Irish Citizen Moving to UK-Spouse Visa or EEA FP for Wife?

[Joadmi]

Hi all,

Trying to find some clarity on visa/permits but it seems (to me anyway), that there is a lot of ambiguity online.

About my own situation;

Irish Citizen married for 11 years to a Korean citizen, with 1 child that is 8 years old, who is also an Irish citizen. For the last 10 years, we have been living in the Middle East. We are planning to move to England in August 2021, firstly for me to study full time as a postgraduate, then find a job and work and live in the UK for a few years. My wife would also like to work, as soon as my daughter has hopefully settled into her schooling.

Now, I have a couple of questions about my wife's visa, which are;

1. Would it be better to apply for a spouse visa or EEA Family Permit? About the fees or the savings required (as I won't be working for the first year), we have no issues at all on that front. I just want to get the best visa for my wife, with the least amount of stress and further paperwork needed from us, when we get to England. Would I be right in saying, the spouse visa would be the way to go? Although, I don't really know what are the benefits/disadvantages of one over the other?

2. Considering that we would like to move to the UK in August 2021, how soon do you recommend that we make our application?

Thanks in advance for any help or information that you can provide.

[Joadmi]

Anyone?

What are the benefits or disadvantages of going for the Spouse visa or EEA Family Permit or EU Settlement Scheme Family Permit?

Thank you.

[Br28016]

Based on your dates of August 2021 then only option will be spouse visa.

As I understand it you need to have started to live here by 31st December 2021 to use EEA permit and settlement scheme.

https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-ci ... atus-means

[Joadmi]

Based on your dates of August 2021 then only option will be spouse visa.

As I understand it you need to have started to live here by 31st December 2021 to use EEA permit and settlement scheme.

https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-ci ... atus-means

Hi,

I don't think that is right, according to the below from the UK Government website;

Bring family members to the UK after 31 December 2020
If you’re a citizen of an EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, you’ll be able to bring close family members to the UK after 31 December 2020 if both of the following apply:

your relationship with them began before 31 December 2020
you are still in the relationship when they apply to join you
If you’re a Swiss citizen, you’ll also be able to bring your spouse or civil partner to the UK until 31 December 2025 if both of the following apply:

your relationship with them began between 31 December 2020 and 31 December 2025
you are still in the relationship when they apply to join.

So, as an Irish citizen with automatic UK settled status and having met the above crtieria for beginning my relationship before Dec 2020 and still being in the relationship, it would seem that we will meet the criteria to move to the UK in Aug 2021, with my wife on the EU Settled Status FP.

Also, a lawyer told me that Spousal visas are only British citizens, not for Irish citizens/CTA members! So much conflicting and ambiguous information out there.