EEA Resident Card Query - Please Help

Hi All
I am a british National and my Wife is currently on Family permit in UK and residing with me. I was working in Ireland previously and recently re-located back to the UK and decided to go through the EEA route instead of spouse visa.

Now I am going to be relocating to Malta but would like my wife to stay in UK. My questions are as follows :-

1) Will my wife be eligible to apply for resident card? despite the fact that i will be working in Malta and not UK?
2) Am i expecting to stay in UK if she is going to be applying for resident card as my dependant?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Her rights under the EEA regulations depend on you being resident in the same member state and exercising treaty rights. If you leave the UK only temporarily (typically for not more than six months per year), i.e. you do not give up residence in the UK, she would still be covered. If you were to become a cross-border worker, i.e return to the UK at least once a week, she should be still covered too.

86ti wrote:Her rights under the EEA regulations depend on you being resident in the same member state and exercising treaty rights. If you leave the UK only temporarily (typically for not more than six months per year), i.e. you do not give up residence in the UK, she would still be covered. If you were to become a cross-border worker, i.e return to the UK at least once a week, she should be still covered too.

Yes i think the later is going to be more like it.

Also my understanding is that i am not obliged to apply for the resident card after the end of the 6 months of the family permit, but would be desirable in order for her to get work in UK is this correct? Is she going to be an illegal resident after her family permit is up?

Can she travel to MALTA with me on the UK Family permit, she also has a 5 years EEA dependant visa stamped on her passport from Dublin.

chursy wrote: Also my understanding is that i am not obliged to apply for the resident card after the end of the 6 months of the family permit, but would be desirable in order for her to get work in UK is this correct? Is she going to be an illegal resident after her family permit is up?

Nope. As long as you two stay married and you keep exercising the treaty rights, her status is perfectly legal, with or without EEA FP or Residence card.

chursy wrote:Can she travel to MALTA with me on the UK Family permit, she also has a 5 years EEA dependant visa stamped on her passport from Dublin.

EEA FP allows your wife to be admitted into the UK only.

Ok per the High Commission of Malta,

provided my wife has a resident card in UK and travelling with me to Malta, she can stay there for 90 days. I presume the EU regulation comes in to play here which is fine.

However she doesnt have a resident card yet, but merely a family permit. But she does have a resident card for Ireland. Would i be able to travel to malta with her on this Visa? or will i have to apply for the visa again for her?

Thanks

You have to be very careful about maintaining your presence in the UK if she is to stay.

Either you need to be gone no more than 6 months in a year.

Or you need to be back here every weekend.

Thanks Guru, yes understand that

1) Can she travel with me on the existing EEA2 resident card ( from Ireland) to Malta?

2) If she is to stay in UK, Can i apply for the resident card for her on the basis that i am based in Malta and will be travelling back to UK frequently ( less then 6 months)

chursy wrote:1) Can she travel with me on the existing EEA2 resident card ( from Ireland) to Malta?

Only so long as you remain resident in Ireland. See http://eumovement.wordpress.com/2011/09 ... eed-to-do/

If you leave temporarily from Ireland, then generally you remain resident for 6 months.

chursy wrote:2) If she is to stay in UK, Can i apply for the resident card for her on the basis that i am based in Malta and will be travelling back to UK frequently ( less then 6 months)

Only so long as you remain resident in the UK. See http://eumovement.wordpress.com/2011/09 ... eed-to-do/

If you leave temporarily from the UK, then generally you remain resident for 6 months.

If you want to be a trans-border commuter, you need to plan to travel back to the UK every weekend.

In case I want to move to Malta and want my wife to stay Uk ? What are my options?

1) provided that I apply within 6 months of leaving for Malta, can I apply for the Uk resident card? On the basis that I amsupporting her and she will be staying with my family in Uk ?

2) is spouse visa an option for Uk ?

She is currently on a FP due to expire in November . She also has a resident card for Ireland valid for 5 years.

I don't think it will be an issue of she travels with me to Malta on the above visa considering the info above.

Little confused

Why do you want her to stay in the UK?

In general she has a right to be WITH you. She does not have a right to remain after you have fully left.

Directive/2004/38/EC wrote:Why do you want her to stay in the UK?

In general she has a right to be WITH you. She does not have a right to remain after you have fully left.

I am in process of registering her with the medical council here in Uk for an exemption on exercising ei treaty rights and was hoping if I can apply for the resident card on the basis that I will be supporting her and she will be based in Uk. Ofcourse once the registration is done she can always move to Malta.

Can thus be done? Can I still apply for the resident card for her. Please help

You have to meet these requirements to get an RC http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... 957#540957
and likely need to be considered self-sufficient and have CSI

Directive/2004/38/EC wrote:You have to meet these requirements to get an RC http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... 957#540957
and likely need to be considered self-sufficient and have CSI

Sorry to bother you again Guru, i need your advice.

I will be moving to Malta end October on a contractual role for a year. I have a base in UK i.e family home and will be able to support my family. I dont think it will be possible to travel every weekend and similary will not be able to meet the 6 months requirement.

