Surinder Singh Cyprus

[mlegosta]

Hello,
I am UK citizen and I am considering getting through the Surinder Singh route for my wife and her child via Cyprus.
Has anyone recently experienced the same?
In particular, I have some questions. Some of them may sound dumb, but so they are.

1) What is the waiting time to get EU Family Member Residence Permit now in Cyprus?
2) Will their passports be in the CY immigration authorities all that time? What if we need to travel?
3) Do we need to apply for UK entry clearance / Residence permit while in Cyprus, or we need to get EU Family Member Residence permits in Cyprus, enter the UK with them, and apply for UK residency from here?
4) Do we actually need to wait until we get pink/yellow slips before applying for UK residency? Or simple 3+ months of living in Cyprus be enough to apply for UK entry clearance?
5) Does my wife's child need to be with us on Cyprus while we are waiting for the EU Family Member Residence Permit? She's now studying in her native non-EEA country, and dragging her to another temporary school abroad would benefit nobody. What is the best way of action here?

Thank you everyone!

[noajthan]

Hello,
I am UK citizen and I am considering getting through the Surinder Singh route for my wife and her child via Cyprus.
Has anyone recently experienced the same?
In particular, I have some questions. Some of them may sound dumb, but so they are.

1) What is the waiting time to get EU Family Member Residence Permit now in Cyprus?
2) Will their passports be in the CY immigration authorities all that time? What if we need to travel?
3) Do we need to apply for UK entry clearance / Residence permit while in Cyprus, or we need to get EU Family Member Residence permits in Cyprus, enter the UK with them, and apply for UK residency from here?
4) Do we actually need to wait until we get pink/yellow slips before applying for UK residency? Or simple 3+ months of living in Cyprus be enough to apply for UK entry clearance?
5) Does my wife's child need to be with us on Cyprus while we are waiting for the EU Family Member Residence Permit? She's now studying in her native non-EEA country, and dragging her to another temporary school abroad would benefit nobody. What is the best way of action here?

Thank you everyone!

3) Apply for FP from Cyprus.

4) Suggest give it 6 or 9 months+.

Especially in light of November changes to UK's EEA Regs.
As discussed here:
http://www.immigrationboards.com/eea-ro ... 19308.html

5) As per EEA Regs, only spouse needs to share life in Cyprus.
How HO implement this in practice remains to be seen.

[vinny]

5) As per EEA Regs, only spouse needs to share life in Cyprus.

9(2)(b) seems to include all family members, not just spouse.

[noajthan]

5) As per EEA Regs, only spouse needs to share life in Cyprus.

9(2)(b) seems to include all family members, not just spouse.

Its always seemed a bit of a grey area.
Regulation 15 kicks in for Brits doing SS and it doesn't seem to account for all the case law on family members in this complex area.
So a little unclear (to me at least) if UK Regs are fully compliant with cleaner, purer EU law.

[noajthan]

And making a case that relocating a child to Cyprus is a disruptive and inconvenient detour (for a child who is embedded in school in home country) does not seem to make the case for strengthening of family ties and family cohesion which is one purpose of free movement provisions.
Namely so that Union citizen is not constrained from exercising free movement and economic activity in a.n.other memberstate by any family pull factors back home.

It is also not going to sit well with the UK's centre of life test that UK will apply over and above EU law when assessing the case.

After all if child can stay in home country for schooling surely that applies whether parent is in Cyprus or UK.
And if Cyprus is portrayed as a temporary inconvenience (whereas UK is a long-term plan) it gives the lie to the purpose of the Cyprus gig.
This can again fall foul of the new beefed up SS regulations.

[mlegosta]

Thanks both noajthan and vinny.
It is really a grey area about the child.
I understand that it is more reliable to take child to Cyprus, but that will be disruptive for her education that in good part defeats the purpose.
How strong this recommendation is, and what is the current "best practice" you're aware of?

[noajthan]

Thanks both noajthan and vinny.
It is really a grey area about the child.
I understand that it is more reliable to take child to Cyprus, but that will be disruptive for her education that in good part defeats the purpose.
How strong this recommendation is, and what is the current "best practice" you're aware of?

HO plays hard ball and not sure if you've heard but SS is in its crosshairs in the current prevailing climate vis a vis EU and migrants.

Anything that shows this is a short-term fix tends to weaken your case, especially with the non-EU friendly centre of life test UK imposes.

If it was me I'd take the child, how can you bear to be separated and after all, travel broadens the mind;
- 6 or 9 months or a year or so in the heart of the Med, a crucible of history and culture, will be an education in itself.

[vinny]

Concur.

Previously, the EEA regulations specified that only spouse or civil partner had to reside with the British citizen in the EEA country. Then, it may have been a grey area for other family members. However, they now explicitly include (all) family members. So, it would indeed be safer under this route (and more beneficial and educational) for child to relocate with parents too.

[mlegosta]

Thanks!
I now see we will need to take child with us to Cyprus. As they have public schools with teaching in Greek only, we now need to think carefully.

Does anyone know the answers to other questions I asked?

1) What is the waiting time to get EU Family Member Residence Permit now in Cyprus?
2) Will their passports be in the CY immigration authorities all that time? What if we need to travel?
4) Do we actually need to wait until we get pink/yellow slips before applying for UK residency?