nisakiman

I've just skimmed through the judgement in the Surinder Singh case, and the reference seems to be

a national of that State who has gone, with that spouse, to another Member State in order to work there as an employed person as envisaged by Article 48 of the Treaty and returns to establish himself or herself as envisaged by Article 52 of the Treaty in the territory of the State of which he or she is a national

"2) If/when you decide to return to live in the UK, a (spouse) settlement visa will be required for her purposes."

UK Visas actually told you that? It's utter tosh.

Email them back and ask "What about Surinder Singh cases?" The Surinder Singh judgement long ago established that where an EEA national has been exercising their treaty rights outside their own country, they have the same status when they come back to live and work in their own country, so their dependants qualify for EEA Family Permits which are free of charge. This is now enshrined in the EEA (Immigration) Regulations 2006.

There are so many people who have got themselves into positions of authority in UKBA whose level of knowledge of immigration matters is as little or less than most members of this forum, that one can have no confidence in it becoming an efficient and effective organisation. We'd be better off with no immigration controls, and just let the police go out and shoot a few of the riff-raff now and again - just like Thailand, eh?

That's very interesting. I'll google that bit of info and see what I come up with. If what you say is correct, I'll definitely be communicating further with UK Visas! Thanks for that snippet of information. Could save me a fair lump of money!

I think not.

I am a UK citizen living in Greece. I got married to a Thai woman here in April last year, and the Greek immigration authorities have given her a residents permit which is linked to mine - that is to say as long as my residents permit here remains valid, then she will automatically retain hers. (There is, of course, paperwork, but it's relatively straightforward.)

I made enquiries as to her status if I wanted to return to UK, and this is the answer I got.

Thanks for your enquiry. I can advise as follows:

1) As a EEA national exercising your Treaty Rights to live and work in another EEA state, your wife is entitled to an EEA Family Permit. Howeveer, when you return to your own state, your dependant will be subject to the requirements of "local" Immigration Rules and, as such, a (family) visitor's visa will be required for her to accompany you back to the UK.

Guidance Note INF 2 on our website (ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply/infs/ (click on the relevant link at the left-hand side of the page)) gives advice to persons wishing to visit the UK. The visa application form (VAF 1B) may also be printed-out from this web-site and used in making a visa application.

You will note that amongst the requirements are that the visa applicant:

- does not intend to work;

- will not have recourse to public funds;

- will not stay in the UK for longer than six months; and

- will be able to meet the cost of onward travel (or holds a ticket for this purpose).

Multiple re-entries to the UK within six months of the initial entry should not normally present a problem, but please note that a person is not normally permitted to stay in the UK as a visitor for more than a total of six months in any period of 12 months.

The cost of a standard visit visa, valid for any number of entries to the UK within six months of the date of issue, is currently the equivalent of 67 pounds per person.

2) If/when you decide to return to live in the UK, a (spouse) settlement visa will be required for her purposes.

Information on entry to the UK as a fiancé(e) or spouse to join for settlement a person settled, or about to become settled, in the UK, will be found in our guidance leaflet INF 4. This, and the relevant visa application form (VAF 4A), may aalso be printed-out from our web-site.

The visa cannot be applied for in the UK.

A person entering the UK as a spouse may take up employment immediately.

The current fee for a settlement visa, as set by Parliament, is 585 pounds for each person applying for entry clearance. International custom requires that the visa fee must be paid in the currency of the country where the application is made (that is, it cannot be paid in sterling).It is possible to apply on-line for UK entry clearance (visas, EEA family permits, etc) in most countries overseas via the website at visa4uk.fco.gov.uk.

Further information relevant to the country from which the application will be made will also be found via a link from that website. This will normally include the amount of the visa application fee in local currency and likely processing time.

Sent by:

Public Enquiries [J], Visa Services, International Group,

UK Border Agency, London SW1A 2AH

Web-site: ukvisas.gov.uk

When I tried to post this, I was told I can't post URLs, so I've knocked off the www from all of them in the hope it will pass muster this time.