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UK residence card for Parents, Surinder Singh Route

Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2016 11:12 am
by solveit
Hello,

I would need your guidance on how to apply for UK residence card for my parents.

I am a British Citizen, I have been living and working in EU for three years. My dependent parents have been living with me using freedom of movement (Directive 2004/38/EC). I have since obtained EEA family permit for them using Surinder Singh route. Due to Brexit I want to apply UK residence card (RC) for them before article 50 is invoked. Therefore, I plan to move my parents to the UK and get the necessary paper work started before the application for residence card.

I can full fill all the requirements of UK residence card except that I personally cannot permanently move back to the UK before article 50 is invoked i.e. 31st of March 2017 due to my job constraints. Nevertheless, I will be visiting UK every two weeks and staying with my parents.

My question is: Will it be possible to apply for residence card while I have not permanently moved back to the UK ?

I would be very thankful for your kind input/experience and advice.

Best regards.

Re: UK residence card for Parents, Surinder Singh Route

Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2016 11:23 am
by noajthan
solveit wrote:Hello,

I would need your guidance on how to apply for UK residence card for my parents.

I am a British Citizen, I have been living and working in EU for three years. My dependent parents have been living with me using freedom of movement (Directive 2004/38/EC). I have since obtained EEA family permit for them using Surinder Singh route. Due to Brexit I want to apply UK residence card (RC) for them before article 50 is invoked. Therefore, I plan to move my parents to the UK and get the necessary paper work started before the application for residence card.

I can full fill all the requirements of UK residence card except that I personally cannot permanently move back to the UK before article 50 is invoked i.e. 31st of March 2017 due to my job constraints. Nevertheless, I will be visiting UK every two weeks and staying with my parents.

My question is: Will it be possible to apply for residence card while I have not permanently moved back to the UK ?

I would be very thankful for your kind input/experience and advice.

Best regards.
No, this is unlikely to work out.
If you breach continuity of residence your sponsorship of aged parents will break.

The purpose of SS is not to facilitate chain migration into UK.
It is allow the economic unit (you) to operate freely within EU without being constrained by worries/concerns over core family members. (And without being dragged back to original home country to look after aging parents or others).

And, due to recent UK EEA Regulation changes, it appears you will have to exercise treaty rights in UK even when you return; (previously the BC did not have to be a qualified person in UK due to case law of Eind).
Unclear if that is achievable whilst holding down another job in another country.

There is the concept of 'frontier worker' but it is not really transposed in to the UK EEA Regs.
My understand is sketchy but it appears you would have to be based in UK yet work abroad if you want your main base (with aged parents) to be in UK.

Re: UK residence card for Parents, Surinder Singh Route

Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2016 11:25 am
by alphagear
Will courts throughout the requirement of having to work on return?

Thought Eind case is crystal clear.

Re: UK residence card for Parents, Surinder Singh Route

Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2016 11:42 am
by noajthan
alphagear wrote:Will courts throughout the requirement of having to work on return?

Thought Eind case is crystal clear.
"throughout" >> "throw out"?
That will be a new chapter in the adventure that is EU migration.

Re: UK residence card for Parents, Surinder Singh Route

Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:26 pm
by solveit
Dear noajthan/alphagear,

Thank you so much for your prompt response. What I understand from noajthan's reply that there may be a possibility to apply for my parents Residence Card and continue my overseas job provided I make UK as my main base.
I would be very grateful If you could help me enlist documents required to proof UK as the main base ?

I am thinking of the following :
1) Get a tenancy agreement, council tax and utility bills under my name
2) register with GP
3) Fly back fourth from UK every other weekend

Many thanks for your help.

Kind regards.

Re: UK residence card for Parents, Surinder Singh Route

Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:37 pm
by alphagear
noajthan wrote:
alphagear wrote:Will courts throughout the requirement of having to work on return?

Thought Eind case is crystal clear.
"throughout" >> "throw out"?
That will be a new chapter in the adventure that is EU migration.
Sorry yes throw out.

Re: UK residence card for Parents, Surinder Singh Route

Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:39 pm
by noajthan
solveit wrote:Dear noajthan/alphagear,

Thank you so much for your prompt response. What I understand from noajthan's reply that there may be a possibility to apply for my parents Residence Card and continue my overseas job provided I make UK as my main base.
I would be very grateful If you could help me enlist documents required to proof UK as the main base ?

I am thinking of the following :
1) Get a tenancy agreement, council tax and utility bills under my name
2) register with GP
3) Fly back fourth from UK every other weekend

Many thanks for your help.

Kind regards.
There's nothing much to be found on frontier working, as I mentioned its not really made it into the UK Regs.

Start here for qualified persons (focused on UK):
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... _clean.pdf

When living in UK, now that even BCs appear to have to be qualified persons to sponsor their SS dependents in UK, you would presumably have to show you were a selfsufficient qualified person in UK (and residing, in UK, along with aged parents);
your self-sufficiency in UK would be financed by your economic activity elsewhere.
Parents may apply for RCs to confirm (not grant) their status in UK ie based on your continuing sponsorship.

That is the beauty and elegance of free movement.

:!: Pay attention to the rules on continuity of residence; EEA Regulation 3.
Ref http://www.eearegulations.co.uk/Latest
If you break it the sponsorship of parents will be broken and they will lose any right to reside in UK.

:idea: You could ofcourse all stay where you are; depending on time accrued to date you may even have acquired or acquire PR!

:!: Be aware acquisition of PR in UK will not be possible for aged parents in the 'normal way' due to looming Brexit. (PR acquisition normally takes 5 years).

Re: UK residence card for Parents, Surinder Singh Route

Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2016 5:20 pm
by noajthan
Only ref to frontier type working I can find in UK regs is in connection with 'Worker or self-employed person who has ceased activity' (in UK)...

If you had been working in UK for 3 years then gone off to work abroad but returned home to residence in UK every week then Reg 5(4) could have kicked in.
Ref http://www.eearegulations.co.uk/Latest/ByPage/part1_5