succesfull application for 5 years residence for thai wife , french husband

[livil]

hi all

just thought i would share this story of a successful application for my wife 5 years residence visa in uk as it might be useful to other or would at least give hope to those scared by british increasingly tough immigration rules ....

US

married in thailand 2 years ago ( supporting doc , 2 years worth of pictures, email , phone bills , and so on .

ME

French 38 ( EEA) living in uk for the the last 10 years , never registered at the french embassy as an expat .

not so good tax record ( 14k last year , 17k this year. i am self employed ,never asked for any benefits in uk )

SHE

thai 22 . owns a house and a motorbike .... ( stupid to say but best to put in the application all personnal possession )

KIDS

1/ son 2 years old , born in thailand , french passport /national . residence on passport : same as my uk address ( just seemed clever at the time )

2/daughter 1 year old , born in thailand , french passport /national . residence on passport : same as my uk address ( just seemed clever at the time )

1st application . EEA family permit 6 months ( 2 years ago )

used a solicitor in uk ( 800£ , waste of money to compil doc and take apointment at the britisih embassy in bkk but the task seemed daunting to me ..)

visa fee : FREE for eea member !!

sucessfull !! wife and son came to uk for 6 months , then back to thailand as we didnot want our daughter to be born in uk ( headache to get her a thai passport afterwards , plus being born in uk wont grant her uk citizen ship and as i am french she will be french where ever she is born .)

2nd application EEA family permit 6 months ( 8 months ago )

no solicitor used , just used the same documents as before + new bits and bobs

visa fee : FREE for eea member

successfull !! wife came to uk with thew 2 kids about 8 months ago

3rd application : 5 years residence for EEA ( wife of eea member with treaty right in uk ) ... the big and scary one !!

no solicitor used , just filled the application online , printed it and sent it with supporting documents

visa fee : FREE for EEA ( i read if uk citizen you need to pay 851£ . <deleted>)

after one month we received the letter to say the application was received and it would take up to 6 months to get an answer .

2 months later ,passport with residence " visa " came back to us , allowed to work and so on ...

i was frantic !!|!

now i read a while ago that imigration rules changed in uk last year and that you now need to show proof of income of 19k if you do not have kids and ( my case ) 22k with to kids ...

this was my biggest concern as my latest tax return was for 14k only ( 4 months in thailand ...) i just sent all the invoice i sent to my clients for the actual financial year as well as bank record showing money comming in and out as per the invoices

as i said before my kids passport have written on them as adress my uk adress so this might have helped in the sense that the kids live with me and refusing the mother a visa would be somewhat separating the family ?

by the way , we never had to do a medical screening for TB ?? i tought this was mandatory , neither was she ask to show proof that she can speak english and so on ???

so as you can see not the best case for a residence financially speaking but a good case family speaking ( 2 kids )

btw . i did ask the solicitor the first time we applied for 6months family permit if it would better if i had british citizenship ( i can as i have been here long enough ) she openly told me not to as it would be harder and more expensive if i was british , sorry guys i just do not understand why that is the case and find it mind blowing ) i do believe anyway that british citizen can go the same route as us asking for eea family permit then eea residence instead of applying as a british citizen .

just my 2 bits , hope it brighten the days for some of you guys anxious to get a visa or residence for your wife , apologies to anyone who has been refused a visa with a stronger case than us ,

maybe we just have been incredibly lucky ...

good luck to you all

Edited June 20, 2013 by livil

[Kevin1908]

Interesting. My grand mother was Irish so I think I could get Irish citizenship. Juts wondered if I did that I could apply for settlement for my wife in Ireland.

[Jay Sata]

If your grandmother was Irish you qualify for an Irish passport. Both my parents were Irish although I was born in the UK which mean I was an Irish citizen. You'll have to go down a slightly more complicated route.

A person whose grandfather or grandmother was born in Ireland may become an Irish citizen by registering in the Foreign Births Register at an Irish Embassy or Consular Office or at the Department of Foreign Affairs.

