Non-EU wife apply for residence card vs wait for new scheme

[Mariano564]

Hi I'm German & hold a permanent residence card. Living and working in UK since 2011.

We got married with my wife while she was studying in UK in 2017. Then she had to work for a year in Turkey, during this time she was using a family permit every time she came over to visit me.

Given that the family permit was never ideal to find a job in uk, in May 2018 she managed to get a job offer with a tier 2 working visa sponsor. This job ends in June this year along with the working visa.

She is starting to look for other job positions in the market but always worried that employers won't proceed as she has only the old family permit and the uk marriage certificate to prove her right to work.

It would be much simple if we held any proof at hand so we started considering to either 1) apply now for a eea residence card or 2) wait for the new EU scheme that starts on 30th March.

- The RC apparently is taking 2 months which is more or less how long we need to wait for the new scheme.
- The RC asks for a lot of papers and they seem to not be taking new applications for family members (they now mention only extended family members, and point to the new scheme)
- I have the hope the new scheme will be much simple and maybe my PR might help to simplify getting her the right to work proof?
- If we managed to get the RC it's still going to be valid for a while.

I was telling her to still go for the interviews and see how far we get and also wait and apply for the new scheme once its available, but I'm afraid I'm not very confident on what's is the best option now!

[kamoe]

We got married with my wife while she was studying in UK in 2017. Then she had to work for a year in Turkey, during this time she was using a family permit every time she came over to visit me.

You mean a 6-month Family permit?

Given that the family permit was never ideal to find a job in uk, in May 2018 she managed to get a job offer with a tier 2 working visa sponsor.

Not that you can turn back time but... she had the right to work in the UK by virtue of her being your wife and you being a qualified EU national. She could have just moved back to the UK and applied for a RC. While the RC was issued, she would have gotten a Certifficate of Application (CoA), which proved her right to work, which she could have shown prospective employers.

She is starting to look for other job positions in the market but always worried that employers won't proceed as she has only the old family permit and the uk marriage certificate to prove her right to work.

Yes, that's what the RC is there for. Go for it.

It would be much simple if we held any proof at hand so we started considering to either 1) apply now for a eea residence card or 2) wait for the new EU scheme that starts on 30th March.

Either will be good.

- The RC asks for a lot of papers and they seem to not be taking new applications for family members (they now mention only extended family members, and point to the new scheme)

You are mistaken. They simply stress it is not necessary for direct family members to apply (as I said, your wife has the right to work already), but they also say it makes it easy to prove their right to work, which is exactly your case. Then they say it is mandatory for extended family members, and provide more informaiton on the Settled Scheme (but this does not mean only extended family members can apply nor eveyrone should now go through the settled scheme). I can see how their way of presenting the links is confusing!

Bottomline is, they still take RC applications for direct and extended family members. Here's the link: https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-a-uk-residence-card/apply

- I have the hope the new scheme will be much simple and maybe my PR might help to simplify getting her the right to work proof?

Yes, it seems it's simpler. You can apply to Settled Status yourself through the app now (it will be free and straightforward, and you'll get your Settled Status very quickly 24-48 hours), then have her apply at the end of March, including your application number (this will link both applications).

- If we managed to get the RC it's still going to be valid for a while.

It will be valid until 31 December 2020.

I was telling her to still go for the interviews and see how far we get and also wait and apply for the new scheme once its available, but I'm afraid I'm not very confident on what's is the best option now!

If she absolutely needs something to prove her right to work now, then an option is to apply for the RC now. She will get a CoA confirming her right to work very quickly (I think about a week after application date, in any case well before the decision is made).