EEA or Spousal Visa?

Hey everyone, I know there was a recent post about this but I am a little confused and need further clarification...

Here are the facts - I am british, husband south african, living in ireland - not sure for how much longer as everyone's residency applications are being rejected, and we may return to SA. From there (or from here, if we can) we want to return to the UK.

I know I could apply for a spousal visa, which is very expensive and requires a lot of documentation which we dont have at this stage, but could we apply for a family permit (which is free)?

Would I need to be working in the UK before my husband could get the permit or could we travel there together before I get a job?

Once you get a family permit (which i think is valid for 6 months..) then what? Can my husband work on a family permit?

Any advice or clarification would be great!

Do you have Irish citizenship, or else are you a citizen of any other EEA+Switzerland country, apart from the UK?

No I am neither.. just british.. I read somewhere that since I am in Ireland working I am exercising EU treaty rights so I can apply for a family permit... maybe it was wrong!

You are not wrong. Your husband should be able to apply for the EEA Family Permit (EEAFP) in the British Embassy in Ireland on the basis of the Surinder Singh ruling without having to go to SA. If you already do not hold a job in UK, it is best to say that you are only visiting the UK with your husband as the requirement of proof is lesser for the EEAFP to be issued in such cases.

Armed with the EEAFP, your husband should be able to look for work and apply for the Residence Card after the 6 month validity of the EEAFP is up to prove that he is eligible to carry on working.

Ok.. I do have a job offer though?

Would that help..

Megmog
All very straight forward, you are a BC and your husband SA.

Apply for a spouse visa (FLR(M)) all you have to prove is that you are married and can support yourselves without any need for public funds,pay your money ie £395 by post or £595 premium service.

This will allow your husband to work and remain in the UK for 2 years.

There after he can apply again and pay again for Indefinate leave to remain (ILR) and a year later he can pay again for naturlisation.

Yes it all costs and there is no cheap way around it, sorry.

Memgog, if you do have a job offer, then it is terrific. It only strengthens your case. All you need is both the passports, proof that you have working in Ireland and exercising your treaty rights, 3 payslips, letter of employment for the UK, marriage certificate along with the application form and passport photographs and the EEAFP is as good as yours.

In some cases, they might ask for proof of co-habitation if they are suspicious of your relationship but otherwise, it should be alright. Do weigh in the pros and cons of the EEA route versus the spouse visa route before you commit to either. Do note that your husband can still apply for ILE if you have been married for 4 years or more.

Siggi wrote:Yes it all costs and there is no cheap way around it, sorry.

I am sorry, but there is a very cheap way around it. Once the spouse of the British national has clocked up 3 years of residence in the UK with a EEAFP and a Residence Card, he/she should be able to apply for naturalisation in a British Embassy using the "ppron method" thus bypassing the cost of FLR(M)/ VAF-2 application and the SET(M) for ILR. It is truly a very remarkable position that the OP's hubby is in!

Docterror wrote:You are not wrong. Your husband should be able to apply for the EEA Family Permit (EEAFP) in the British Embassy in Ireland on the basis of the Surinder Singh ruling without having to go to SA.

How is that possible if she is only a British citizen? I thought the EEAFP was only for citizens of an EEA country (or Switzerland) who exercise treaty rights in another. What treaty rights is a British citizen exercising in the UK?

Marco 72 wrote:

Docterror wrote:You are not wrong. Your husband should be able to apply for the EEA Family Permit (EEAFP) in the British Embassy in Ireland on the basis of the Surinder Singh ruling without having to go to SA.

How is that possible if she is only a British citizen? I thought the EEAFP was only for citizens of an EEA country (or Switzerland) who exercise treaty rights in another. What treaty rights is a British citizen exercising in the UK?

Its a bit of a complicated and less used route. If an EEA national has exercised the treaty rights in another EEA Member state for some time, he/she should be able to avail the EU rights to take the non-EEA family member back with them to the home EU country provided the non-EEA family member's stay in the EU country has been legal. Pls have a look into the Surinder Singh ruling for further clarification.

"21.4.8 Surinder Singh cases
The ECJ case of Surinder Singh states that nationals of a Member State who go with their non-EEA family members to another Member State to exercise a Treaty right in an economic capacity, (as a worker or self-employed person) will on return to their home state, be entitled to bring their non-EEA family members to join them under EC law. (For example a British national and his non-EEA national spouse/children who have lived in Germany and exercised an economic treaty right and are now returning to the UK)."


http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/servlet/Front ... ur%20eight

Hope this helps

Thank you very much for all your advice - I am just emailing the british embassy in dublin.

May I ask, if we say my husband is only visiting the UK and then we settle, will they be annoyed and not issue a residency card?

Also, my husband has overstayed in the UK in the past.. just once and because of me, but we left of our own accord - he wasnt deported or anything althought we were told off on our way out at the airport! Should I highlight this is in the application..

Thanks guys and gals

Also, my husband has overstayed in the UK in the past.. just once and because of me, but we left of our own accord - he wasnt deported or anything althought we were told off on our way out at the airport! Should I highlight this is in the application..

I think you might have to. when I applied in Feb/Mar of this year, there was a spot on the form wanting details of previous visits/periods of residence in the UK. I also was an overstayer and gave a brief explanation about it. It was my understanding that they don't refuse based soley on one's past immigration history; however, they most certainly could refuse based on not being truthful in the application.

Memgog wrote:May I ask, if we say my husband is only visiting the UK and then we settle, will they be annoyed and not issue a residency card?

Why should they be annoyed? The explanation..when you left Ireland with your husband, you came with the intention of a holiday and then fell in love with UK and decided to stay. No rules being broken here. And clearly no deception either...I think!

I emailed the british embassy and they said that I have to working here for 6 months before we can apply.. another 3 months to wait then..

They said that I cannot apply for a visa for visiting if I intend to work as they will not change his status - he has to make his intentions clear so we will have to apply for a family permit on the premise that we want to stay long term.

BTW, my husband is having his application for a residency card processed in Ireland and I was led to believe we cannot apply for a british visa or permit but i found this and they didnt argue with it when I put it to them -

from the ECO's guide -

Evidence of an outstanding application to reside in the member state in
question should not be considered as sufficient evidence of lawful
residence, and the applicant should be advised to await the outcome of their
application before seeking a family permit. This does not apply to those
that have entered the country legally and are now applying for a residence
card. It only applies to those that have entered the country, for example as
asylum seekers, and still have their claim being processed. An asylum seeker
who has been given temporary leave to remain in another member state whilst
their asylum claim is considered would not qualify as lawfully resident for
the purposes of issuing an EEA family permit.

They said that I cannot apply for a visa for visiting if I intend to work as they will not change his status

Sorry, but I don't think that this particular piece of information given by the embassy is correct. You are entitled to change your mind while visiting the UK and if your EEAFP is valid, there should be no reason the HO will refuse your family member the Residence Card.

So, according to the embassy, if you go on a vacation and then decide to stay, what are you supposed to do? Go to SA (as your husband's Irish visa will have expired by then), get the existing valid EEAFP cancelled and then apply for another EEAFP?