Applying for Surinder Singh- Lost and Need Guidance!

[kconnors426]

Hi Everyone-

I am an American applying for the Surinder Singh route to live in the UK with my husband who is a British Citizen.

First off- I need to get this application in ASAP as we would like to move at the end of May. I have ZERO idea what I’m doing and I am desperately in need of guidance from those who have done this previously.

A little about us: Hubby and I were married the 31st of March (yay!) and we have lived together for a year and a half officially, and two unofficially here in Rome. I have been in Rome for 3 years on Student Visa (first I came here to live for a few months, met Hubby, then returned to file for Student Visa), and Hubby for upwards of 6 years now, working as a bartender. We plan to move to Scotland to put down some roots as Italy is in a constant mess and financial crisis.

Here are the documents I can provide with our EEA Family Visa Application:

My husband’s work contract
Note: A concern of mine is that Hubby does not receive pay slips. In Italy things are very casual. He is on contract, but is paid in cash.
Letter from my husband’s manager
Letter from my University stating I have been a student
Letters from two Italian friends/roommates showing we have acclimated into society
Letter from our landlord
Letters saying we are registered at local doctors
Our rental contract
Note: This is in Italian- does it need to be certified translated?
Both: proof of address
My Permesso (Permission to stay card)
Hubby’s Codice Fiscale (Social Security Italian Card)
Our Marriage Cert
The letter from EU National (Hubby) saying we are going together and are applying under Surinder
Adoption papers for our cat (made in my name though)
My bank statements showing I have made lots of debit transactions in Rome.

Are these enough? What else should I provide?

A few additional concerns:
1. Hubby was born in Manchester and grew up to the age of 5 there, after which he moved to be with his family in Ireland. Both his parents are UK born and bred. As far as I have seen, this will not affect his status as a UK citizen- he has a British passport. Am I correct?
2. My current permesso shows that my visa was technically up in December. We left in March to get married and at that point I was in the clear. I got back into the country after the wedding Tuesday with zero problem- thinking that it would only be two weeks between then and the time I applied for the EEA Family Visa… but I’m super concerned they will reject me now. An option would be to A) file to renew my student visa and show proof of that with the application B) go through hell and high water to submit marriage visa docs in Italy.
3. We’ve only been married a few weeks! But have lived together for much much longer. Does this make any difference?
4. What the heck do I do? Do I submit the digital application and send in documents to the UK? Once the app is complete, and documents gathered, what happens next?

Thanks to everyone who checks this out. Please, please let me know what you think- and let me know what I’m missing and the best way to go about this. I’m a bit scared! It’s our dream to make this happen!