Looking For Advice

[bazzakorea]

Hi,

I am a British citizen who has been living in South Korea the past 9 years. I met my wife here and we have a 2 year old son together. My wife is Korean, speaks perfect English and we are both teachers in Korea. Our son would be eligible to apply for a UK passport and move to the UK with me. However, my wife would not.

I refuse to be forced to live apart from my wife and son while I work in the Uk for 12 months, so am looking for options.

My grandparents were Irish and I could apply for an Irish passport. Would this make my application easier?

[ohara]

Can you get a confirmed job offer in the UK with a salary of more than £18,600 pa? Failing that, do you have substantial savings?

https://www.gov.uk/join-family-in-uk/eligibility

[Casa]

If you can show that you have been earning the equivalent of £18,600 in the 12 month period prior to submitting your wife's Spouse Settlement visa application AND you have a confirmed job offer in the UK to start within 3 months of arrival, again with an annual salary of £18,600 you would be able to enter the UK together as soon as your wife's visa is issued.

Without income you would require £62,500 in savings, held in an accessible account for at least 6 months.

You will also need proof of adequate accommodation in the UK, available on your arrival.

Stand by for someone else to respond about the Irish passport.

[noajthan]

Hi,

I am a British citizen who has been living in South Korea the past 9 years. I met my wife here and we have a 2 year old son together. My wife is Korean, ...

My grandparents were Irish and I could apply for an Irish passport. Would this make my application easier?

Even if you become Irish the fact you are British trumps any EEA citizenship under UK law, (yes, even before Brexit);
if dual Irish/British, you will not be treated as a Union citizen able to exercise free movement rights in the UK.

So becoming Irish doesn't really help your immediate case.
That is unless you renounce British citizenship.
(In future you may wish to become Irish for other reasons and for access to the remainder of EU once UK has left).

[bazzakorea]

We own a business in Korea. But, would have to hope we can sell it before departing. However, I'm not certain we could generate 62,500 as well as pay 8,000 for the fee for application that I saw quoted. If we stay in Korea longer we could have the money, but we desire to move back home within a year.

I think sourcing a job whilst living outside the UK is almost impossible. Therefore, I highly doubt I can get the 22,400 job I would need for my son and wife to move with me immediately.

Therefore, I had considered the Surinder Singh route. But, there seems to be a lot of ambiguity surrounding it recently. I could easily get a job at an international school in Ireland, but would prefer to simply move to the UK with my family with me.

I think, even if I am able to secure a job and run a part time business around it to earn enough cash. My son would still have to be away from his mom at some stage, as she would need to leave the country to renew a tourist visa? Is this right? Considering the applications take 12 months for the spousal visas, I presume that is what she would have to do?

[noajthan]

We own a business in Korea. But, would have to hope we can sell it before departing. However, I'm not certain we could generate 62,500 as well as pay 8,000 for the fee for application that I saw quoted. If we stay in Korea longer we could have the money, but we desire to move back home within a year.

I think sourcing a job whilst living outside the UK is almost impossible. Therefore, I highly doubt I can get the 22,400 job I would need for my son and wife to move with me immediately.

Therefore, I had considered the Surinder Singh route. But, there seems to be a lot of ambiguity surrounding it recently. I could easily get a job at an international school in Ireland, but would prefer to simply move to the UK with my family with me.

I think, even if I am able to secure a job and run a part time business around it to earn enough cash. My son would still have to be away from his mom at some stage, as she would need to leave the country to renew a tourist visa? Is this right? Considering the applications take 12 months for the spousal visas, I presume that is what she would have to do?

SS is still an option as UK is still in EU but SS is nothing to do with becoming Irish.

In fact if you were Irish you couldn't undertake SS in home country of Eire.

Ofcourse starting out on an SS adventure now means there is probably no time for dependents to acquire PR in UK in the normal way after the 6months to 1 year or more sojourn in Ireland (or Malta or Cyprus or wherever).

[Casa]

We own a business in Korea. But, would have to hope we can sell it before departing. However, I'm not certain we could generate 62,500 as well as pay 8,000 for the fee for application that I saw quoted. If we stay in Korea longer we could have the money, but we desire to move back home within a year. No idea where you've got £8,000 from. The visa fee is £1195 +£600 NHS surcharge.

I think sourcing a job whilst living outside the UK is almost impossible. Therefore, I highly doubt I can get the 22,400 job I would need for my son and wife to move with me immediately. If your son is British you don't need to include him in the calculation. The minimum income level £18,600 p.a

Therefore, I had considered the Surinder Singh route. But, there seems to be a lot of ambiguity surrounding it recently. I could easily get a job at an international school in Ireland, but would prefer to simply move to the UK with my family with me.

I think, even if I am able to secure a job and run a part time business around it to earn enough cash. My son would still have to be away from his mom at some stage, as she would need to leave the country to renew a tourist visa? Is this right? Considering the applications take 12 months for the spousal visas, I presume that is what she would have to do? Spousal visas generally take no more than 3 months to process if all documents are in order

Regarding the visitor visa. This can't be used to reside in the UK and is only intended for short visits within a 6 month period. Very doubtful that a visitor visa would be granted as your wife would have to submit evidence of strong ties to her home country in order to convince the ECO that she won't overstay. With a husband living in the UK, this may be difficult.

[bazzakorea]

The 8 grand was all costs included from britcits blog I had read earlier in the week.

So, SS is not the way forward if we desire to live there long-term? In all honestly, SS was only considered as it was more cost effective. I'm not overly keen on moving my family around another country. But, considered Ireland as I could find International School work easily enough and schooling would be comfortable for my son. Plus, it seemed to be potentially a faster route home so we can start our real life plans, not a stop-gap.

