Masterixas wrote:Okay guys I have a simple question.... I got today my ILR or permanent residence card as an EEA national after applying to the home office and showing all supporting documents. My wife, a Russian national, who lives with me in the UK with a visa valid until 2011 (visa for EEA dependent), has obviously not yet a permanent residence.
My question is... Can my wife apply for permanet residence in the basis of her husband (me) being already a permanent resident? If so, what form she needs and which documets to submit? If not, why not and when can she apply then?
Thanks in advance
When did she arrive in the UK?
She can't apply for PR along with you/now. However, there might be a quicker way, albeit far more expensive!
1. She applies for a spouse visa (in country). Because you now hold PR, you can use the UK immigration's spouse visa route;
2. After 2 years on the spouse visa (and after taking the Life in the UK test), she applied for indefinite leave to remain (ILR), as the spouse of someone 'settled' in the UK
3. This means, if she applied for the spouse visa now, she would qualify for ILR in 2009 - is this earlier than her EEA date?
The drawbacks of this route are;
1. you pay LOADS of money! For the spouse visa, and then £750 for ILR
2. she needs to take the Life in the UK test. If she stayed on the EEA route, she wouldn't have to
3. If you separate before she obtains ILR, she would have to leave the country (there are some minor exceptions, like domestic abuse cases, or if your children are British or EEA nationals, but that's it), or apply to stay in another visa category (HSMP, student, etc).
