EU Settlement Scheme Refused Under Surinder Singh Route

[Annonymous]

Dear Administrator, Forum Members,

I am a British citizen and my wife is a Pakistani citizen.

She joined me as a spouse of a British citizen in 2016 , in 2019 we move to Europe for my work related matters and she received a EU pre settled status, and when we applied for the settled status using the application we have been told that we need to submit a paper application and after submitting the paper application she received an interview call yesterday from a company called TLSVisaConnect.

My question is if anyone from the forum members have faced a similar situation and would like to share their invaluable experiences as to what this interview is related to and how can we prepare for this interview or any other useful tips that would help us would be highly appreciated.

Looking forward towards your invaluable experiences and guidelines.

Thanking you in anticipation.

[alterhase58]

When was the interview - yesterday? Can you share what was discussed?
TLSconnect are not case workers, they cannot discuss the application with applicant, they work for UKVI, collecting biometrics and loading documents.

[Annonymous]

I think I am asking for a similar experience from the fellow forum members.

I have booked and applied for an appointment the interview didn't took place till now.

When was the interview - yesterday? Can you share what was discussed?
TLSconnect are not case workers, they cannot discuss the application with applicant, they work for UKVI, collecting biometrics and loading documents.

[Annonymous]

Dear All,

Sorry to post this.

Upon contacting TLSContact they clarified that it is not an interview call but my wife has to give her biometrics in order for her application to be processed.

Thank you.

[Annonymous]

Dear Forum Members,

Toda sadly I have recieved the refusal for my wife's settlement scheme application with the right to appeal.

I applied her pre settled status under Surinder Singh Route which enables her to have EU settlement for holding the pre settled status for 5 years as Surinder Singh route doesn't require to complete the period in UK for 5 continuous years, you just have to reside in the UK for 12 months period in total.

Please correct me if my understanding is correct and shall I proceed with the appeal as we have not lived the full 5 years period in the UK.

Thank you.

[secret.simon]

Surinder Singh route doesn't require to complete the period in UK for 5 continuous years, you just have to reside in the UK for 12 months period in total.

Where did you get that from? That has never been true, to the best of my knowledge.

[Annonymous]

Surinder Singh route doesn't require to complete the period in UK for 5 continuous years, you just have to reside in the UK for 12 months period in total.

Where did you get that from? That has never been true, to the best of my knowledge.

Dear Moderator,

Thanks a lot for the prompt response.

Using the following link I have got this information.

Solicitor link removed by moderator.

Requirements for the EU Settlement Scheme Surinder Singh Route Visa application
In order to qualify for the EU Settlement Scheme Surinder Singh Route Visa you will need to satisfy UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) that:

You are a qualifying British Citizen exercising treaty rights in an EEA state before 31 December 2020;
You are a family member of a British Citizen living with the British Citizen in an EEA state before 31 December 2020; and
You intend to and/or must be returning to the UK before 29 March 2022.
The EEA includes the EU countries and also Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

Thank you.

[CR001]

Link removed. Please do NOT post solicitor weblinks.

Nowhere in the link does it state only 12 months residence is required.

Your partner needs 5 years of UK residence to qualify for settled status.

When did you (the exact date) return to the uk from the EU??

[Annonymous]

Dear Moderator,

I am sorry for posting the link. I do not want to publish information without its reference.

We left UK on the 01-08-2018 and arrived back in the UK on the 1st Nov-24 and my wife pre settled status expired on the 19th Nov -24.

If that's not the case that I can apply the settle status for her, than what other status I need to apply.

I appreciate the invaluable information and advises.

Thank you.

[secret.simon]

We left UK on the 01-08-2018 and arrived back in the UK on the 1st Nov-24 and my wife pre settled status expired on the 19th Nov -24.

I think the Surinder Singh route is now closed for you.

At the time you left, the EEA equivalent of the pre-settled status would have expired automatically after an absence from the UK of more than six months in one year. In exceptional circumstances, a single absence of one year from the UK would have been acceptable.

