EEA Spouses of British citizens

[JAJ]

Many EEA national spouses of British citizens come to the UK without getting any form of visa or entry clearance.

Can they be regarded as "exercising treaty rights" in the UK if they do not take up employment?

This is an issue when it comes to naturalisation eligibility etc.

[John]

JAJ, can I point out that you have started this topic where you include a link to a document that lists all sorts of possible ways to exercise treaty rights. Working as an employee is only one such way.

[JAJ]

JAJ, can I point out that you have started this topic where you include a link to a document that lists all sorts of possible ways to exercise treaty rights. Working as an employee is only one such way.

And that's what prompted the question (I don't want to mix topics). I can't see anything in that document which applies specifically to a person from an EEA state who is living in the UK as the spouse of a British citizen and is a stay-at-home mother, for example.

Would such a person be covered by the self-sufficiency provisions? (in the sense that he or she would be supported by a British spouse)

[John]

The more I look at these EU matters the more I realise that they are quite complicated.

You mention "a stay-at-home mother" and if she has never worked in the UK then it might be different, but in the document you referred to, at 6.2.1.2 it makes clear that :-

"Worker" includes:

• job seekers
• those between jobs (for example, women who have ceased employment on becoming pregnant but who intend to resume work at some point after the birth)
• those undergoing training in their own or another field
• sick, injured and retired workers

:- which is clearly far wider than those who are actually in employment.

For example, if an EEA Citizen comes to the UK and starts their married life in the UK, initially having an employment, but then they stop working to have their family, intending eventually to resume employment, maybe many years later, after the children have reached sufficient age, then it seems to me that throughout the time in the UK they will have been within the definition of "worker".

Which just leaves someone who comes to the UK and never works here, and indeed never seeks work here. I shall look further into that aspect.

[JAJ]

Which just leaves someone who comes to the UK and never works here, and indeed never seeks work here. I shall look further into that aspect.

Which is the situation I had in mind. I have the impression that prior to the 2000 Regulations coming in, things were fairly flexible.

But now the situation for EEA nationals does seem a lot more complex. And it is quite appropriate for the United Kingdom to make a clear distinction between its Treaty obligations and additional concessions under domestic law (granted on public policy grounds).

However, if the situation is such that the EEA spouse of a British citizen does require a spouse visa if staying for more than 3 months and not intending to enter the labour force, the Home Office should perhaps be giving this a lot more publicity.