When Will Wife Get( Ilrshe And Uk Passport )

[dmax]

she is here in uk now exactly 3 years since getting her 5 year resident stamp through E.E.A family permit, we are sperated but she works and we have a 16mth old baby girl born here in uk with a uk passport. wifes resident stamp has 2 years remaining, when can she apply for ILR and when can she apply for uk passport. also the place she works for is goin g bust and there is talk off pay offs , she has been there 2.5 years with same company and she thinks they will get rid of her if there are further pay offs therefore she will get another job but failing this then it will be signing on at the dss office for unemployment benefit. what would the outcome be if she were to be paid off and claim benefits im sure it wouldnt go down lightly with uk immagration but she has a child born here so mother and baby cannot be seperated either way she gets to stay in uk. so back to basic question - when can she apply for ILR and uk passport ?

thanks in advance

[7by7]

I must admit that the EU regulations are not my forte, so I stand to be corrected on the following.

As she entered with an EEA family permit she cannot apply for ILR; such applications come under the UK immigration rules, not the EU regulations. Even if you are a dual UK/other EU state national she cannot enter under the EU regulations and then switch to the UK rules.

So, she will have to wait until she has been in the UK for 5 years before she can apply for permanent residence.

She cannot apply for British citizenship until she has no time restriction on her stay in the UK, i.e. has permanent residence, and has been in the UK for at least 5 years.

As she entered with an EEA family permit as your wife, until she has permanent residence her right to be in the UK is dependent on her relationship with you. If that relationship has ended then so has her right to stay in the UK.

However, she has a daughter living in the UK; the Zhe and Chen ruling means that if her daughter is the national of an EU state other than the UK and is exercising her treaty rights to live in the UK, then your wife can apply for an EEA family permit to live with her daughter in the UK. Whether she can do this in the UK, or would have to return to Thailand to apply I'm not sure.

If her daughter is only a British national then your wife cannot apply to remain in the UK based upon that relationship.

However, she can return to Thailand leaving the child with you and apply for entry clearance to the UK based upon access rights to the child. See Access To A Child Resident In UK.

That is my understanding, hopefully someone with more knowledge than I will decide to advise.

[dmax]

thanks for your advice, anyone else want to add to this , where are all the so called visa experts on tv ?

[Eff1n2ret]

Your wife probably retains her rights as an EEA Family Member, as she appears to meet the criteria described in the European Caseworking instructions:-

"6.1 Retention of the right of residence following divorce or annulment of marriage/dissolution of civil partnership

A person who ceases to be a family member of a qualified person on termination of a marriage or civil partnership will retain a right of residence if:

the marriage or partnership lasted for at least three years immediately before the initiation of proceedings for divorce, annulment or dissolution, and

the parties to the marriage or civil partnership had resided in the UK for at least one year during the duration of the marriage or civil partnership, or

the former spouse or civil partner of the qualified person has custody of the children or a right of access to the children in the UK, or

there are particularly difficult circumstances (such as domestic violence) justifying the retention of the right of residence.

In such circumstances a family member retains a right of residence if:

(a)S/he is a non-EEA national but is pursuing activity which would make him/her a worker or a self-employed person if s/he were an EEA national,..."

So if the lady meets the time conditions highlighted above - you haven't started divorce proceedings, have you? - and continues to work she should last the 5-year qualifying period for Permanent Residence (the EEA version of ILR). If she loses her job, but actively seeks other employment she would continue to be a "qualified person", and claiming jobseekers allowance would not in itself nullify her right to residence under EEA Regulations.

Small edit to the above for the avoidance of confusion:- the "qualified person" in the quoted section of the Instructions is of course the OP. When in my last sentence I referred to his missis as a"qualified person" it is because as a jobseeker independent of her husband she would fit the definition of a "qualified person" under EEA Regs.

Edited September 9, 2010 by Eff1n2ret

[elliss]

thanks for your advice, anyone else want to add to this , where are all the so called visa experts on tv ?

as you are aware , the U.K. goverment , are changing the criteria on many social issues .

in the next two mounths , they will be announcing what the future holds .

grim news , for all .

[ThaiVisaExpress]

It is 5 years before she can apply for citizenship.

[Eff1n2ret]

"thanks for your advice, anyone else want to add to this , where are all the so called visa experts on tv ?"

as you are aware , the U.K. goverment , are changing the criteria on many social issues .

in the next two mounths , they will be announcing what the future holds .

grim news , for all .

But as the UK Government has no power to alter EEA Regulations unilaterally, and indeed appears to have little stomach now for opposition to anything dished out by the EU, this is totally irrelevant

[Eff1n2ret]

It is 5 years before she can apply for citizenship.

Actually, I think it's 6 years - 5 years to achieve Permanent Residence, and then 1 year as PR:-

"If you are a national of a country in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland, or you are the family member of such a person, you will automatically have permanent residence status if you have exercised EEA free-movement rights in the UK for a continuous five-year period ending on or after 30 April 2006. You do not need to apply for leave to remain. You should have held permanent residence status for 12 months before you apply for naturalisation.

Please correct me if I have misinterpreted that bit from the UKBA advice page.

[7by7]

thanks for your advice, anyone else want to add to this , where are all the so called visa experts on tv ?

Three things.

1) Those who post on this forum do so in their own time and for no reward other than the satisfaction of helping others. All of us do have lives outside the forum and are not sitting with bated breath awaiting a question from you.

2) Posts like the above, and another similar one which you placed in a different topic, do little to instill in the people you refer to as "so called visa experts" the desire to help you.

3) The fee for seeking advice on this forum is, as you know, zero. If you find the service from this forum unsatisfactory perhaps you should speak to your friend in Pattaya; but then he would probably charge you a fee!