Settled in UK via Eire

[Richard W]

I don't see a quick route to PR, but oddly I do see a possible quick route to British citizenship! It would be simpler for you, as you do not need a visa, and do not need to be accompanied by your partner. However, you would have to marry your partner so that you only needed three years lawful residence in the UK. You might be refused citizenship as being of bad character because you were in breach of the immigration laws while a student.

@R this is all bonkers. The OP does not even have a 'Chinese wife'.

I will therefore reluctantly spell the route out for the benefit for of those without the patience to realise that the OP is in the position of the Chinese wife. Follow my link for caveats.

The method is simple in the OP's case:

The OP travels directly to Ireland and back, e.g. by the Holyhead to Dublin ferry, ensuring that he obtains and generates evidence of the trip. (There may be legal problems with flying!)

He is then settled in the UK! (Just like an Irishman in 2003-5*.) He is free of any time limit on his stay or equivalent because of the return using the Common Travel Area, and he is not 'in breach of the immigration laws' because he is an A8 national exercising treaty rights. Once he has been exercising the treaty rights continuously for 3 years, has LitUK, and has a British wife, the OP is qualified for naturalisation.

Now, you may ask why this method, if it works, is not well known. My answer is that it was only created in October 2014, when The Immigration (Control of Entry through Republic of Ireland) Order 1972 was amended by The Immigration (Control of Entry through Republic of Ireland) (Amendment) Order 2014. Until then, Article 4 of the former had largely limited the freedom from immigration control to citizens of the Irish Republic and, vacuously, those with right of abode in the UK. The amendment extended its applicability to any "person who is entitled to enter or remain in the United Kingdom by virtue of an enforceable EU right or any provision made under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972". Article 3 still in general excludes visa nationals, though there is get-out clause for some Chinese and Indian nationals.

Secondly, its benefits are rather limited. It is an accelerator for some people who would previously have expected to acquire settled status by a well-trodden route. I see it as a Plan B. Note that although entry by this route is all that is now (since 2010) needed for an Irishman to become settled, other nationalities need some parallel route to avoid being "in breach of the immigration laws" despite being lawfully present.

All OP needs to do is keep head down, keep nose clean, keep working, stay based in UK and wait to acquire the holy grail of PR in approx 2 years.

You may be right, you may be wrong. Do you have a working crystal ball? The UK could be out of the EEA within a year, and, more likely, 'PR' acquired after June 2016 may cease to be permanent. The front runner for Prime Minister (Theresa May for future reference) has already suggested expelling former EEA criminals lawfully settled in the UK.

As this topic is all about gaining status in UK, why would you suggest to someone who has already reached the privileged and happy state of British citizenship that they should contemplate renouncing it, putting their position at risk, in order to help someone else to get it.

Love of the OP? I did point out that it was a risky move that would be unlikely to help.

*The Immigration, Nationality and Asylum Act 2002 defined "in breach of the immigration laws" in a way that ignored the effect of legally crossing from Ireland to the UK. This omission was corrected in 2010. Irishmen would mostly have avoided being "in breach of the immigration laws" by satisfying the conditions in the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2000, which were revoked in 2006, without the definition of being in breach being updated until 2010! Thus I can only succinctly claim to understand the law for 2003-5!

[noajthan]

Moved out from OP's original topic as off-topic from OPs original question.

[Richard W]

What makes difference if I visit Ireland, sorry didn't know anything about it. Would it be more quicker ?

Follow the link I gave. None of the moderators seem interested in checking my claims. They might regard endorsing my claim as irresponsible, even if they believe I am correct.

In short:

The main route that used to cause most Irishmen arriving in the UK after 1971 to instantly become settled was opened in 2014 to every non-visa national with a right to enter under the EEA Regulations. However, there are two parts to being settled. On is to have no time restrictions on one's stay in the UK, and the second is now not to be "in breach the immigration laws", as defined in the British Nationality Act 1981 Section 50A. Entry by this route satisfies the first part, but only satisfies the second part if one is an Irish citizen. However, being resident in accordance with the EEA Regulations also makes one not "in breach of the immigration laws".

The big worry is that naturalisation as British is by discretion, and the Home Secretary could introduce a policy that non-Irish people using this route to qualify for naturalisation should nonetheless be refused naturalisation. Anyone who tried this method would risk losing the naturalisation fee.

Now, if you made the surface journey from the Republic to the UK, you would qualify for naturalisation by being settled, having resided legally for at least three years, and having a British wife. The risk is yours, and while a recognised route remains open, I suggest you follow it instead. There is a strong possibility that EEA rights will not be restricted for those who have already arrived in the UK.

[Obie]

Well believe me Richard, if you views were correct, it will not have taken me 1 second to endorse them. I am a very innovative person, who always welcome new ideas and ways of circumventing rules which i find most restrictive, i also love helping people avoid the effect on them. People who i work with, will attest to that.

We as moderators never endorsed your views because it is simply wrong, and totally misconceived.

The competence of any moderators who were to endorse it, will be seriously questioned.

Your views are totally devoid of legally foundation and logical thought, that it will be at the height of irresponsibility and recklessness for any hardworking individual in these economic conditions to follow them.

I know we are talking about brexit, and Teressa May has said Brexit means Brexit and she will make a success of it, even though i am confident that nothing good can come out of Brexit, I will nevertheless refuse to advise any one out of desperation to follow the part you are seeking to lead them.

[Richard W]

We as moderators never endorsed your views because it is simply wrong, and totally misconceived.

