Immigrationboards.com

Hi

I'm a British citizen from Birth and have always lived and worked in the UK.
My spouse is from outside of the EEA and the EU
We were married in the UK in 2008. He came to the UK in 2002 and an asylum seeker. He was given ELR for 4 years. Then no valid leave for 6 years whilst deportation was sought by UKBA. Then won under article 8 ECHR in 2012 and then had 2 x 2.5 years of DL which is due to expire at the end of this month. UKBA say he does not qualify to apply for ILR until 2023 under the 10 year route.
We want to apply for permanent residency under the EEA route based on married to British Citizen and continuous lawful residency for 5 years. However because I've never worked in another EU state does that prevent us for being eligible to apply?
If we left the UK to live in an EU state for several months could we then apply under the Surinder Singh route? Based upon the 5 years of continuous residency we have already built up? He does not have a passport and the UK will only issue him a certificate of travel - is this going to be a barrier for us to apply to live in another EU state?
This is stressing me out greatly. We have been dealing with the home office now since 2007 and just going round in circles it seems. Any advice will be greatly appreciated
Thanks

We want to apply for permanent residency under the EEA route based on married to British Citizen and continuous lawful residency for 5 years. However because I've never worked in another EU state does that prevent us for being eligible to apply?

He does not qualify for PR under the EEA/EU rules as he is not the partner of an EU citizen (non British) and you are not considered an EU citizen in your country of nationality. He has to follow the immigration rule path that he is currently on.

If we left the UK to live in an EU state for several months could we then apply under the Surinder Singh route? Based upon the 5 years of continuous residency we have already built up?

Time is running out re Surinder Singh route. And No, you cannot rely on the 5 years already spent in the UK. The 5 years would start from scratch on returning to the UK from another EU state after several months. The time already spent in the UK on his current visa route would be lost.

He does not have a passport and the UK will only issue him a certificate of travel - is this going to be a barrier for us to apply to live in another EU state?

Not sure about this.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Greatly appreciated

Just to add.

So i take it he committed a crime, and was therefore classified as a Foreign Criminal, but subsequently won his appeal against deportation.

If that is the case, and he received a sentence of about 12 months or more, then ILR will take a while, he will need to be patient and keep his head down.

If he gets into any further trouble that will simply prolong the delay, or block any prospect of ILR.