Surinder Singh via Ireland

Firstly, huge thanks to all the people on here who help others. This is a tremendous forum, even for those of us who have spent hour upon hour reading regulations, directives, forums, and so on. Sorry this is long, but I hope someone can clarify a few points. Besides, this might answer questions that other people have.

BACKGROUND: I (UK citizen but living overseas for 5 years) am preparing to leave for Ireland soon, with my non-EEA wife, to start our SS Route journey back to the UK. I am clear about the process (I think), but wondered if anyone could have a look at our plan to see if there are any holes in it. Generally, we will arrive in Ireland, find somewhere to live, get a job, apply for an EU1 for my wife, stay 6-9 months (we are in no real rush to get to the UK - success is more important than speed).

STAGE 1 - Get into Ireland. We will leave Taiwan for Holland for a week-long trip, on our way to Ireland. This is just the way things turned out, BUT as my wife is non-visa we figured arriving in Dublin via Eindhoven should not cause a problem. In fact, it might even help because as a non-visa, my wife can stay in Ireland for 90 days as a tourist anyway. There should be very few questions from immigration but my wife has a throwaway plane ticket to the UK booked "in case".

TWO THOUGHTS - 1. As it is an EU to EU flight, I guess there might not even be anyone to stamp my wife's passport in Dublin anyway. We have travelled across borders in Europe quite a lot, and never had any problems. Is Ireland the same?

2. As a non-Visa it should be possible for my wife to split her 90 days stay allowance over two trips to Ireland, yes? I mean, if she stays in Ireland for 60 days, but I need more time to get a job, she should be able to fly to the UK, and stay there for a while, then return to Ireland and use the REMAINING 30 days. Is this correct?

STAGE 2 - We will arrive in Dublin, and stay for 3-4 days just to rest and gather our thoughts. We do not intend to stay there because I have read that accommodation is very expensive. We are thinking of trying Galway or Cork. Any opinions about living in these places from people resident there?

STAGE 3 - Accommodation: I have read it can be difficult to find accommodation without references, or employment. We can get a reference from our landlord in Taiwan, and have this translated and stamped as an accurate translation. Is this worth doing? We have enough money to cover a period of rent up-front. Will this make landlords a little more flexible over the no employment part?

A THOUGHT - Has anyone ever had success using AirBnB to stay in Ireland for the SS route? Is there any reason that this would not count as a residence address, provided the owner could supply a letter saying we were staying there, and give us their utility bills for a later EU1 application. Would booking somewhere for a few months legally count as a tenancy agreement? I suppose this would not look good for the "Centre of Life" criteria for a subsequent EEA FM application though?

STAGE 4 - Work. I will upload my CV to recruitment agencies in Ireland before we leave (I will do it this week actually). What's the current job situation like in Ireland? I assume it depends on the sector, but a general idea would be useful. Any tips on where/how to find work? http://www.jobs.ie, etc. I know about.

STAGE 5 - Bank account. I contacted Ulster Bank via their online help-chat and was told it is possible to open a joint bank account in Ireland using UK ID. We are in a position to do this. I was thinking to open one as soon as possible, and just change the correspondence address from the UK to Ireland when we have accommodation sorted. Any thoughts? Do I need a PPS number to open a bank account? I thought it was not a legal requirement.

STAGE 6 - Utility bills/proof of address. This should be straight-forward once we have accommodation. Water, gas, electricity, phone, bank statements will all suffice?

STAGE 7 - EU1 application. I am actually very confident that the EU1 stage will be successful as long as we follow STAGES 1 - 6.

STAGE 8 - EEA FM and Centre of Life. This is the tricky part, but this is the plan: Aside from accommodation/tenancy agreement, job, and utility bills which are essential for the EU1 anyway, how about this? We will have a joint bank account, and both (hopefully) have PPS numbers. I will apply for an Irish EHIC card, we will both register at a doctor, get library cards, etc. This should be enough, yes?

STAGE 9 - EEA FM. I am pretty clear on how this works too but I have read that applying might not be necessary under the SS Route. To clarify, is it just better to apply for an EEA FM visa, in terms of likelihood of getting through UK immigration?

STAGE 10- Apply for UK Residency (via EEA) the day we arrive in the UK!!

Does this sound about right?

