Which visa route to take for EU and non-EU couple to get back together?!

[Thelugi]

Hello everyone,

I follow quite a few threads in this forum and find very interesting information around. I have not found specific information relating to my query so I am posting this as a separate thread – my apologies in advance, if this isn’t right.

So now, about my query, some background information:
I (EU-Spanish) met my boyfriend (non-EU - Indian) whilst we studied our undergraduate at university in 2013; we were in the same class. We were friends throughout our undergraduate and we started dating on May 2015. We finished our Masters in June 2016. I started full time employment in July 2016 and my boyfriend could not secure a graduate job with a Tier-2 sponsoring employer, so as his Tier-4 student visa was expiring, he had to leave the UK in January 2017. We still continue our relationship though all sorts of communication: skype, whatsapp, facebook, messaging, letters, facetime, etc. I visited him in India on April 2017 and he is coming here to the UK to visit me for Christmas in December 2017.
We have been reading up so many gov.uk UKVI pages to find a way to be together and have come to terms that marriage is possibly our only option. This is not an issue as we are more than happy to do so – obviously, we would have probably liked to wait a bit and get some savings to have a proper wedding celebration, but given our circumstances, we are not in a position to be choosy so we are planning to have a small wedding at a registry office.

In order to ease things, since I’ve been here from September 2012 onwards, I have recently applied for a PR, my timeline at the moment goes:
* Online application sent: 15/11/2017
* Payment sent and received: 15/11/2017
* Email from HO that application has been received: 16/11/2017
* Passport Return Service: 17/11/2017
* Application and documents sent (postal): 17/11/2017
* Documents reached Home Office: 20/11/2017
* Online status: Not recognized

The application is being processed in Liverpool. I hope it doesn’t take too long.

Now, my query comes , for which I am looking for some advice on what would be our best course of action to be together again in UK (once I get my PR) given our options:
1. THE EEA FP WAY: So please correct me if I’ve got this messed up which may be quite likely, as I understand this, he could come here on a Marriage Visitor Visa, return to India, apply for an EEA FP from there and then (this is where I get a bit confused) he comes with the FP to UK and apply for a residence permit (within 6 months) which will be valid for 5 years and then he can apply for permanent residence.
2. THE FIANCÉ / SPOUSE VISA ROUTE: So again, my understanding of this is that he would apply for a Spouse Family visa as a fiancé, enter the UK on that visa, we get married within 6 months, then after we are married he can apply to extend his stay (which will be granted for 33 months) and then after that he applies for an ILR.

My questions:
- Did I understand both the routes right?
- Any advice on which one of the two routes is easier, faster, cheaper, more convenient?
- Any other visa route suggestions for us to be together again?
- If we go about the EEA route (which I think its cheaper), would I be able to apply for naturalization (still keeping my Spanish citizenship as a dual nationality British/Spanish) whilst my partner is on some EEA2 or whatever his residence permit would be called? Or would he lose the right to that residence permit?
- Any other comments/recommendations in your knowledge or experience that could relate to our case?

Thanks for having a read, any help would be massively appreciated!!

Thelugi

[dan1988uk]

If he comes to the UK and you get married in the UK he can apply directly for Residence Card, he doesn't need to come back home for the Family Permit.

[Thelugi]

Hi dan1988uk thanks for your response.

If he comes to the UK and you get married in the UK he can apply directly for Residence Card, he doesn't need to come back home for the Family Permit.

Is that allowed whilst on a marriage visitor visa? I'm not too sure about that because one of the conditions of a marriage visitor visa is that "•you’re not planning to stay or settle in the UK after your marriage or civil partnership"..??
Do you know if we do go about the EEA way, would my partner lose rights to his EEA residence permit if I go for dual nationality?

Thanks again!!

[secret.simon]

Hi dan1988uk thanks for your response.

If he comes to the UK and you get married in the UK he can apply directly for Residence Card, he doesn't need to come back home for the Family Permit.

Is that allowed whilst on a marriage visitor visa? I'm not too sure about that because one of the conditions of a marriage visitor visa is that "•you’re not planning to stay or settle in the UK after your marriage or civil partnership"..??
Do you know if we do go about the EEA way, would my partner lose rights to his EEA residence permit if I go for dual nationality?

Thanks again!!

Which is exactly why he is unlikely to be given a Marriage Visitor visa. The ECO may conclude that he is unlikely to leave the UK after getting married and therefore not grant him the visa at all.

You may want to look at getting married in India or in another country i.e not the UK. Once married, he can apply for an EEA FP.

Regarding your PR application, did you have either CSI (private health insurance) or a non-UK EHIC card for the entire duration of your studies? If not, your period of studies will not count for the purposes of PR and therefore your application will fail.

Are you currently working or looking for a job in the UK?

[Thelugi]

Thanks for taking the time to read and answer secret.simon.

Which is exactly why he is unlikely to be given a Marriage Visitor visa. The ECO may conclude that he is unlikely to leave the UK after getting married and therefore not grant him the visa at all.

You may want to look at getting married in India or in another country i.e not the UK. Once married, he can apply for an EEA FP.

Makes sense, will take into consideration. At least the marriage visitor visa wouldn't cause as much financial damage as the fiancé one.

Regarding your PR application, did you have either CSI (private health insurance) or a non-UK EHIC card for the entire duration of your studies? If not, your period of studies will not count for the purposes of PR and therefore your application will fail.

I'm hoping for no issues there - I had private health insurance until December 2015 and then I also submitted my Spanish EHIC to cover for the remainder of time for my studies (until May 2016).

Are you currently working or looking for a job in the UK?

I am currently working full time in UK for a multinational company and have pretty good stability in my company for the foreseeable future. Just need to figure out a way to bring my partner back

[secret.simon]

You've covered your bases well. I'd say it would be better and quicker to get married abroad and then apply directly for an EEA FP.