EEA family permit for non EU wife of a UK citizen

[odilita]

Hello to all,
I hope someone can help me, i am a non eu living with my uk husband in spain, i have a recidency card and my husband is been living here for 5 years now. we got married a year ago, now due to the economic situation in spain he want to return to his country, we are going to apply for a EEA fp but the thing is he has been working as self employed and have no proof, just customer deposits in his bank account and apparently this is a necessary step to get the FP.
all we have are savings which we can prove that we will not be a burden to the government, but it is not a very large amount, and he is already looking for work in the UK. we also have a place to live there that is in the house of his father.
we will apply March in Madrid and I really need of your help to guide us.

[Jambo]

He will need to prove he was self employed for the application to succeed.

I suggest you read EEA FAQs - Common Questions - Read before posting - Surinder Singh.

[odilita]

thanks for your reply,
how can he prove it?

[Jambo]

he has been working as self employed and have no proof, just customer deposits in his bank account

I'm not familiar with system in Spain but if you are self-employed in the UK, you are expected to be able to provide invoices, business bank account statements, accountant letter, proof of tax paid etc. I guess similar things should exist in Spain.

[odilita]

thank you very much Jambo,

Am afraid that is no going to be possible to prove as he is been living from savings and working now and then as construccion worker. as for me i have been here a year now and looking for job everyday and no luck so far, thats the main reason for the return. We are really desperate now cause we are living from savings and soon will be no left

is there another way we can go to the uk?

[Jambo]

He doesn't need to provide proof that he is working now. During the 5 years, did he have longer periods of employment? Can he prove that or was it all paid in cash with no receipts?

The other option is applying using the UK domestic rules but that requires proof of savings or employment in the UK above 18K.

[odilita]

Thanks again jambo,
yes, iam afraid it was all cash, so he cant do anything.
We really dont know what to do....cause getting a spouse visa will be again, the fact of emplyment....

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

Couple of options I can think of:

(1) move to a different EU member state where there is more work, like Germany

(2) try to get proof together that he has been working, eg. in the form of letters from people he has worked for describing the work he did, the amount he was paid, etc. This might or might not work for an application.

(3) go the UK spouse route

(4) find a local job that does pay. Maybe somebody wants to officially employ you for 12 hours per week in exchange for you also working another day per week unpaid.

[odilita]

Thank you very much Directive,

we are thinking going with the spouse route, do you know the amount of savings required for this, as we are both here in spain?

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

Sorry I know almost nothing about the UK spouse visa.

[ukforever]

Thank you very much Directive,

we are thinking going with the spouse route, do you know the amount of savings required for this, as we are both here in spain?

In order to qualify for a spouse visa, you need to have a job that pays £18600 per year.

In lieu of this minimum income, you can prove it via savings at a predetermined level...

Difference between current earnings and 18600 x 2.5 + 16000

So, in your case the minimum requirement is £62500

18600 minimum minus your income level of 0 p.a. = 18600 needed to make up the difference for the visa.

18600 x 2.5 = 46500

I am not sure where they got the 2.5 bit from, but I would imagine that it represents needing £18600 per year for the 2.5 years between granting of the initial visa and the expiry of the first visa (you need to get two visas of 2.5 years each in order to qualify for Indefinite Leave to Remain). I would suspect as well that this same formula would apply for the second visa as well.

46500 + 16000 = 62500

Am also not sure where the £16000 requirement comes from or how it would come in to play, other than the fact that it's part of the formula that the Home Office came up with when they revamped the rules on July 9th.

Therefore, £62500 is the minimum required balance in cash savings (i.e. no loans) in order to qualify. These funds must have sat in the bank for at least 6 months untouched.

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/britai ... vings.html

[odilita]

Thank you very much ukforever, sounds way too complicated and we dont have that amount of cash in the bank. I guess that is not an option for us.