Changes to EEA: dual British/Irish citizens

[doratheexplorer]

Hi,
I am a non-eea national married to a dual UK/Irish citizen living in Northern Ireland. We have been preparing our documents to apply for the EEA family permit so I can go live with my husband in the UK (we are currently living apart). However, after these new changes have been announced I am afraid our plan will no longer work.
Do you think we would still have a shot at it considering my husband has never lived in any other member state (except Northern Ireland, UK)?
We can't apply for a UK spouse visa as we are nowhere near the 18K income threshold they have announced

Any advice or words of wisdom would be highly appreciated!

Thank you

[Jambo]

One option you might consider is moving to Ireland (or any other EEA state) using your British nationality, work there for several months and then move back to the UK using the Surinder Singh route (British returning after working in a different member state).

I'm not familiar with Ireland immigration matters, so I suggest you ask in the Ireland dedicated section of the forum if Ireland allows dual nationals to use their non-Irish nationality.

[doratheexplorer]

Thank you for your quick reply. I will look into this route.
*fingers crossed*

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

Has you husband always had an Irish passport? Which passport has he used in his day-to-day life in NI?

Note also that you could live in Ireland and he could continue to commute to his work in NI.

[doratheexplorer]

Yes, he has always been a dual citizen since birth. However sometimes he used his British passport and sometimes his Irish one.
We are trying to think of a way to be eligible to settle in the UK (Northern Ireland) because that's our goal. We are looking into living in another EU state for a while and then applying for the EEA family permit upon going back to the UK.
However, I am wondering, does my husband need to be working in the other EU state or can he be a student and self-sufficient? For instance if he enrolls in a one-year college program in another eu country and I live with him there for that time.
Also, I am wondering if I, being a non-eea national would have any trouble living with him in another EU state for this matter. I have no information about this topic so I should research this more.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

Yes, he has always been a dual citizen since birth. However sometimes he used his British passport and sometimes his Irish one.

What has he used the Irish passport for?

[doratheexplorer]

For travel, however he lost it about a year or so ago, so now he has a fresh Irish passport