I obtained Irish citizenship for my wife several years ago but she already had ILR for many years in the UK. We never bothered with UK citizenship as her Irish passport does everything a GB one achieves.

You'll have to go and live in Ireland if you want settlement there assuming your wife does not have ILR in the UK.

http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/Frequently%20asked%20Questions%20about%20Irish%20Citizenship%20and%20Naturalisation#Q4

Edited June 20, 2013 by Jay Sata

[7by7]

livil,

Had you wanted to live in France, then as a French citizen you could not have used these regulations but would have had to satisfy the requirements of the French immigration rules instead.

But a British citizen who wanted to live in France with his Thai wife, for example, could use the same regulations as you used to live in the UK.

£800 to a solicitor to prepare an EEA family permit application! You were screwed.

Financial and language requirements don't apply to those entering under the EEA regulations, but I must admit I thought a TB cert was required with the first application in Thailand.

As a general note, people with two or more EEA nationalities can no longer use one of their nationalities to live in the other country unless they have at some time lived in the first country.

For example; a dual Irish/British national cannot use his Irish nationality to obtain entry to the UK for his Thai wife unless he has at some time lived in Ireland.

[Kevin1908]

If your grandmother was Irish you qualify for an Irish passport. Both my parents were Irish although I was born in the UK which mean I was an Irish citizen. You'll have to go down a slightly more complicated route.

A person whose grandfather or grandmother was born in Ireland may become an Irish citizen by registering in the Foreign Births Register at an Irish Embassy or Consular Office or at the Department of Foreign Affairs.

I obtained Irish citizenship for my wife several years ago but she already had ILR for many years in the UK. We never bothered with UK citizenship as her Irish passport does everything a GB one achieves.

You'll have to go and live in Ireland if you want settlement there assuming your wife does not have ILR in the UK.

http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/Frequently%20asked%20Questions%20about%20Irish%20Citizenship%20and%20Naturalisation#Q4

Just thinking ahead. If it comes to the time that UKBA kick the wife of the UK because I can't meet the minimum earnings rule then may be going to Ireland might be better that going to Thailand.

[Kevin1908]

For example; a dual Irish/British national cannot use his Irish nationality to obtain entry to the UK for his Thai wife unless he has at some time lived in Ireland.

I am only thinking ahead. If faced with option of leaving the UK then I could opt for Ireland rather than Thailand. I assume if I have met the right conditions then might be easier for the wife to get Irish citizenship then passport then stick 2 fingers up to the UKBA.

[7by7]

Any EEA national has the rigyt to live and exercise certain treaty rights in any other EEA state and have their non EEA national family members live there with them.

Those treaty rigts are:-

• Student.
• Jobseeker; will have to leave if you have not found a job in a reasonable time, usually three months.
• Worker; employed or self-employed.
• Living off independent means; e.g. savings, investments, pension or combination of these.

The rules are pretty standard, so your wife would be entitled to permanent residence in the RoI after living there with you for 5 years.

But, if she were to leave the RoI for a period of 6 months or more she would have to start the 5 years residency all over again.

Naturalisation is not covered by the EEA regulations; each country has their own rules and requirements. I know nothing of the Irish naturalisation requirements, so cannot say when, or if, she would be able to apply for Irish nationality and so obtain an Irish passport. But I doubt that it would be possible until after she has PR.

Edit, should have read Jay Sata's link first!

Edited June 20, 2013 by 7by7

[Jay Sata]

If you are prepared to live in the Irish Republic I think you'll find they are a lot more benevolent than the UK when it comes to your spouse getting citizenship. In our case it just involved filling out a few forms and submitting our marriage documents and this was all done from the UK.

(We never moved to Eire but my wife had ILR in the UK)

No interview or any other hassle apart from the process taking about a year.

We never had to submit any proof of ILR from the UK and she acquired her Irish citizenship on the sole basis of being married to an Irish citizen.