EEA national & non-EEA spouse not residing in EEA

[nordsee]

Hi all,

We have a bit of a complicated situation here.

I'm an EEA national and I'm married to a non EEA national. We both met when studying in the UK. Afterwards, we both moved within the UK and I started a job. She couldn't find a job and as her student visa was about to expiere we decided to get married and she applied for the respective visa. After two months, she did receive stating that her visa application is still being processed, but she is allowed to work from now on. However, we decided for other reasons to leave the UK and to go to her country (China). We are still here, but plan on going back to the UK. This could be two scenarios:

1) I will start my PhD studies. This would be financed from savings, family contributions and university assistant jobs
2) I will take employment (Salary would be GBP25k+)

My wife's current employer could transfer her to the UK, but they would not take care of the visa. So therefore, she would need a spouse visa again.

Could she already apply for this from China? Or would she need to go to the UK on an EEA family permit first and once in the UK apply for the spouse visa? This is not just a problem because of the long waiting time , but would also make her lose the already offered opportunity of employment.

How does the visa situation and application pathway look in both scenarios? If it is possible to apply for a spouse visa from China, what is the experience concerning the respective processing time?

Thanks so much for any help provided.

Best wishes from Shanghai!

[sweetha76]

I feel you can use the family permit route, as the waiting times are not too bad.
The residence card application can take up to 6 month once you have entered the UK, as a wife of an EEA national she is entitled to work and live here (normally), as long as you are exercising Treaty Rights ( working, studying, etc.)

[noajthan]

Get up to speed on free movement here:
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/citizen/doc ... 013_en.pdf

FP to enter UK.
EU route is available for as long as UK remains in EU.

[nordsee]

I feel you can use the family permit route, as the waiting times are not too bad.
The residence card application can take up to 6 month once you have entered the UK, as a wife of an EEA national she is entitled to work and live here (normally), as long as you are exercising Treaty Rights ( working, studying, etc.)

Thanks for your reply!

She could work on an EEA family permit? I wasn't aware of that so far.
So wait, right now we are in China. Which means she could apply for this permit over here and just move with me to the UK?
After her arrival and sorting out of her employment status she could apply for the residence card?
The permit is valid for 6 months, correct?

[noajthan]

Thanks for your reply!

She could work on an EEA family permit? I wasn't aware of that so far.
So wait, right now we are in China. Which means she could apply for this permit over here and just move with me to the UK?
After her arrival and sorting out of her employment status she could apply for the residence card?
The permit is valid for 6 months, correct?

Yes, you've more or less got it.
Except that the optional RC depends on you being a qualified person in UK; it doesn't depend on wife's status.

[nordsee]

It says
"You must show that your EEA family member has a permanent right of residence or is one of the following if they’ve been in the UK for more than 3 months: [...]"

Do you have some experience on how this was handled in the past?

As I'm not in UK right now and haven't been since March 2016, I would not need to prove any employment or studies etc, right? We could theoretically only be going as tourists, right?

[noajthan]

It says
"You must show that your EEA family member has a permanent right of residence or is one of the following if they’ve been in the UK for more than 3 months: [...]"

Do you have some experience on how this was handled in the past?

As I'm not in UK right now and haven't been since March 2016, I would not need to prove any employment or studies etc, right? We could theoretically only be going as tourists, right?

Yes, wife can apply for FP on basis of moving with you to UK.

Then once settled, during your initial 3 months grace period in UK, you will assemble the evidence for the optional application for a RC to confirm wife's status.
You as sponsor need to be a qualified person after 3 months in UK (if not before).

[nordsee]

1) After the 3 month period, I will probably have to prove my status (student, working...). If I will be working the income will be fine, as mentioned earlier on.
2) If I will be a student, do I need to prove anything concerning income or funds? She will earn earn and probably even support me...

[Casa]

1) After the 3 month period, I will probably have to prove my status (student, working...). If I will be working the income will be fine, as mentioned earlier on.
2) If I will be a student, do I need to prove anything concerning income or funds? She will earn earn and probably even support me...

As a student you will have to hold Comprehensive Sickness Insurance (CSI) for both yourself and your wife. This is regardless of whether your wife is working as you are the EEA sponsor.

[nordsee]

If working or studying, wouldn't I be a NHS user?

[Casa]

If you are only studying, as an EEA national you and your wife will both need CSI. This also applies if your Non-EEA wife is supporting you and you are exercising your Treaty rights as self-sufficient.

This article by Freemovement may help.

https://www.freemovement.org.uk/compreh ... -needs-it/

[nordsee]

Thanks for all the answers and the help. The situation looks much better than expected. At least for now (Brexit)...