Surinder Singh... To Risky?

Please forgive the long post but I hope someone with more experience with UK immigration might be able to shed some light as to whether we stand any chance with a Surinder Sigh application to return to the UK with my non EU Spouse.

I am from the UK and I am married to a Cambodian Citizen. I knew my wife for two years and was married to my wife for 5 months before moving to the Dublin, ROI for a contract job opportunity working as a Senior Developer for a large company.

Previously I was let go from my last job during the probation period. I don't think they appreciated half the time I spent during this period away visiting my wife in Asia, and the late nights I would spend speaking to my wife for other half; but in hindsight I probably lacked some relevant experience going strait into a lead position for a large company after spending my entire career working for a startup.

We did plan on applying for a UK marriage visa before I was let go, and found a job role in Ireland. My wife had passed her IELTIS but we hadn't began a UK visa application. I did apply for several jobs both in the UK and Ireland, and accepted the first job opportunity that was extended to me. Whilst I was aware that I should be entitled to live anywhere in Europe with my wife, there was no significant motive for working outside the UK, other than the highly attractive position of the particular job. As far as I knew I would have no problem meeting the eligibility entitlements for the UK, and moving to Ireland has been just as expensive as any UK Visa application costs. I had to fully furnish my apartment, the rent is considerably higher, and we have had to pay for private healthcare which ran into the thousands. My job search extended to Ireland because UK and Ireland where the only two English speaking countries, and Ireland has a strong IT Sector and lots of attractive companies to work for.

My wife joined me in Ireland four months after I arrived, in December 2019. Throughout our time here we were both were in full time employment in professional roles. I have been working under a directors umbrella company structure on 6 month contracts that have so far been renewed four times, my wife has been on fixed term PAYE contracts in a profession similar to her role in Cambodia. Her contract has been renewed three times, and she was under the impression originally that it was with a view to going permanent, but due to corporate restructuring, which Covid may have played a part, she has been told her contract will not likely be renewed for a fourth time.

During this time we have had the opportunity to save for a deposit on a house and finally after sufficient time in Ireland I got a decision in principle for mortgage approval. We have spent the last 6 months house searching, and recently went sale agreed on a property in Dublin, but since discovered that they were building a new social housing apartment complex almost directly adjacent and the management company had recently contacted the property owner to highlight there concerns that the property wasn't build to fire regulation standards, this in addition to pyrite remediation work that has already taken place makes us feel as though the property we have found presents an excessive risk so we are considering withdrawing our interest in the property.

My wife received her Irish EUTR residency card after waiting 12 months in December 2020.

During this time we have only left the country once for a few days to visit the UK over Christmas (with legal permission to do so), and whilst the first 6 months in Ireland were more active, COVID has limited the degree of integration we can have in the host state. I have exchanged my UK driving license for an Irish one and regularly drive hire vehicles for any trips we have made outside of Dublin. I have incorporated a limited company with the intention of transferring my contract over from the Umbrella, but held back on transferring the contract until the property sale went through. We have taken several short trips to other towns throughout Ireland, we did a pig walk event we found on AirBNB, We took a hiking event on Meetup, I have attended a couple of Christmas events with the company I work for. We have made a few friends (ex housemates and work colleagues) that we went out with on occasions or we have invited over for dinner sometimes. Whilst my degree of integration here has been limited, it is still as strong as my ties to the place I had been living in the UK for the previous 5 years and we have embraced life Ireland as best as we could, restrictions permitting.

After having spent 6 months searching for a property, we do feel as though the properties inside of budget are not to a standard we would be happy with. And my wife has found it a lot harder than she did at first to find alternative employment, which can be attributed to Covid. I have been informed that if I were to consider moving to the UK, the company I am assigned to should be able to transfer my contract over to a UK legal entity, if I am still contracted to them at the time. So we are now in a different position to when we started. We are in a position we want to find somewhere to settle permanently, a deadline for returning to the UK is coming up, travel restrictions and living abroad has introduced a newfound fondness for living closer to family, I am in a position I can retain my existing job if I move, and the Irish economy and job prospects are looking more uncertain for myself and my wife, who's rights derive from my continued employment.

At this point, does anyone think it is a good bet to apply to return to the UK or at this point is there so much uncertainty regarding center of life, crap you hear about marriage of convenience etc. is there not much point in going through the stress of an application? Waiting a year for my wife's residency permit here was extremely stressful and we would hate to put ourselves through it again for no reason. Perhaps it would look less suspicious if we applied for a regular spouse VISA?

Thanks for any help.

I am aware that the 2019 case of ZA has ruled the center of life test to be unlawful, and "has no basis in EU law". Does anyone know if caseworker guidance has been updated to reflect this or are applications still rejected on this basis?

As far as I understand, Surinder Singh can be used only if you as a British national returned to the UK before 2021.

https://www.gov.uk/family-permit/surinder-singh

To be eligible for an EEA family permit you must prove that:

- your British family member was resident in an EU or EEA country or Switzerland and was either a worker, a self-employed person, a self-sufficient person, a student, or a person with a right of permanent residence in that country
- you were lawfully resident in that EEA country or Switzerland with your British family member
- your family member returned to the UK by 31 December 2020

You can still act as her sponsor and get her a standard join family visa, subject to you being an eligible sponsor on financial means.

In terms of general economy/life/job prospect comparisons between the UK and Ireland, this forum isn’t really the correct place to discuss. You would better ask yourselves, what are the chances of securing a permanent job for both of you, and if not, will one person’s job be able to support the two of you.

Thank you for your response littlerr.

As far as I am aware my wife has until March 2022 to apply under "EU Settlement Scheme family permit: join a British citizen" to return with me to the UK under Surinder Singh, that the deadline has only passed for defacto partners and extended family members. Is that not correct?

Thanks.

If I were to act as as a sponsor for my wife, and apply for a standard join family visa. Can meeting the financial thresholds be on the basis of employment history meeting the eligibility criteria and holding current job outside the country that meets the thresholds, or will I have to move to the UK without my wife, secure a job, and work a period of time in the UK before my wife would become eligible? This sounds a very risky given it would involve relinquishing Irish residency that is the basis for exercising our EU treaty rights before applying for UK residency and would involve a period of forced separation.

Ok you are confusing the two. Surinder Singh route is a type of EEA Family Permit, which is ending in June 2021. The sponsor must have already returned to the UK before 31 Dec 2020 in order to apply for this permit.

The EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) Family Permit has an extended deadline of 29 March 2022, and the sponsor doesn't have to return the UK first. If your intention is to apply via this route, you are eligible as long as you hold a job currently in Ireland (and that you can show you intend to return the UK and have a job there).

Again, the economy prospect is still pretty much unknown at the moment. We don't know what type of job/salary you or your wife is looking for, and how difficult it would be in 6 months time to find that type of job in either the UK or Ireland.