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EU national, spouse of British citizen
Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 9:15 pm
by lrochfort
Hello,
My wife has German citizenship and I am British by birth. We want to apply for British Citizenship for her and the Home Office helpline told me we must first apply for a Permanent Residency card for her via the EEA(PR) form.
I can't figure out which parts of the form to complete because she doesn't seem to neatly fall into one of the categories in the guidance.
Could anybody please tell me which sections to complete?
She arrived in 2004.
Was a student for 2 years.
Worked for 2 years.
We married in 2009.
She was a mother to our 2 children and housewife since.
She has a degree from a UK university.
I have a degree, a well paying job of 10 years continuous employment with private healthcare and private pension.
Any advice much appreciated.
Re: EU national, spouse of British citizen
Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 9:23 pm
by noajthan
Did wife have CSI or did your insurance cover her as student?
Evidence of 5 years as qualified person is required.
Being a mom, however valuable to family (and society), is not enough on its own for PR.
Wife may claim to be a self sufficient qualified person if supported by you and covered by your health insurance.
Current 'monster' PR form is not mandatory legal requirement.
'Go commando' and apply on earlier, simpler version.
Re: EU national, spouse of British citizen
Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 9:42 pm
by lrochfort
She didn't have any insurance as a student and we had not yet met.
She was a student from 2005 to 2008 and we married in 2009.
Could you please tell me what the earlier forma are called?
Re: EU national, spouse of British citizen
Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 9:53 pm
by noajthan
lrochfort wrote:She didn't have any insurance as a student and we had not yet met.
She was a student from 2005 to 2008 and we married in 2009.
Could you please tell me what the earlier forma are called?
To be considered self sufficient now and for paat few years wife needs to have CSI in place; hers oryours.
Take a look at this PR form a member has compiled by mashing a previous/simpler PR form with the up-to-date HO contact and other details:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/128 ... ple_v2.pdf
Re: EU national, spouse of British citizen
Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 9:54 pm
by noajthan
lrochfort wrote:She didn't have any insurance as a student and we had not yet met.
She was a student from 2005 to 2008 and we married in 2009.
Could you please tell me what the earlier forma are called?
Wife needs to have had CSI for past few years then.
Take a look at this PR form a member has compiled by mashing a previous/simpler PR form with the up-to-date HO contact and other details:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/128 ... ple_v2.pdf
Re: EU national, spouse of British citizen
Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2016 2:44 pm
by yoyol
Hi there,
I am having a very similar problem. I am German and am married to a German who was naturalised as a British citizen in 2012. Also in 2012 we adopted two children who both have British citizenship.
I have lived in the UK since 2008. I registered as a freelancer in 2008 and have been filing tax returns, but have hardly been generating any income since becoming a mother. So I assume I have to go via the family member (EEA(FM)) route, not the qualified person route.
However, we don't fit into any of the categories of page 29/91. My husband is not an EEA national with permanent residence and he is also not a EEA national qualified person. He is British. Or am I misunderstanding something here?
How did you solve that problem?
Thank you so much!
Re: EU national, spouse of British citizen
Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2016 3:03 pm
by noajthan
yoyol wrote:Hi there,
I am having a very similar problem. I am German and am married to a German who was naturalised as a British citizen in 2012. Also in 2012 we adopted two children who both have British citizenship.
I have lived in the UK since 2008. I registered as a freelancer in 2008 and have been filing tax returns, but have hardly been generating any income since becoming a mother. So I assume I have to go via the family member (EEA(FM)) route, not the qualified person route.
However, we don't fit into any of the categories of page 29/91. My husband is not an EEA national with permanent residence and he is also not a EEA national qualified person. He is British. Or am I misunderstanding something here?
How did you solve that problem?
Thank you so much!
This seems to be a recurring theme for European ladies (often homemakers) with British spouses.
A British husband cannot (normally) sponsor you under EU law. So you are not a direct family member of a Union citizen
in this context.
And you did not have time (after 2008) to acquire PR before hubby naturalised in 2012.
You have to exercise treaty rights in own right in order to have a right to remain in UK.
As per EU law, work (whether as employee or self-employed) needs to be
genuine and effective (rather than
supplementary and marginal).
HO then applies its
somewhat controversial MET/PET tests (which go above and beyond the cleaner, purer law) to decide if they agree you are a worker/self-employed
qualified person.

It's a longshot but did you have a RC issued in/before 2012 in UK?
If so, there is a transitional arrangement you may be able to invoke.
In OP's case, her only hope for any ongoing right to reside in UK seems to be as a self-sufficient
qualified person;
(ie supported by hubby and covered by hubby's health insurance).