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Hello All,
I was recommended this forum by a friend and would please like to submit my issue in case anyone could help.
I am non European, married in January 2009 to a French national. The last couple of months have been extremely difficult between me and my wife and its no longer working between us,she has decided to leave the UK and i
have considered divorcing but i am here to find out if i stand a chance to retain my EEA rights , or whether i should return home to change status.

Basically, i hold a valid RC till January 2014 , my wife lost her job 5 months ago and i have been the only one supporting all the bills ever since ( rent , council tax ...), so my wife is currently self sufficient.
My company has registered all employees and family members with Health , Dental and Travel insurance via Bupa , so me and my wife have been benefiting for this for 2 years now and it is valid until November 2012.

My question is : will it be possible for me to successfully apply for retention of rights if me and my wife divorce ? I have no guarantee that she will remain in the UK for the duration of the divorce process, but i was thinking i could pretend she is still in the UK as self sufficient during that period , as our tenancy agreement is not over till June 2012.

Please let me know what you advise

Many thanks

Pretending is not the best idea to start with. If she has been living in the uk for five years under EEA regulations she might have held PR without her being aware of that. Try and apply for divorce before she leaves and collect as many evidence as you can.

Read article 13 of the directive it should apply to your case should you divorce.

I think best way is to divorce first(if you have been living together 3 yrs at least with evidence) then you might be able to retain you RC.
Lets say you retained your RC,,,what happens after? can you obtain PR on 2014 when your RC finished?
I hope you get what you want, good luck.

Guerro wrote:Pretending is not the best idea to start with. If she has been living in the uk for five years under EEA regulations she might have held PR without her being aware of that. Try and apply for divorce before she leaves and collect as many evidence as you can.

I believe the point Guerro is trying to make, is that OP cannot claim that someone is Resident in the UK, when they are not actually living and residing overseas.

The insurance issued by your company, will only be accessible to her when you are living in a subsisting relationship, it is difficult to argue, she had access to your company medical insurance, when she is estranged from you, and you are seeking divorce.

Furthermore, having medical insurance is not the end of the matter, and you are required to show she had sufficient fund, not to be burden on the UK's resources.

If you have a joint bank account and statement, which she had access to, this could discharge that burden of proof.

Obie wrote:

Guerro wrote:Pretending is not the best idea to start with. If she has been living in the uk for five years under EEA regulations she might have held PR without her being aware of that. Try and apply for divorce before she leaves and collect as many evidence as you can.

I believe the point Guerro is trying to make, is that OP cannot claim that someone is Resident in the UK, when they are not actually living and residing overseas.

The insurance issued by your company, will only be accessible to her when you are living in a subsisting relationship, it is difficult to argue, she had access to your company medical insurance, when she is estranged from you, and you are seeking divorce.

Furthermore, having medical insurance is not the end of the matter, and you are required to show she had sufficient fund, not to be burden on the UK's resources.

If you have a joint bank account and statement, which she had access to, this could discharge that burden of proof.

Thanks all for your reply

The Insurance Policy applies for the whole period ( till Nov 2012) and each of us has a separate card for it that can be used when necessary, even if we divorce she'll still be able to use her card untill it expires, so i don't think the insurance can be a problem, however i don't know what it really covers in details as i we have never needed to use it.

We do have a joint bank accnt for over 3 years now but we only used to put money in it for our holidays plans. Its a long time since ( abt 7 months) since either of us put money in the account.
Is it not possible to justify self sufficiency based on my personal accnt and salary ? I earn over 25k a year

Will she need to prove excercise of treaty rights for the whole duration of the marriage or just for the duration of the divorce ?


Spike_UK :
I believe if i successfully retain my RC and continue doing my job till January 2014 , i'll certainly be elligible for PR

Guerro :
She has not yet been 5 years in the UK , and she spent 7 months back home in 2010 , with her Grand Ma who was very sick , i almost had my card revoked because of that once returning when from visiting her i was refused entry but did not appeal , she had to come at the airport and explain the problem to the IO before they let me back in the country and now every time i travel they always ask me at the airport if i recently had immigration issues and after looking at the case they let in without asking any questions abt her.

jon luis wrote: Will she need to prove excercise of treaty rights for the whole duration of the marriage or just for the duration of the divorce ?
.

I think she does not need to prove excercise of treaty rights for the whole duration of the marriage but only for the duration of the divorce. But it's better to wait for a senior member to confirm.. Good luck anyway

Proof for exercising treaty rights would be required for the complete duration of marriage, especially covering the time from initiaiton of divorce until Decree Absolute is/was granted

Don carlos wrote:

jon luis wrote: Will she need to prove excercise of treaty rights for the whole duration of the marriage or just for the duration of the divorce ?
.

I think she does not need to prove excercise of treaty rights for the whole duration of the marriage but only for the duration of the divorce. But it's better to wait for a senior member to confirm.. Good luck anyway