Dual Nationality (Irish/British) Surinder Singh?

Hi,

I am a non-eea national married to a dual UK/Irish citizen living in Northern Ireland. We have been preparing our documents to apply for the EEA family permit so I can go live with my husband in the UK (we are currently living apart). However, after these new changes have been announced I am afraid our plan will no longer work.
We can't apply for a UK spouse visa as we are nowhere near the 18K income threshold they have announced

As another member of the forum has suggested to me, we might consider moving to Ireland using my husband's British nationality, working there for several months and then moving back to the UK using the Surinder Singh route (British returning after working in a different member state).
Can this be done? Does the state of Ireland allow my Irish/British husband to move to Ireland based on his foreign (British) citizenship?


Any suggestions, advice or words of wisdom would be highly appreciated!

Thank you

doratheexplorer wrote:Hi,

I am a non-eea national married to a dual UK/Irish citizen living in Northern Ireland. We have been preparing our documents to apply for the EEA family permit so I can go live with my husband in the UK (we are currently living apart). However, after these new changes have been announced I am afraid our plan will no longer work.
We can't apply for a UK spouse visa as we are nowhere near the 18K income threshold they have announced

As another member of the forum has suggested to me, we might consider moving to Ireland using my husband's British nationality, working there for several months and then moving back to the UK using the Surinder Singh route (British returning after working in a different member state).
Can this be done? Does the state of Ireland allow my Irish/British husband to move to Ireland based on his foreign (British) citizenship?


Any suggestions, advice or words of wisdom would be highly appreciated!

Thank you

Contact your solicitor, it seems government was taking to court and the supreme court deem it illegal and strike it down, so I dont think the salary stipulation will be put into decision making, so please confirm from your solicitor

doratheexplorer wrote:Hi,

I am a non-eea national married to a dual UK/Irish citizen living in Northern Ireland. We have been preparing our documents to apply for the EEA family permit so I can go live with my husband in the UK (we are currently living apart). However, after these new changes have been announced I am afraid our plan will no longer work.
We can't apply for a UK spouse visa as we are nowhere near the 18K income threshold they have announced

As another member of the forum has suggested to me, we might consider moving to Ireland using my husband's British nationality, working there for several months and then moving back to the UK using the Surinder Singh route (British returning after working in a different member state).
Can this be done? Does the state of Ireland allow my Irish/British husband to move to Ireland based on his foreign (British) citizenship?


Any suggestions, advice or words of wisdom would be highly appreciated!

Thank you

Where is your husband currently living?

Has he ever lived in another EU country other than that he is a national of?

How did he acquire his Irish citizenship?

If your husband has only ever lived in the UK and acquired his Irish citizenship through descent, then he can move to Ireland using his British passport (don't mention the Irish passport).

If he exercises treaty rights, you can apply for an EUFAM residence card.

To avail of Surinder Singh, he will need to have worked or have been self employed in Ireland while you are living here.

Thanks for the replies.
My husband in living in Northern Ireland, UK. He lived there his entire life.
He is also an Irish citizen through descent. But he has never lived in Ireland or in any other EU country.
Sorry, I need some clarification. How can he move to Ireland through his British passport?
And if he does, how long does he have to exercise the treaty rights for until he is eligible to apply for an EEA family permit to bring in me (his non-EEA wife) to live with him in Northern Ireland, UK?

Although on the UK border agency website it says that all the changes to the EEA regulations came into effect July 16. In a lot of other places it shows that the specific amendment concerning British nationals not being considered EEA nationals anymore would come into effect 16 october 2012.
Does anyone has any information about this?

It's been quite a disappointment to learn of these new regulations right 2 weeks before me and my husband were going to apply for the EEA family permit. So fingers crossed that October 16 is true!


Links that mention the later date:
http://asadakhan.wordpress.com/2012/07/ ... s-amended/
http://www.penningtons.co.uk/Global/PA% ... aspx?th=BS
http://www.lawfirmuk.net/arhive_news_e.html?id=203

You can apply for a EUTR visa to enter Ireland as the spouse of an EU national, although this isn't really necessary as you are both in Northern Ireland and can just cross the border. Once in Ireland, you have an unconditional right to live here with your husband for 3 months, as per directive 2004/38/EC.

After the 3 months, your husband needs to be exercising treaty rights in order for you to remain legally with him in Ireland. Exercising treaty rights can be done by being in employment, being self-employed, being a student with sufficient money and health insurance or being self-sufficient with enough money and health insurance. In order to avail of Surinder Singh, if you plan to return to the UK, your husband needs to exercise treaty rights as a worker, ie: employed or self-employed. There is no specific time mentioned in the directive, but other posters have said 6 months is sufficient. If I was doing it myself, I would do 6 month to 1 year just to be safe. Make sure your husband keeps all his employment records from Ireland (documentary evidence) and all documents of your joint residence. If he is exercising treaty rights in Ireland, you will be allowed to find employment aswell.

Once you have got yourself settled in Ireland (within the 3 months since you first entered), you can apply for an EUFAM residence card using the EU1 form. This leaflet should explain the application process. This page should also give you a bit more information.

Make sure your husband makes no mention of his entitlement to Irish citizenship when applying for your Irish residence card. Documents confirming your joint or separate residence in Northern Ireland may be of help as well.

I am afraid I don't know anything about your second post.

Ok, I have read this link you provided and it looks like the information contained is of no relevance to you what so ever and does not affect your entitlement to a EUFAM residence card in the Republic of Ireland should you move there with your British husband nor does it affect your right to avail of EU law (using Surinder Singh) should you return to the UK/Northern Ireland.

No. 3 of the points made in that link mean that you cannot avail of the rights afforded under EU law if your husband has never lived in another EU country other than that he is a national of, ie: if you tried to apply for an EU family member residence card in the UK/Northern Ireland using your husband's Irish passport (should he acquire one if he hasn't already done so) as he has never lived in another country other than the UK/Northern Ireland. This is a route you will definitely fail in as I tried it myself in Ireland but with my entitlement to British citizenship. It will not work. You both have to move to the Republic of Ireland (or another EU country) as outlined above.

I understand that the EU1 form doesn't ask if you also hold an Irish citizenship but what is the Irish authorities view on dual Irish/EEA using their non-Irish EEA nationality? It is a case of "I don't tell, you don't ask, and I can get away with it?".

In the UK, the EEA application forms specifically ask if you hold a British citizenship.

Jambo wrote:I understand that the EU1 form doesn't ask if you also hold an Irish citizenship but what is the Irish authorities view on dual Irish/EEA using their non-Irish EEA nationality? It is a case of "I don't tell, you don't ask, and I can get away with it?".

In the UK, the EEA application forms specifically ask if you hold a British citizenship.

If you have moved from the UK/Northern Ireland or another EU country, you should be ok. The reason I said it is better not to mention it is that the Irish authorities are so incompetent at most things they do, they could confuse the situation with that of the McCarthy case.