Residence Card or another family permit?

I am Australian and my same sex partner is a dual citizen of Ireland and Australia. We came to the UK from Australia on 11 December 2014, thinking we would have a holiday and then look for work. I applied for a family permit which was issued and expires on 10 June 2015. When we got to Europe we changed our mind about staying and only stayed in the UK for 8 days. We travelled around Asia and other parts of Europe for the following few months, passed back through the UK for 1 day on 20-21 April and after visiting a few other parts of Europe we arrived back in the UK on 25 May 2015. Unfortunately my 6 month permit expires on 10 June and we have only just arrived in the Uk and started looking for work. As my partner is not employed we are trying to decide whether it is better for us to leave the UK and I could then apply for another family permit or if I should just apply for the residence card, even though my partner is not working. Any guidance would be most appreciated.

Don't worry. You are able to stay in the UK for a period of 3 months (right of residence) even if your partner is not a 'qualified person' (i.e. exercising treaty rights: working/self-employed/self-sufficient with comprehensive sickness insurance or a student with comprehensive sickness insurance). The most important thing is that you are already back in the UK already. The easiest thing is to work until your partner is working and then apply for the residence card. Of course, if you are self-sufficient, i.e. have enough funds to live in the UK without any recourse to public funds you will also be able to qualify for a residence card but you guys need to have comprehensive sickness insurance, which, obviously will cost a bit.

If your partner gets a job soon (before 3 month of your entry into the UK) everyone will be fine. Don't worry about your family permit expiring; that is irrelevant, as long as your partner is a 'qualified person'.

Are you guys married/in a civil partnership yet? If so that will strengthen your claim for a residence card as it would cut down the amount of evidence you might need to provide. Just something to consider. The Embassy that provided you with your EEA family permit already believes that you are in a genuine relationship as they have given you the family permit in the first place, so there's nothing to worry about!

Just a tip (which may be completely irrelevant for you): if you guys live and work in Northern Ireland, you will be able to apply for Irish citizenship after 3 years (if married/in a civil partnership) according to Irish citizenship laws. That's exactly what I'm planning for my civil partner to do. If you live in other areas of the UK, you will not be able to naturalize as an Irish citizen but could apply for PR after being in the UK for 5 years, as long as your partner has been a ''qualified person' for that length of time. You could also apply for British citizenship after being in the UK for 6 years (5 years to get PR and then one more year of having PR).

Hope this helps a little!
CC