Is the only concrete way to move my family to my country of birth... to be apart from them and secure a job in the UK; then apply? I'm pretty certain I can get a job i detest for that salary easily enough. My concern is being separated from my son and wife for any duration. I would have to hold the position 6 months? Then apply and wait 3-6 months?

As for the Irish passport - I just thought it may help my application chances if I was a dual citizen.

[bazzakorea]

Presumably, the 18,600 has to be earned in the UK? I earned way more last year, but obviously in Korea, not UK

[KatieWills]

If you can show that you have been earning the equivalent of £18,600 in the 12 month period prior to submitting your wife's Spouse Settlement visa application AND you have a confirmed job offer in the UK to start within 3 months of arrival, again with an annual salary of £18,600 you would be able to enter the UK together as soon as your wife's visa is issued.

[Casa]

If you can show that you have been earning the equivalent of £18,600 in the 12 month period prior to submitting your wife's Spouse Settlement visa application AND you have a confirmed job offer in the UK to start within 3 months of arrival, again with an annual salary of £18,600 you would be able to enter the UK together as soon as your wife's visa is issued.

@KateWills Thanks.

@bazzakorea I can't imagine where the £8,000 costs for an initial Spouse Settlement visa comes from....unless the fees from for all visa applications throughout the 5 year period, including British citizenship have been included.

[bazzakorea]

That's positive. But, there would be the issue that under Korean law I am not stated as CEO in the company. Nor am I on the payroll. I just work there voluntary according to the system which is fine by Korean visa and legal bounding laws, as my spouse is Korean and the business owner. So, I'm not sure that company revenue would be acceptable as proof of my earnings.

What would appear as my spouses money wouldn't count, right?

I guess I will have to look into adding myself to the payroll for 12 months....

[Casa]

That's positive. But, there would be the issue that under Korean law I am not stated as CEO in the company. Nor am I on the payroll. I just work there voluntary according to the system which is fine by Korean visa and legal bounding laws, as my spouse is Korean and the business owner. So, I'm not sure that company revenue would be acceptable as proof of my earnings. Pay slips + corresponding bank statements are mandatory

What would appear as my spouses money wouldn't count, right? No it wouldn't. Joint savings would

I guess I will have to look into adding myself to the payroll for 12 months....

[secret.simon]

Given your details, I would say there are only two alternatives.

a) SS via a non-UK non-Irish EEA country - Will require you to work there and move the centre of your life there. So things such as learning the local lingo, local banking and rental, etc.

b) Acquire Irish passport, renounce British citizenship, apply for an EEA FP for spouse and move directly to the UK - See this thread for more details. User chaoclive is quite clued up on this matter and may step by to advise further.

[bazzakorea]

Why non-Irish? I thought that was one of the most used routes for SS?

I can potentially find work in any of the EU countries working in ESL, but would have preferred an English speaking country for my child's schooling. I know Malta is viable and I could also pass their financial requirements for being self sufficient. But, work seems pretty sparse there.

[Wanderer]

Why non-Irish? I thought that was one of the most used routes for SS?

Because of the historical ties between UK and Eire (same Kingdom until fairly recently), the CTA etc always trumpted EU rules so it was decided that joint UK/Irish citizens were to be considered not to be separate under EU rules. Really crap explainantion but the jist is croreect I think/hope.

[bazzakorea]

Just as a UK citizen I'm already classed as dual citizen? Or do you guys mean if I apply for an Irish passport prior to entering?

Thank you all by the way... This is my 3rd sleepless night stressing about what is involved with this move and I appreciate all input.

Theres so much to read and understand. It's quite overwhelming.

I read somewhere that I would need to take a week in another EU country, then fly to Ireland to get my passport stamped, then look for work etc. Is that right?

[noajthan]

...

I read somewhere that I would need to take a week in another EU country, then fly to Ireland to get my passport stamped, then look for work etc. Is that right?

Huh?

You need to get up to speed on free movement pronto, start here:
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/citizen/doc ... 013_en.pdf

[secret.simon]

Why non-Irish? I thought that was one of the most used routes for SS?

Because for SS to work, you need to exercise EU treaty rights in an EU country that you are not a citizen of. If you are the citizen of an EEA country, your rights as a citizen are more proximate than EU treaty rights and hence the latter are not triggered.

So, if you are a dual Irish/British citizen, you should aim to exercise treaty rights in a non-Irish and non-UK country.

Noajthan speaks highly of Malta as an Anglophile and Anglophone country. He may advise better on that.

I read somewhere that I would need to take a week in another EU country, then fly to Ireland to get my passport stamped, then look for work etc. Is that right?

No idea where you got that from, but in any case, your UK Passport won't be stamped in Ireland (or any other EU country for that matter). EU Passports are not stamped in any other EU country.

[bazzakorea]

Thank you,

I'm still unsure why I couldn't go to Ireland. I am not an Irish citizen, just British. My grandfather was Irish, but that is my only connection. Are you saying that nobody with a British passport can take that route?

Now that I have read more about the process. I think I am going to try for the spouse visa next year. In the meantime I will register my son for his UK passport. Then, work on payslips from Korea. The biggest stumbling block will be securing work in UK prior to heading over. However, I've got 3 companies now that said they will interview me via SKYPE once I am set on a return date, which is promising. But, not guaranteed.

Question:

If my son has his British passport (he will be 3 years old) --- Will I still have to pay for him to apply under the spouse visa? Or will the fees only apply to my wife? It seems such an expensive process overall, so I hope once my son has his passport he is free to move freely with me.

[vinny]

If son is British, then he cannot apply for a UK visa.