The competence of any moderators who were to endorse it, will be seriously questioned.

Your views are totally devoid of legally foundation and logical thought, that it will be at the height of irresponsibility and recklessness for any hardworking individual in these economic conditions to follow them.

Would you care to give me a relevant example? I trust you no longer claim that Irishmen rapidly (if not immediately) become settled on arrival in the UK simply because the Republic of Ireland is not a foreign country.

Noajthan's title for this thread is slightly misleading - crossing from Ireland to the UK merely makes those not excluded from the benefits of IA 1971 Section 1(3) not "subject under the immigration laws to any restriction on the period for which he may remain", to use the wording of BNA 1981 Section 50(2). Not being "in breach of the immigration laws" (BNA 1981 Section 50A) depends on something else, most typically being resident in accordance with the EEA Regulations (BNA 1981 Section 50A(4)(e)). Irish citizens satisfy this second condition by Section 50A Subsections (4)d and 5.

[noajthan]

Members are expected to manage own topics. Consult FAQs if you wish to edit title.

[Obie]

I accept that Irish citizen who enter the UK are considered settled from their arrival. This is not because the travelled from Ireland, but simply because they are irish , and UK legislation and Irish legislation make provision for this reciprocal arrangement for their respecie citizens.

The right is not derived from the Geographical location from which a person flew into the UK, but rather by the nationality a person hold. This is the point we have been seeking to make.
Therefore saying an EU citizen will have similar rights by entering the UK from Ireland is simply baseless.

[Richard W]

I accept that Irish citizen who enter the UK are considered settled from their arrival. This is not because the travelled from Ireland, but simply because they are irish , and UK legislation and Irish legislation make provision for this reciprocal arrangement for their respecie citizens.

The right is not derived from the Geographical location from which a person flew into the UK, but rather by the nationality a person hold. This is the point we have been seeking to make.

As far as 'settled' in nationality law is concerned, your statement is patently wrong. The one advantage that an Irishman has over other EEA nationals in British nationality law is that he may avoid being 'in breach of the immigration laws' by have a 'qualifying CTA entitlement' (BNA 1981 Subsection 50A(4)(d)). Now,

For the purposes of subsection (4)(d), a person has a qualifying CTA entitlement if the person—

(a) is a citizen of the Republic of Ireland,

(b) last arrived in the United Kingdom on a local journey (within the meaning of the Immigration Act 1971) from the Republic of Ireland, and

(c) on that arrival, was a citizen of the Republic of Ireland and was entitled to enter without leave by virtue of section 1(3) of the Immigration Act 1971 (entry from the common travel area).

Note the geographical restriction by point of origin as well as the restriction by nationality.

The entitlement to enter without leave by virtue of section 1(3) can be restricted by order, and this was most relevantly done by Article 4 of the Immigration (Control of Entry through Republic of Ireland) Order 1972, which practically restricted such entry to Irish citizens. However, for surface journeys at least, the right of Irish citizens was extended to those able to enter under EU law, with the apparent exception of visa nationals, by the Immigration (Control of Entry through Republic of Ireland) (Amendment) Order 2014.

As for the position in immigration law, let me quote from the debate in the House of Lords introducing the "qualified CTA entitlement" to British statute law (on 2 March 2009):

Amendment 107 provides that an Irish national who is in the UK, having arrived on a local journey from Ireland or the islands under Section 1(3) of the Immigration Act 1971, is not considered to be in breach of the immigration laws. The amendment will be limited to Irish nationals exercising rights to arrive in the UK without obtaining leave under Section 1(3), which will exclude Irish nationals who are not entitled to enter the UK under Section 1(3), as well as Irish nationals who do not arrive in the UK on a local journey from Ireland or the islands. The requested amendment is designed only to ensure that Clause 44 corresponds with the common travel area arrangements for Irish nationals, not to expand the rights given to Irish nationals more generally.
...
At the moment, Irish nationals entering the UK from France do not have a CTA entitlement to re-enter this country. In most cases, however, they will have a right to enter under European law, and that situation will remain unchanged.

I have no reason to disbelieve what was said.

Therefore saying an EU citizen will have similar rights by entering the UK from Ireland is simply baseless.

Your logical process is reasonable, but the conclusion is fatally flawed by a false premiss.

[Obie]

Common travel area is simply a facility enablin Irish national or British Citizen travelling to and from Ireland or UK, to do so without a passport.

You are reading a lot into this Common Travel Area, which is just an informal protool that is not control by any statutory provision..

I don't think this discussion is getting us anywhere . It may be beat to call it a day , ony part.

[Richard W]

Common travel area is simply a facility enablin Irish national or British Citizen travelling to and from Ireland or UK, to do so without a passport.

You are reading a lot into this Common Travel Area, which is just an informal protool that is not control by any statutory provision..

There's a quick survey of the usually relevant aspects of the CTA in the ILPA briefing Brexit briefing: impact on Common Travel Area and the Irish. It makes the point that Irish rights are at risk because the CTA facility, originally for British and Irish nationals, has been formally extended to EEA nationals (at least, on the British side - I haven't look at the Irish side).

The CTA was purely informal until the Immigration Act 1971, which made the first statutory provisions relating to it. What is true is that there is no treaty defining it - the Republic of Ireland may be excluded from it by statutory order. Reciprocity has been uneven.

I don't think this discussion is getting us anywhere . It may be beat to call it a day , ony part.

So, have you formulated any valid objections to my claim?