Living in Northern Ireland with Australian wife

[Hugh1025]

I am a EU/UK passport holder living in Northern Ireland. My wife is with me on her Australian passport but is not allowed to work or anything. She arrived through Dublin Airport into Ireland. Obviously being my wife we want her to be able to stay with me. We have contacted UK immigration twice and was told she can't stay and has to go back to her home country. We were told that she cannot apply to remain in UK from within UK, surely there is a way to go about this without having to be opposite sides of the earth to my wife?

Any advice on what the best solution would be will be greatly appreciated.

[Wanderer]

I am a EU/UK passport holder living in Northern Ireland. My wife is with me on her Australian passport but is not allowed to work or anything. She arrived through Dublin Airport into Ireland. Obviously being my wife we want her to be able to stay with me. We have contacted UK immigration twice and was told she can't stay and has to go back to her home country. We were told that she cannot apply to remain in UK from within UK, surely there is a way to go about this without having to be opposite sides of the earth to my wife?

Any advice on what the best solution would be will be greatly appreciated.

She'll have to return home.

Are you a dual Irish/UK citizen? If you are you can renounce UK citizenship and apply under EU rules which are free of cost. Otherwise it's UK local rules which are expensive (budget £5/6k over 5 years). Plus you'll beed to earning £18,600 pa or more or have savings of £62,500 and combination of both subject to a sliding scale formula I can never remember and can't easily be explained in a sentence.

It's not possible to switch from a UK visit visa except under extremely compassion grounds (i.e. terminal illness, Civil War etc) so I'd warrant a return to Oz and a Spouse visa application is cleanest option.

Or you could both move to another EU state and apply under EU rules.

[Casa]

That's due to the fact that you are a dual EEA/UK national and for immigration purposes you are only considered to be British. This means your wife will have to comply with the UK Immigration Rules, which require her to apply for a Spouse Settlement visa from outside of the UK as she is unable to switch to a spouse visa while here as a visitor.

However after being presented to the Court of Justice (Lounes C-165/16) there is currently a challenge being heard by a panel of 15 judges which may see changes to the interpretation of the law.

This article by Freemovement clarifies the situation:
https://www.freemovement.org.uk/uk-wron ... nationals/

[Hugh1025]

Thank you for the response and advice. Would the situation be different if I where an Irish passport holder? Would we then apply for a EU Visa?
Also with regards to her current Visa, she does not have a UK visa, as she entered through Dublin she has a EU stamp in her passport but no UK stamp, does this change anything?

[Casa]

Thank you for the response and advice. Would the situation be different if I where an Irish passport holder? Would we then apply for a EU Visa?
Also with regards to her current Visa, she does not have a UK visa, as she entered through Dublin she has a EU stamp in her passport but no UK stamp, does this change anything?

No, as although she has no vignette in her passport a non-visa national is stamped in with a 'virtual' visa on entry and Ireland is in the Common Travel Area with the UK. In other words the visitor rules apply.

If you only held an Irish passport your wife would be able to apply under EEA Regulations for a residence permit, which is why Wanderer suggested the option of renouncing your British citizenship if you were an Irish/British dual national.

How long has your wife spent here on this visit?

[Hugh1025]

That makes sense thanks, she has been here 2 months now.

[Casa]

That makes sense thanks, she has been here 2 months now.

Just ensure that she doesn't overstay the permitted maximum of 6 months and that she pays for the use of any NHS facilities.

Do you earn over £18,600 p.a?

[Hugh1025]

No I don't earn that amount, I work 5 days a week and still fall way short of what is required, about 3000 short.

[Casa]

No I don't earn that amount, I work 5 days a week and still fall way short of what is required, about 3000 short.

In which case, unfortunately until you are able to increase your earnings and have 6 months of payslips + the corresponding bank statements as evidence that you are earning £18,600 p.a pro-rata, a Spouse Settlement visa application under the UK Immigration Rules will fail.

[Hugh1025]

Thanks for all the information. I don't get why they have the minimum earnings that high as if my wife was allowed to stay and work she will have an income and be able to support her self, I really do hope that someone wakes up and realizes that their spouse immigration laws are ridiculous. Minimum earnings are way to high, if I where earning that I would be able to support an army never mind 1 person, and not being able to apply from within UK makes no sense as that means my wife and I will have to be separated for 6 months just for me to have the required pay slips and then another 6+ months on top of that until they decide if they want to give the Visa or not and then if they decide they won't give it you basically have to get a divorce? Great system they have going isn't it.

[Casa]

Thanks for all the information. I don't get why they have the minimum earnings that high as if my wife was allowed to stay and work she will have an income and be able to support her self, I really do hope that someone wakes up and realizes that their spouse immigration laws are ridiculous. Minimum earnings are way to high, if I where earning that I would be able to support an army never mind 1 person, and not being able to apply from within UK makes no sense as that means my wife and I will have to be separated for 6 months just for me to have the required pay slips and then another 6+ months on top of that until they decide if they want to give the Visa or not and then if they decide they won't give it you basically have to get a divorce? Great system they have going isn't it.

It's certainly a tough one for many couples and I can only sympathise. Although I stand by my advice that your wife shouldn't overstay her current visa you may want to hold out for a decision on the Lounes case which I posted for you earlier, even if this means your wife returning to Oz in the meantime. A decision is expected later this Summer.

[Hugh1025]

Yes it is an unfortunate circumstance for many I realize, I hope that they make a obvious decision surrounding the ridiculous terms they have set out atm. Will make sure she does not overstay her current visa. I am aware that on a Aus passport she can remain in UK for 6 months without a visa but the stamp she got in Dublin states that she can remain 3 months in EU, how does that affect her? Can she stay in Northern Ireland for the 6 months or is she only allowed to stay 3 months because of the EU stamp?

[Wanderer]

Thanks for all the information. I don't get why they have the minimum earnings that high as if my wife was allowed to stay and work she will have an income and be able to support her self, I really do hope that someone wakes up and realizes that their spouse immigration laws are ridiculous. Minimum earnings are way to high, if I where earning that I would be able to support an army never mind 1 person, and not being able to apply from within UK makes no sense as that means my wife and I will have to be separated for 6 months just for me to have the required pay slips and then another 6+ months on top of that until they decide if they want to give the Visa or not and then if they decide they won't give it you basically have to get a divorce? Great system they have going isn't it.

Well like everything else in the visa game the rules are driven by those that abuse it, unfair but that's they way it is. Wasn't that long ago it will all free but now we have UK Border Police to find, appeals system, so once the legals eagles are in the game the costs go up. Remember immigration is cost neutral to the tax payer, it funded purely out of applications and you have to say that's fair enough.

I am one of those who thinks the current earnings requirement is not enough, visa fees, flights, extended face time doesn't come cheap and these are important with international relationships, which are proven to fail percentage-wise a lot more than local ones. I think the previous system was better when you just needed to show your had enough spare cash after essentials to support two people. This is an expensive business.

Anyway, that's just my opinion.

Another think to be wary of is spending too long 'visiting' - think of the line between a visit and residing. Whilst it's not a blocker to marriage visas applications in the future etc, it would be for future visits, bearing in mind that Australians need not apply formally for a visa, they are still bound by the terms of it and if you read here, you'll see many have been given the dreaded black mark in the their passports because of it.