But if you have been absent from the UK for six years, any previously granted status either under the pre-2020 EEA Regulations or the post-2020 Appendix EU is definitely dead.

Even if your spouse had ILR granted under Appendix EU, which allows an absence of five years (as opposed to normal ILR or EEA permanent residence, both of which allow an absence of only two years) , their absence of six years would have caused even that to come to an end.

As an aside, note that the Surinder Singh route was not protected under the Withdrawal Agreement, which only covered non-British EEA citizens and their family members living in the UK and British citizens living in the EEA.

Also, the Surinder Singh route closed permanently to new applicants on 29th March 2022. So British citizens resident in the EEA and their non-British dependents had to either make an application to move back to the UK under the Surinder Singh route (if they were visa nationals) or move back to the UK and make their pre-settled status application (if they were non-visa nationals) before that date. Some leeway was given for people missing the deadline due to things like serious medical issues or an employment contract or studies that were due to finish within six months of that date.

But your spouse and you are way past that deadline.

If you plan to move with your spouse to the UK on a permanent basis, the two of you will need to meet all the requirements of the spousal visa (such as a minimum income of £29,000 for the British citizen sponsor, an English language test for your spouse, etc) and renew it in 2.5 years time, before leading to ILR and eventual British citizenship.

Alternatively, if the two of you have acquired permanent residence in another EEA member-state, you may want to look at moving back there.

[Annonymous]

We left UK on the 01-08-2018 and arrived back in the UK on the 1st Nov-24 and my wife pre settled status expired on the 19th Nov -24.

I think the Surinder Singh route is now closed for you.

At the time you left, the EEA equivalent of the pre-settled status would have expired automatically after an absence from the UK of more than six months in one year. In exceptional circumstances, a single absence of one year from the UK would have been acceptable.

But if you have been absent from the UK for six years, any previously granted status either under the pre-2020 EEA Regulations or the post-2020 Appendix EU is definitely dead.

Even if your spouse had ILR granted under Appendix EU, which allows an absence of five years (as opposed to normal ILR or EEA permanent residence, both of which allow an absence of only two years) , their absence of six years would have caused even that to come to an end.

As an aside, note that the Surinder Singh route was not protected under the Withdrawal Agreement, which only covered non-British EEA citizens and their family members living in the UK and British citizens living in the EEA.

Also, the Surinder Singh route closed permanently to new applicants on 29th March 2022. So British citizens resident in the EEA and their non-British dependents had to either make an application to move back to the UK under the Surinder Singh route (if they were visa nationals) or move back to the UK and make their pre-settled status application (if they were non-visa nationals) before that date. Some leeway was given for people missing the deadline due to things like serious medical issues or an employment contract or studies that were due to finish within six months of that date.

But your spouse and you are way past that deadline.

If you plan to move with your spouse to the UK on a permanent basis, the two of you will need to meet all the requirements of the spousal visa (such as a minimum income of £29,000 for the British citizen sponsor, an English language test for your spouse, etc) and renew it in 2.5 years time, before leading to ILR and eventual British citizenship.

Alternatively, if the two of you have acquired permanent residence in another EEA member-state, you may want to look at moving back there.

Dear Moderator,

Thank you so much for taking the time out and replying to my query on this invaluable immigration knowledge sharing board.

I went to one of the solicitors he advised me to appeal this decision on the basis that before leaving for the EU my wife has already spent 3.5 years in the UK on a UK spouse visa and that also needs to be taken in to consideration under some appendix EU sorry I don't exactly remember the appendix number.

I think the next option is apply another Visa for my wife which will be spouse of a British citizen and then start the cycle again which will be extremely painful but we don't have any other options left I guess.

I am not even sure if this solicitor is making a fool out of me just to earn some money from me or is he stating right I am confused as well, but at least I can buy some time if I appeal against this decision by the time I will get to the hearing of this appeal we will have some better options available.

I also wanted to highlight that due to COVID we were under a travel ban situation while staying in the EU, and we have two young kids as well, do you think these grounds will be taken in to considerations ?

Thank you so much for the invaluable replies.