Thank you.

pdftw wrote:Firstly, huge thanks to all the people on here who help others. This is a tremendous forum, even for those of us who have spent hour upon hour reading regulations, directives, forums, and so on. Sorry this is long, but I hope someone can clarify a few points. Besides, this might answer questions that other people have.

BACKGROUND: I (UK citizen but living overseas for 5 years) am preparing to leave for Ireland soon, with my non-EEA wife, to start our SS Route journey back to the UK. I am clear about the process (I think), but wondered if anyone could have a look at our plan to see if there are any holes in it. Generally, we will arrive in Ireland, find somewhere to live, get a job, apply for an EU1 for my wife, stay 6-9 months (we are in no real rush to get to the UK - success is more important than speed).

STAGE 1 - Get into Ireland. We will leave Taiwan for Holland for a week-long trip, on our way to Ireland. This is just the way things turned out, BUT as my wife is non-visa we figured arriving in Dublin via Eindhoven should not cause a problem. In fact, it might even help because as a non-visa, my wife can stay in Ireland for 90 days as a tourist anyway. There should be very few questions from immigration but my wife has a throwaway plane ticket to the UK booked "in case".

TWO THOUGHTS - 1. As it is an EU to EU flight, I guess there might not even be anyone to stamp my wife's passport in Dublin anyway. We have travelled across borders in Europe quite a lot, and never had any problems. Is Ireland the same?

2. As a non-Visa it should be possible for my wife to split her 90 days stay allowance over two trips to Ireland, yes? I mean, if she stays in Ireland for 60 days, but I need more time to get a job, she should be able to fly to the UK, and stay there for a while, then return to Ireland and use the REMAINING 30 days. Is this correct?

STAGE 2 - We will arrive in Dublin, and stay for 3-4 days just to rest and gather our thoughts. We do not intend to stay there because I have read that accommodation is very expensive. We are thinking of trying Galway or Cork. Any opinions about living in these places from people resident there?

STAGE 3 - Accommodation: I have read it can be difficult to find accommodation without references, or employment. We can get a reference from our landlord in Taiwan, and have this translated and stamped as an accurate translation. Is this worth doing? We have enough money to cover a period of rent up-front. Will this make landlords a little more flexible over the no employment part?

A THOUGHT - Has anyone ever had success using AirBnB to stay in Ireland for the SS route? Is there any reason that this would not count as a residence address, provided the owner could supply a letter saying we were staying there, and give us their utility bills for a later EU1 application. Would booking somewhere for a few months legally count as a tenancy agreement? I suppose this would not look good for the "Centre of Life" criteria for a subsequent EEA FM application though?

STAGE 4 - Work. I will upload my CV to recruitment agencies in Ireland before we leave (I will do it this week actually). What's the current job situation like in Ireland? I assume it depends on the sector, but a general idea would be useful. Any tips on where/how to find work? http://www.jobs.ie, etc. I know about.

STAGE 5 - Bank account. I contacted Ulster Bank via their online help-chat and was told it is possible to open a joint bank account in Ireland using UK ID. We are in a position to do this. I was thinking to open one as soon as possible, and just change the correspondence address from the UK to Ireland when we have accommodation sorted. Any thoughts? Do I need a PPS number to open a bank account? I thought it was not a legal requirement.

STAGE 6 - Utility bills/proof of address. This should be straight-forward once we have accommodation. Water, gas, electricity, phone, bank statements will all suffice?

STAGE 7 - EU1 application. I am actually very confident that the EU1 stage will be successful as long as we follow STAGES 1 - 6.

STAGE 8 - EEA FM and Centre of Life. This is the tricky part, but this is the plan: Aside from accommodation/tenancy agreement, job, and utility bills which are essential for the EU1 anyway, how about this? We will have a joint bank account, and both (hopefully) have PPS numbers. I will apply for an Irish EHIC card, we will both register at a doctor, get library cards, etc. This should be enough, yes?

STAGE 9 - EEA FM. I am pretty clear on how this works too but I have read that applying might not be necessary under the SS Route. To clarify, is it just better to apply for an EEA FM visa, in terms of likelihood of getting through UK immigration?

STAGE 10- Apply for UK Residency (via EEA) the day we arrive in the UK!!

Does this sound about right?

Thank you.

From what I have been reading it sounds about right, however I am just started researching this and I hoping to do this next year so will follow your journey and hopefully you get a positive outcome.