Under EU Settlement Scheme Family Permit - Extended Family Members?

[daddyzico]

Hello,

I was wondering whether non EU extended family members like sisters, cousins, uncles etc, apply for EU settlement scheme family permit from outside the UK?

I know they can for the EU family permit but, I am confused about the new settlement scheme.

Thank you.

[CR001]

Your previous posts suggest you are a non EU citizen divorced from your EU spouse. You cannot sponsor any family under the EU rules or settlement scheme if you are non EU.

Extended family members also are excluded from the EU settlement scheme for applications abroad as far as I understand.

[daddyzico]

Your previous posts suggest you are a non EU citizen divorced from your EU spouse. You cannot sponsor any family under the EU rules or settlement scheme if you are non EU.

Extended family members also are excluded from the EU settlement scheme for applications abroad as far as I understand.

Thanks CR001 for the reply.
Yes, I am non EU citizen divorced from my EU spouse.
The above question wasn't meant for myself. I was asking for an EU cousin of mine who wanted to know if he could invite his non EU younger brother using the EU settlement scheme family permit route.

[secret.simon]

The Settlement Scheme only applies to family members of EEA citizens who are already in the UK.

EFMs of EEA citizens who are already in the UK and who have already been issued a Residence Card count as Family Members, but not EFMs who have not yet arrived in the UK.

family member of a relevant EEA citizen
a person who has satisfied the Secretary of State, including by the required evidence of family relationship, that they are (and for the relevant period have been), or (as the case may be) for the relevant period (or at the relevant time) they were:
...
(e) resident in the UK before the specified date as the dependent relative of a relevant EEA citizen (or of their spouse or civil partner, where the application for the relevant document referred to in the entry for ‘dependent relative’ in this table was made before 1 February 2017) and that family relationship and the person’s dependency (or, as the case may be, their membership of the household or their strict need for personal care on serious health grounds) existed before the specified date (or, as the case may be, before 1 February 2017)

dependent relative
(a) a relative of their sponsor but not the sponsor’s spouse, civil partner, durable partner, child or dependent parent; and the relative is, or (as the case may be) for the relevant period was, a dependant of the sponsor, a member of their household or in strict need of their personal care on serious health grounds; and
(b) the person holds a relevant document as the dependent relative of their sponsor for the period of residence relied upon

[Zerubbabel]

One of the main policy point behind the Brexit, is that the UK takes back control of its borders. With that in mind, we have to consider that a British Citizen cannot bring extended family members to the UK while EEA regulations give that right to EEA citizens residing in the UK. There are exceptions where a British can bring extended family but this right is usually conferred by some exceptions that fall under EEA regulations (Lounes, Surinder Singh... etc).

One of the route that is going to drop before anything else is the Extended Family members route.

The "EU Settlement Scheme" is not an EU law despite its name. In this Statement of Intent published in June 2018:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... e_2018.pdf

The idea is to "Safeguarding the rights of EU citizens and their family members living in the UK" (page 5). The project is not to mimic or re-create EEA routes in the post-Brexit legislation.

With that in mind, if you have an extended family member in the UK and that family member has an EEA card delivered, then, in the spirit of the Brexit dispositions, that person is considered as a family member. The rights of such family member are safeguarded under the "EU Settlement Scheme". It's a way for the UK authorities to say "we are not going to re-evaluate residence permits under our own standards and throw out of the country a bunch of people after the Brexit".

The EU Settlement Scheme doesn't create or maintain any route for extended relatives or EEA citizens for them to come to the UK on the basis of their dependency / part of household. It just recognizes and accepts migrants who are already qualified under EEA routes and have been given EEA cards to demonstrate their status.

De facto, this EU Settlement Scheme closes the door to new entrants. They need to go through the EEA EFM route first. When it closes, it will be the end for that route.

I expect also an increase of strategic delays and refusal from the Home Office to minimize the number of entrants under that route as they will automatically qualify later under the EU Settlement Scheme.

Your cousin needs to go through an EEA EFM application first for his younger brother. Then only when the application is successful, he can apply under the EU Settlement Scheme.

Note: under EEA regulations, a close family member such as spouse or children, doesn't need - at least in theory - an EEA card. The EEA card doesn't confer the right, it helps to demonstrate it. In other hand, an extended family member must have that EEA card to qualify as family member in the sense of EEA regulations.

[daddyzico]

Thanks secret.simon and Zerubbabel for the detailed info.

[Obie]

I see no basis for the distinction that the British Government has sought to put for Extended family members under the settlement scheme.

If there is a deal, the withdrawal agreement provides for those extended family member whose applications are pending or had been made prior to exist, in the case of durable partners, it provides for them even after transition period.

Therefore if Appendix EU is designed to give effect to EU law, it needs to be fundamentally changed to be EU law compliant.