Changes Proposed To Uk Spouse Visa Rules

[StreetCowboy]

ones got a brown nose,the other has a sore arse,who am i referring to

I work quite a bit with coal mining and I didn't realise extendend periods of coal dust exposure was a cause of dim-wittedness.

My uncle died of coal dust. Coal dust and smoking forty a day.

SC

[moonbarman]

You go on about foreiners going into the UK, where I lived we never had a coloured person in the area, ( black,red,pink or yellow) untill they closed the pits, may be they were afraid they might have to go down there to work. I stand corrected we did have Italians open cafe's (those that didn't want to go home after the war) and they good at it.

dam_n fine ice cream !

totster

Must admit i agree with most of what you say totster, what really narks me though is the fact that if i was from an EU country and wanted to relocate to the uk to live(as long as they qualify ie. have a job offer etc) and wished to take my thai wife and two kids with me then they would not need a visa but just a family permit which is free. But being a brit if i want to take my wife and two kids back to the uk to live then i have to pay 800 quid per person for a settlement visa, (is that fair or what 2400 quid for me 0 quid for euro trash) just wondered if anyone thought this was fair, prefer swensens ice cream to gelato tho!!!!.

[7by7]

If you were a Brit living in another EEA country, and many do, then you could have your Thai wife join you under the EEA regulations for free; but if you were a national of that country then she would have to apply for the appropriate visa under that country's immigration law and pay whatever fee that country charges.

There are several members of this forum who have used the EEA regulations to settle in the UK with their Thai partners. They've been very quiet in this topic, for some reason. Wonder how they feel about being called 'euro trash?'

I also wonder how you would feel if you were living in another EEA country and the citizens of that country called you 'euro trash'!

Having said that, the new fees for in country applications and regular above inflation increases to all fees introduced by Blair and Brown about 9 years ago are outrageous; even they admitted that the fees are way above the actual cost of processing an application.

However, have a read through posts from our American and Australian members. You will see that obtaining settlement in the UK for a foreign spouse is still a lot easier and cheaper than either of those countries.

[StreetCowboy]

If you were a Brit living in another EEA country, and many do, then you could have your Thai wife join you under the EEA regulations for free; but if you were a national of that country then she would have to apply for the appropriate visa under that countries immigration law and pay whatever fee that country charges.

There are several members of this forum who have used the EEA regulations to settle in the UK with their Thai partners. They've been very quiet in this topic, for some reason. Wonder how they feel about being called 'euro trash?'

I also wonder how you would feel if you were living in another EEA country and the citizens of that country called you 'euro trash'!

Having said that, the new fees for in country applications and regular above inflation increases to all fees introduced by Blair and Brown about 9 years ago are outrageous; even they admitted that the fees are way above the actual cost of processing an application.

However, have a read through posts from our American and Australian members. You will see that obtaining settlement in the UK for a foreign spouse is a lot easier and cheaper than either of those countries.

So if I want to bring my oriental bride home, I just need to settle in a foreign country within Europe, and then commute back home? Or do I need to go through all sorts of hoops to get her a settlement visa in France or Luxembourg or Poland or whatever? Do you have any recommendations on the countries with the least rigorous civil servants. Not for me, you understand, I;m asking for a friend, .

SC

[7by7]

If you were exercising a treaty right in another EEA state, i.e. working, self-employed, studying or living off independent means such as a pension, then yes you could obtain that state's equivalent of an EEA family permit for her.

Furthermore, if you then subsequently decided to return to the UK to live you could again obtain an EEA family permit for her to settle in the UK with you.

People who complain about the EEA freedom of movement regulations forget that they apply equally to British citizens as citizens of other EEA states. A situation many Brits take advantage of to live, work or retire in Europe.

[StreetCowboy]

If you were exercising a treaty right in another EEA state, i.e. working, self-employed, studying or living off independent means such as a pension, then yes you could obtain that state's equivalent of an EEA family permit for her.

Furthermore, if you then subsequently decided to return to the UK to live you could again obtain an EEA family permit for her to settle in the UK with you.

People who complain about the EEA freedom of movement regulations forget that they apply equally to British citizens as citizens of other EEA states. A situation many Brits take advantage of to live, work or retire in Europe.

To clarify: To bring my oriental bride into the UK from another EEA State, I would first need to satisfy the petty burgeoise nitpicking bureaucracy of that state, under the pretence that I was a resident of that state in accordance with my rights to work, study or retire there?

It 's not for me, its for a friend...

SC

EDIT: typo bogies removed

Edited November 23, 2011 by StreetCowboy

[7by7]

I'm not sure if you are being deliberately obtuse, or genuinely do not understand. For the moment, I will go with the latter.

Any foreigner living in any country of which they are not a citizen needs to "satisfy the petty burgeoise (sic) nitpicking bureaucracy of that state" in the form of that state's immigration law in order to live there.

This is true of a Brit living in Thailand, a Thai living in the UK etc.

There are various EEA treaties which guarantee freedom of movement within the EEA for all EEA nationals. For example, a Frenchman has the same right to live in the UK as an Englishman has to live in France.

However, the right is qualified. The person concerned must be exercising a treaty right, as listed in my previous.

It would be both unfair and illogical if a person exercising a treaty right in another EEA state were not allowed to take their family with them (the definition of family is fairly strict; Spouse/partner and children under 21 basically; although adult dependents can be included if they meet strict financial dependency requirements). Therefore non EEA national family members of an EEA national have the same freedom of movement rights, provided they are traveling with or to join their EEA national family member.

Each EEA state has their own procedure for issuing the appropriate entry clearance to these non EEA family members; but the regulations state that it must be free and it must be processed and issued with the minimum of delay.

However, these rights do not cover an EEA national living in the state of which they are a citizen.

So, a Brit wanting to have their oriental, or any non EEA national, wife join him to live in the UK would have to apply under and satisfy the UK's immigration rules. A Frenchman wanting his non EEA national wife join him to live in France would have to apply under and satisfy France's immigration rules etc.

The same as a Brit living in Thailand with his Thai wife has to apply under and satisfy Thailand's immigration rules. Except no EEA country I am aware of has anything like 90 day reporting!

If an EEA national has been exercising their treaty rights to live with their non EEA family in an EEA country other than their own and now wishes to return to live in their home state then the freedom of movement regulations say that they can apply under the these regulations for their family to accompany them, they do not have to apply under their home state's immigration rules; though they could if they so wished.

Persons who have dual EEA nationalities can use either nationality to obtain the appropriate entry clearance under the EEA regulations, If living in the country of one nationality, they can use their other nationality to obtain entry clearance for their family under the EEA regulations. As many members of this board with dual Irish/British nationality living in the UK with their Thai partners can confirm.

It is these treaty rights which mean that although the UK is not part of the Schengen area, the, for example, Thai wife of a Brit can obtain a Schenegn visa for a European holiday with her husband without having to complete most of the application form and provide most of the documents required of others; and it's free. This is true whether the couple live in the UK, Thailand or anywhere else.

It is complicated and the above is a very brief and simplified explanation; but I hope you now understand.

[meatboy]

ones got a brown nose,the other has a sore arse,who am i referring to

I work quite a bit with coal mining and I didn't realise extendend periods of coal dust exposure was a cause of dim-wittedness.

my father died of coal dust,but there is no [c] in what you say you done.

[7by7]

I've allowed a lot of leeway in this topic, but as it is now beginning to descend to the level of childish insults; closed.