Mother of a British Citizen

[Skylar1331]

I'm the mother of a British citizen. I have been accepted at a university in the UK on a paid scholarship and was planning to enter via the Surinder Singh route instead of a Student Visa, so I could have the right to work. However, I'm worried about two things. One is that the UK leaves the EU thus effectively closing the Singh route to me. The second is that my husband is an alcoholic and I will need to separate from him. Our baby is 5 months old and was born in Spain where we are both legal residents. My husband is British and I am American but our son acquired citizenship at birth and has a British passport. I know I can go via the Student Visa and take him with me as he is a British citizen already so I presume he has the right to live in the UK. However, if the Singh route closes is there a way for me to enter as his mother instead of as the wife of a British citizen? In this way, if rehab doesn't sort my husband out this summer and we need to separate, I will not have to change my family visa. I read through what I could find online and all of it is in regards to children who are already in the UK. Is there any way for a parent to take the British citizen minor to England (his dad will inevitably follow and live near bye, sober or not) and which visa would I enter on? Any advice would be much appreciated.

[Wanderer]

AIUI your EU rights derive from the EU citizen i.e. you husband so if he's not around neither are your rights. Also having a British child does not confer any rights of residence to UK.

Those I think are the bare bones, I'll leave the rest (and any corrections) for others ITK...

[Skylar1331]

Okay. Oh well. I guess I will hope SS comes through and if not go with the family permit and see how things progress.

[Wanderer]

A plus point is if you've been married for three years (I think) and you separate and live in same country (not sure if/how SS applies here) you retain your ROR (Right of Residence) and EU rights.

Like I say, I'm no expert on this aspect (or any other come to that, derived from my repute on here as an abject pessimist!) so wait for others.

[noajthan]

I'm the mother of a British citizen. I have been accepted at a university in the UK on a paid scholarship and was planning to enter via the Surinder Singh route instead of a Student Visa, so I could have the right to work. However, I'm worried about two things. One is that the UK leaves the EU thus effectively closing the Singh route to me. The second is that my husband is an alcoholic and I will need to separate from him. Our baby is 5 months old and was born in Spain where we are both legal residents. My husband is British and I am American but our son acquired citizenship at birth and has a British passport. I know I can go via the Student Visa and take him with me as he is a British citizen already so I presume he has the right to live in the UK. However, if the Singh route closes is there a way for me to enter as his mother instead of as the wife of a British citizen? In this way, if rehab doesn't sort my husband out this summer and we need to separate, I will not have to change my family visa. I read through what I could find online and all of it is in regards to children who are already in the UK. Is there any way for a parent to take the British citizen minor to England (his dad will inevitably follow and live near bye, sober or not) and which visa would I enter on? Any advice would be much appreciated.

How about this.

You can't second guess what will happen to SS so may as well plough on regardless for now.
Even if changes are made (& we have SS by virtue of EEA not the EU which is the focus of Brexit) there are likely to be transitional arrangements. (That's my guess anyway).

So...
A) return to UK with hubby and child a la SS.
As long as you are married, you can live your life in UK with the right to reside, study (even work, if you had time what with baby and books).

AIUI, under EU law co-habitation is not mandatory even for an old married couple; (not sure if that translates, it doesn't mean you're "old").

Under Eind (case law), hubby does not need to exercise treaty rights back in UK so no worries for him there about finding work (or no work).

B) Worst case there's the EU RoR option for divorcing couples so that you may retain residency then work towards PR in your own right.

(There's another member currently piloting a SS/ROR case elsewhere in the forum).

And/or
C) you could invoke Zambrano as the carer of a BC child; (by this time you should all be ensconced in UK and so baby will probably be habitually resident back in the 'home' country).

Note, as a derivative EU right, Zambrano does not lead to settlement (PR) but it could at least see you through your child/ren's education;
(ie both primary and secondary school years).

I don't know much about Zambrano. Having a British parent on the scene will probably complicate things; you may need sole responsibility for child.

Not sure.
Could get messy.

Anyway, how does that sound for a start with plans A, B & C to dig into?