reference.

I am a Bangladeshi national residing in my home country now. My wife is also a Bangladeshi national (with BD passport) but settled in UK under EU Settlement Scheme ( she got Indefinite Leave to Remain through EEA Family Permit route as dependent daughter of a EU national) and has a good paying permanent job in UK.
We were planning to apply for UK spouse visa (British route) and consulted with a solicitor who then advised me why I am taking the difficult route while I could apply for a EEA Family Permit to join as a close relative of EEA citizen. It will save time, less stringent checking, and it's free plus I won't have to pay the IHS fees too.
However he didn't know then that my wife does not hold a European passport and came recently only as a dependent daughter of an Italian (her father who settled in UK under EUSS).
So he suggested me to apply using my father in law instead since he is a EEA citizen. But he can't sponsor me because
1) He is unemployed and lives off funds from govt
2) He is not a direct relative of me (as far as I understand, confused in this matter)
Furthermore, I am not dependent on him in anyway.

I crosschecked with this lawyer why he is suggesting it as my wife is perfectly suited to sponsor me (she is financially capable). So then the lawyer said it's because when the Home Office will check, they will want to know how am I related "closely" to a EEA citizen since my wife is not.
I felt something was wrong and then he said,okay,we will show your wife as your "main" sponsor and in the supplemental letters will indicate that you are the son in law of an EEA citizen and want to join his daughter to live permanently.

The other route he told me is British Spouse route which is extremely costly and much more scrutinized. The EEA route will cost me nothing and I could give it a try.

My concerns are whether this is even a valid thing, whether a non EEA citizen (my wife)can sponsor through Family Permit route. I am related to a EU citizen but it's a father in law relationship who is unemployed and does not provide financial support.

Also, if I try this route(!), will it affect my future application in the time it gets rejected??

What are your suggestions? Plz help

Hello

The simple answer is no. As the Bangladesh is not part of the European Union, a Bangladeshi national cannot sponsor anyone under EU routes.

The fact that a non-EU national is sponsored at one point by an EU national, that non-EU national doesn't become a sort of EU national by proxy and acquire the right to use EU laws for further dependants.

Some advisers are very generous with their approach to this. They may suggest that anyone who knows an EU national, or knows that an EU national exists may apply under these EU routes. That's pushing the boundaries too far in my opinion.

As your wife has a permanent residence in the UK and has a work, she can use the UK law to bring you to the UK.

But does she have Settled Status? He said she had ILR but then said-

k121op wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 12, 2020 10:01 pm

However he didn't know then that my wife does not hold a European passport and came recently only as a dependent daughter of an Italian (her father who settled in UK under EU Settlement Scheme).

I don't understand how she can be dependant on an EU citizen when she has a good paying job?

And how can she be depeandant on a EU citizen father when he is dependant on the UK's welfare state?

k121op wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 12, 2020 10:01 pm

she got Indefinite Leave to Remain through EEA Family Permit route as dependent daughter of a EU national) and has a good paying permanent job in UK.
...
apply using my father in law instead since he is a EEA citizen. But he can't sponsor me because
1) He is unemployed and lives off funds from govt

The close relationship father / daughter possibly allowed an EU Settlement Scheme under "assumed dependency" while the father relies on welfare and the daughter earn good money. But the representation of dependency is accepted for face value (assumed) without any need to demonstrate anything.

But if the father tries to sponsor someone else, that would require more demonstration of dependency and revenue.