My wife has a family permit valid till November , what options do i have ( if any) in terms of applying for a visa so that she stays in UK? Can i apply for a resident card on the basis that i am self sufficient and currently based in Malta but would like my wife an child to stay with family here and will be self sufficient and not dependant on any benefits etc?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Can i apply on the basis that i am self sufficient and currently a jobseeker, supported with recent interviews and applications etc.

Furthermore provide that i am self sufficient and not dependant on benefits?

If you are in Malta, then your wife has a right to be there.

If you are not going back to the UK every week, then your wife will not be able to legally remain in the UK for long after you leave.

Thanks again.

I was thinking of applying for the resident card while i am in UK at the moment on the basis that i am self sufficient and a job seeker. I can support this with applications and current interviews lined up. However as i understand, my passport will be sent with the application and the return process can take quite a while which means that i wont be able to travel to Malta for join the new position.

my understanding is once the resident card is endorsed, would it be an issue whether i am here or there in malta? Is there an alternative to request the passport ?

In Ireland for example , they return all the documents within days and once the application is approved, they request individuals to come to the office and get endorsement, i understand this cant be done here, due to share volumes perhaps.

chursy wrote:my understanding is once the resident card is endorsed, would it be an issue whether i am here or there in malta?

The question is not what documents your wife holds but it all depends on you, the EEA national, exercising treaty rights according to the EEA regulations. The legal situation has been explained to you now several times.

. The legal situation has been explained to you now several times.[/quote]

No need to be rude. I know the legal situation. The question is whether, there is a control to find out otherwise, which i dont think there is. Happy to be proven wrong. I have a permanent base here in UK and can prove that i am based in UK as a jobseeker.

chursy wrote:No need to be rude. I know the legal situation. The question is whether, there is a control to find out otherwise, which i dont think there is.

I am not trying to be rude here but with a question like this you simply sound like someone who is trying to cheat. You may want to consider your wording too.

If you know the legal situation there should be no further questions.

chursy wrote:I have a permanent base here in UK and can prove that i am based in UK as a jobseeker.

Subject to the residence definition of the EEA regulations of course. If you take up employment in Malta you cannot be considered a jobseeker anymore (you are obviously not available for work) and you will be a resident of that member state unless you return frequently as explained.

* trying to cheat* stop being judgemental, this is based on what! identifying a loop hole in the system is not considered cheating.

Appreciate your advice but you need to consider your wording when you issue responses here as it is going to fireba Looking for advice and opinion from experienced individuals doesn't make you any superior, so next time watch your wording too when you reply to my posts!

And you need to quote me correctly: I clearly said "sound like someone who is trying to cheat". This was merely a hint to you to realise how your wording may come across to those who read this thread. Please, do not put things into my mouth that I have never said.

chursy wrote:identifying a loop hole in the system is not considered cheating.

The problem, as a number of people have pointed out, is that you have not found a loop hole. Your wife can not remain in the UK unless you remain resident in the UK. http://eumovement.wordpress.com/2011/09 ... eed-to-do/ outlines what you will have to do to remain resident in the UK

very briefly, what you are saying is right, chursy, they CANNOT find out, but equally, many people can trick the system and do all the time. It's all about your conscience. Theoretically wife is ineligible, in practice she may remain as no checks exist (no stamps in your passport to count absences etc.) So it's down to your consciousness what you feel is right.

It is nobody's business what you decide is right for your family life and so long as you know what you are doing, go for it. Should there be any repercussions, you knew what you were doing and in any case, once you are back again, even if your wife was not eligible while you were away, as soon as you come back and are resident in UK, so is she. So, the only issue I see here is that her clock for Permanent Residence would have been broken, other than that, you are right in every aspect in practice, but as 86ti pointed out with Directive guy, by law this is not what you are meant to do. It is UP TO YOU only mate.

@mcovet - 100% agree with you, that all i was hoping to hear! Appreciate your response

@86ti - whatever!! move on!.

@ Directive - Think you are mistaken, loophole is around the fact that once a resident visa is issued, i dont think there is a control around the fact that checks your eligibility for being resident /not resident. asmcovet rightly pointed out there is no stamps that go on the passport. I understand your point too though. Thanks.

Mcovet - just wondering in terms of applying for the resident card, how long will it take them to return the passports etc do you know? I understand from reading various posts here, its bound to take ages.

By any chance is it a matter of a few weeks that they return the originals to you or do they keep all originals until they have made a decision? or something that is case specific? Just trying the luck!

Any help apprecaited again

chursy wrote:@86ti - whatever!! move on!.

Sure. If I choose so.

chursy wrote:@ Directive - Think you are mistaken, loophole is around the fact that once a resident visa is issued, i dont think there is a control around the fact that checks your eligibility for being resident /not resident.

Unfortunately, you are the one who is mistaken here. Residence documents (not visa) under EEA regulations only confirm EEA rights at the time the caseworker makes the decision. This does, however, not mean that this right perpetuates unconditionally. In fact, you still need to be resident and exercise treaty rights according to the rules. No controls does not equate to lawfulness.

Hopefully, your wife never needs to leave the UK on emergency in the event you proceed with your plans.