seeking advice changing from Tier 4 to EU Spouse RC

[ayaniqda]

Hi

I am an EU citizen working in the UK (since December 2017) and my husband (non-EU) has been in the UK since September 2017 on a Tier 4 student visa. We got married last December outside the UK and since our return we having been obviously living together. He is still on Tier 4 student visa. We were thinking of applying for my registration as a qualified person and his EU family RC at the same time in April. However reading some of the stories on this forum has made me worried that our marriage might be seen as a marriage of convenience since it is so recent.

My husband and I have known each other for seven years and have been in a committed long distance relationship since 2013. However, in terms of showing proof (skype, whatsapp chat history, pictures, traveling together, etc.) we can only provide such proof for the past 15 month. Before moving to the UK I was living in my EU country of nationality and working. When my husband (back then boyfriend) came to the UK as a student, I started looking for jobs here and then in October 2017 we decided that now that I am moving to the UK it makes sense to get married as cohabiting was never an option for us because of religious reasons. So my move to the UK was concurrent with starting my new job, moving in and getting married to him.

Now, under our circumstances:

1. Is it wise to apply for his EU family RC now or should we wait? His Tier 4 student visa is valid till January 2019 but he is not allowed to work full- time and also with Brexit coming into effect we prefer that he gets his RC sooner than later.

2. Should we supplement his application with wedding photos, prints of skype and whatsapp chat history, proof of our trips and stays together in the past 15 months? or would providing these extra documents raise more confusion as why we are trying so hard to prove the credibility of our marriage.

Your advice and opinions are highly appreciated.

PS: I should add that none of us has ever had any adverse immigration history in the UK or elsewhere.

[Aj2018]

Hi there,

I think the short time of your marriage should not be a problem, since you can provide all the documents to prove that your marriage is genuine. I believe the proof docs for the past 15 months is more than sufficient.
I have a friend who recently married to EU and he applied after 4 months from marriage and was successfully granted the residence card for 5 years.

I do suggest that you apply ASAP, given that the application processing time can take up to 6 months. The earlier you apply the better.

Good luck

[ayaniqda]

Hi there,

I think the short time of your marriage should not be a problem, since you can provide all the documents to prove that your marriage is genuine. I believe the proof docs for the past 15 months is more than sufficient.
I have a friend who recently married to EU and he applied after 4 months from marriage and was successfully granted the residence card for 5 years.

I do suggest that you apply ASAP, given that the application processing time can take up to 6 months. The earlier you apply the better.

Good luck

Thanks for your reply. May I ask what was your friend's immigration status before that? I mean on what kind of visa was he in the UK when he applied to get his EU Family RC?

[Aj2018]

The same exact situation of yours. He was on a tier 4 visa.