2 residence cards simultaneously? is it possible?

[rufus23]

I'm a British citizen. My wife is non-EU.

I lived and worked in Ireland and my wife now has a Residence card issued in Ireland.

We obtained an EEA Family Permit for my wife to enter the UK. We now wish to live in the UK together as I have just found employment here in the UK.

Me and my wife will no doubt be going in out and of UK frequently and therefore don't want to hassle of forever apply for EEA Family Permits so that she may re-enter the UK safely.

Therefore we wish to apply for a UK-issued Residence Card. This will eliminate the need to keep renewing EEA Family Permits every 6 months.

So my question is: Is it possible for a person to be holder of 2 EU Residence Cards simultaneously?

Thanks.

[mcovet]

it certainly is possible. If anything, that other RC would be of great help to you as that would entitle you to the EU law to apply to you as a British Citizen taking advantage of the Directive 2004/38 and coming back (don't remember the case name, I think Surinder Singh).

From a legal point of view, provided you supply all the necessary documents, the UKBA must issue your wife with a Residence Card. The list of necessary docs in both the 2006 EEA Regulations and the Directive is exhaustive. I see absolutely no reason from the UK side on why they would refuse to issue a card.

On the other hand, upon entering Ireland, a reasonable question would be whether that older card is valid. But, valid or not, by that time you would have landed in Ireland and providing a marriage certificate, coupled with your passport would grant your wife entry.

I say go for it without a doubt, no way they can refuse to issue one. As I said, if anything, that other residence card would allow you to take advantage of EU law as opposed to being a purely internal situation.

[rufus23]

it certainly is possible. If anything, that other RC would be of great help to you as that would entitle you to the EU law to apply to you as a British Citizen taking advantage of the Directive 2004/38 and coming back (don't remember the case name, I think Surinder Singh).

From a legal point of view, provided you supply all the necessary documents, the UKBA must issue your wife with a Residence Card. The list of necessary docs in both the 2006 EEA Regulations and the Directive is exhaustive. I see absolutely no reason from the UK side on why they would refuse to issue a card.

On the other hand, upon entering Ireland, a reasonable question would be whether that older card is valid. But, valid or not, by that time you would have landed in Ireland and providing a marriage certificate, coupled with your passport would grant your wife entry.

I say go for it without a doubt, no way they can refuse to issue one. As I said, if anything, that other residence card would allow you to take advantage of EU law as opposed to being a purely internal situation.

Thanks a lot for this mcovet

Anyone else got any thoughts on this?

[Jambo]

You are allowed to have up to 6 months of absence a year without breaking your residency in the member state so I don't see a reason why during those 6 months you can't be a resident of a different member state.

[ca.funke]

Hi rufus23,

I (EU) and my wife (Lebanon) moved from Ireland (where my wife held 4EUFam) to Belgium.

In the absence of a registration system in Ireland, we just left Ireland without confirming this with anyone. In practice we just took the ferry from Rosslare to Cherbourg - end of story.

We then applied for a new RC in Belgium - and subsequently my wife held an Irish and a Belgian RC concurrently. This was never a problem.

Not sure if this can work for all possible combinations, but I can´t see why not.

Regards,
Christian

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

The most important question is could this be legal? Yes, because...

The non-EU citizen needs to do the following to be legally resident in a member state: http://eumovement.wordpress.com/2011/09 ... eed-to-do/

If they are legally resident and the EU citizen is exercising treaty rights, then they can apply for a Residence Card.

Now move temporarily to another member state and repeat. If they are gone temporarily from either member state for more than 6 months, or of they leave permanently then they loose their residence there.

But you can easily construct an example where they move to a member state, stay 6 months and a week, then leave the member state for the remainder of 5 months and three weeks, and then an additional 5 months and three weeks. And then return. In this case they have been away for almost a year and yet retained their residence.

They can also be away for longer for having babies, military service and education.

With a patient EU spouse (who finds it easy to work), you could legally have 4 or 5 Residence Cards, mostly from efficient member states like Germany and the Scandinavian countries (where processing time is a lot shorter than 6 months)

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

In article 5, it mentions "the valid residence card in article 10..."; similarly in article 11 "The residence card provided by article 10 (1)..."

To me, this envisages the possibility of their being more than one residence card, but "The Residence Card" (as opposed to A residence card) is the one that was issued confirming right of residence in a particular member state.

This perhaps have implications for the interpretation that the UK came with respect to recognising other member state issued residence cards (ie that it is not tenable).

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

In article 5, it mentions "the valid residence card in article 10..."; similarly in article 11 "The residence card provided by article 10 (1)..."

To me, this envisages the possibility of their being more than one residence card, but "The Residence Card" (as opposed to A residence card) is the one that was issued confirming right of residence in a particular member state.

This perhaps have implications for the interpretation that the UK came with respect to recognising other member state issued residence cards (ie that it is not tenable).

I am 100% sure that that is what UKBA uses to justify not recognizing other RCs