mwheller wrote: ↑Sat Jun 06, 2020 3:43 pm
Good afternoon,
So I currently have dual citizenship British/Brazilian and also live in the UK.
My girlfriend is from Brazil (lives there) and we were looking into moving together to Ireland which seems to be way more friendly than moving to the UK.
I know that until the end of the transtion period this year I have the freedom of moving to Ireland without any paperwork.
What are my options to move there with her?
1 - Get married in Brazil and come to Ireland together (we haven't lived together) but we have been seeing each other for 1.5 years. I've been there 3/4 times and her once to the UK. Roughly 3 weeks at a time.
Does this allow her to apply for a spouse visa of a eu-member, which allows her to work and live without any restrictions?
2- Student, I sponsor her and we extend it if needed then get married and apply for the spouse one? or isn't she able to apply from within the country? Also would the spouse visa be valid to apply even after the transition period or would it change? I'm thinking that if she has arrived here before the period ending that would count? but I could be wrong.
Thanks a lot,
Marco
Marco,
I suggest the first situation you outlined (Get married in Brazil - but that is entirely a personal decision to you so I will continue on the basis that will happen). If you get married in Brazil and then travel to Ireland together, she has an initial right of residence in Ireland for three months as the spouse of an EU national. This is granted at the airport by way of a stamp in her passport.
Once you are both in the State, your spouse can apply to the EU Treaty Rights Unit of the Immigration Service Delivery ("ISD", formally INIS) for a Residence Card based on her being the Qualifying Family Member of an EU national (i.e., as your spouse). This application is made using Form EU1 (see link -
http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/EU+Treaty+Rights )
When that application for a Residence Card is sent, your spouse should receive a temporary residence card, usually valid for a period of 6 months on Stamp 4 conditions, within 4 - 8 weeks of sending the application. This stamp will allow your spouse to work full-time pending the outcome of the residence application.
If the application is successful, she will be granted a further Stamp 4 for 5 years, although if her passport is due to expire within the next 5 years, her passport will only be stamped for the remaining period (if less than five years) on her passport, so she will need to have the balance of her passport endorsed once she renews her passport. If her passport is valid for more than 5 years then this issue obviously doesn't arise.
Being married is not sufficient in and of itself. She must show that you - as the EU national - is engaging in EU Treaty Rights. It is not, however, required to live together for the purposes of obtaining a residence card although this will be queried so you should address that head-on in your application cover letter. It is not required, and not enough of itself to refuse a residence card.
I do not suggest you go with the Student route you outlined. It would just be better for both of you - from an immigration perspective - to obtain EU Treaty Rights while you still can as a UK national. There will be a transitional arrangement in place to "change" her permission from EU Treaty Rights to something else, but the residence conditions being broadly the same.
If you wait until after the transition period and therefore not eligible to come within the remit of EU Treaty Rights, lord knows what residence scheme she could apply under, and I would not bet money on ISD taking a nicey-nicey approach so just grab the EU Treaty Rights for your spouse while they're available.
