I am an EEA citizen and already hold Permanent Residence certificate in the UK since 2016 through EEA(PR).
My spouse is a non-EEA citizen, holding refugee status, temporary leave to remain (5 years) since 2014 expiring in 2019. She has been continuously in the UK on student visa from 2012 to 2014. We have been married and living in the UK since 2015.
1. Which routes can my spouse apply for ILR/settlement/citizenship? We are worried about the Safe Return policy of home office rejecting a SET(P) refugee settlement application in 2019 with insufficient reasoning, when my spouse temporary refugee leave ends.
2. Could my spouse apply in 2020 after 5 years of marriage with an EEA permanent resident living in the UK for EEA permanent residence? (In current conditions as Brexit may change this) Would she need to be on an EEA spouse visa for 5 years or is her 5 year refugee leave OK for this purpose?
3. In case Could my spouse apply for ILR based on 10 continuous lawful residence SET(LR) in 2022 case my spouse refugee SET(P) settlement fails and she obtains a spouse visa from 2019 (EEA citizen or British if I naturalise).
4. Would you recommend me to naturalise as British or wait for as EEA permanent resident? Which would secure my wife's future settlement or further temporary leave to remain better? (I aim to naturalise as dual British-EEA citizen at some time, regardless)
5. If I convert my spouse refugee temporary leave to EEA spouse/dependant visa, does she still have to wait for 5 years for ILR (2022-3), or is it just 5 years after marriage (2020) and life in the UK in different types of visa/leave to remain?
Quite a complicated case. I have added an options matrix below, as it appears to me
I would appreciate your advice and opinions. Thanks in advance!
