British citizen and EU wife returning to live in UK

[Redrockers]

Hi,

I'm a British citizen by birth and I married my EU citizen wife back in 2008 in the UK.
We lived together in the UK until we moved to France in 2018.
She submitted UK tax returns and paid UK tax (and still does) and she speaks fluent English.

If we want to return to live in the UK is she now treated as a new applicant for a family visa or does the above help?

Thanks

Richard

[secret.simon]

During her time spent in the UK, after five years of residing in the UK and working, she would have acquired permanent residence under EU law.

BUT, then the two of you left the UK AND Brexit happened.

Under EU law, permanent residence expired after any two continuous years of absence from the country it was automatically acquired in.

So, assuming that the two of you left in 2018 and didn't return to the UK at all, your wife's PR would have lapsed automatically on the second anniversary of her leaving the UK.

Also, one consequence of Brexit was that those EU citizens in the UK at the time who had residence rights under EU law had to register to retain those rights under the Withdrawal Agreement. That is to say that the continuation of their residence rights was not automatic, but required them to apply for pre-settled status or settled status.

If your wife was in the UK at the time, she could have applied for Settled Status as she had PR under EU law (assuming that she hadn't lost it by two continuous years of absence; see above).

None of the above was based on her marriage to a British citizen, which has never led to an automatic right to reside in the UK in this century. Her marriage to you was completely irrelevant before Brexit. Her right to reside in the UK was based on her exercising treaty rights under EU law, not her marriage to you.

At the moment, I would say that she has no immigration status in the UK and would need to apply for a spousal visa from scratch.

You would need to meet the same requirements as any other British citizen wanting to sponsor their spouse to the UK; a minimum annual income of £29,000 and having at least six months of bank statements AND pay slips to vouch for that (or savings of at least £88,000), your spouse having an English language test verifying her standard of English, etc.

PS: All the above is premised on the basis that she did not apply for Settled Status post Brexit. If she has applied for that status and been granted it, she of course has a right to reside in the UK based on that.

Also to answer a question in your other thread, there is currently no route for a widow of a British citizen to move to the UK. If the two of you resided abroad and you passed away, she can't move to the UK unless she finds a visa that she can qualify for.

Does she have at least one grandparent born in the UK (including the whole of Ireland before 1921)?

[Redrockers]

Many thanks for the detailed reply.
No family history in the UK.

We'll continue to holiday there instead

Thanks