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Hi

I'm posting for my friend.

He is from Senegal has a Spain permanent residency was married to a British citizen (Now divorced) and hes now common-law partner with an French women (he will get married by the end of the year).

He's question is: can he start he's own business because he want to buy a shop and start doing business with this status (EU permanent resident with partner to an EU citizen).


Regards

Hello

The simple answer is: yes. If someone has an Article 10 EEA card with the right to work, that involves the right to work taken broadly. Either working for a salary as a contractor, permanent... or opening his own business.

Indeed, he can do that only in Spain. European residence for non-EEA nationals doesn't exist. Article 10 cards don't give the right to work in Europe but in the country where they were delivered.

Now, the complex answer: his card might not be valid. He can't also switch EEA partners. He was married to a British. Got an EEA card. Now he is divorced. There are circumstances under which he keeps his EEA card and other circumstances, if the marriage didn't last too long, where the card is not valid after the divorce.

If you get a card due to a relation to an EEA national, you cannot extend it, renew it, keep it valid by jumping to another EEA national.

If he is in a situation where his card is invalid, he has to reapply again. It may involve leaving the country and applying from abroad.

The biggest question here is where is your friend intending to stay, live, and start a business? In the UK? In Spain? In France? In another EU country?

That's important since depending on the answer to that, your question could/should be moved to a more relevant section of the forum.