UK EEA Family Permit

[colinthailand20005]

I would like to share our recent experience in obtaining a UK EEA Family Permit.

I am a British Citizen.

Firstly I left Thailand to go and live in Ireland in early September, it took me about 3 weeks to find a decent job. Found lodgings in a house, as backpacker we doing my head in!

At the end of November I came back to Thailand to get married. Applied for a Join EU Spouse visa at the Dublin Embassy, it took about 1 week to issue with very minimal documents needed.

Both of us went to Ireland on the 6th December, moved into an apartment in Dublin got a joint rental agreement and Internet/Phone account.

On the 17th December submitted my wife's UK EEA Family Permit Application expecting everything to go through easy.

On the 7th January we go a letter stating that my time period in Ireland did not meet the qualifying period of regulation 9 of the 2006 EU immigration act.

So I looked up the act and in it there is no set time period for the EEA national to be in another member state, so I quickly started to write a complaint letter to the visa department at the Dublin embassy detailing their error, I emailed it and they responded in 2 days stating that an entry clearance manager had reviewed the application, and that we did meet the conditions of the act and will revoke the previous decision and issue the visa.

Now we are both on the UK I have a good job and she is looking for work.

I pays to complain if you believe you are right. My wife was only in Ireland for 11 days when we made our application and myself just over 3 months and we managed to bypass all of the immigration requirements.

Colin

[howerde]

Well done, at least they reviewed the decision and didn't make you use the appeal process, the EU isn't all bad

[7by7]

For those who may be wondering, normally non EEA family members cannot use the EEA regulations to enter the country of which their EEA national spouse is a citizen.

However, they can if the EEA national has been living and working in another EEA state and they have been living there with them.

This is known as the Surinder Singh route.

Since the introduction of the unreasonable financial requirement in July 2012, a lot of couples have been doing as the OP; finding a job in another EEA country, Ireland being favourite for the obvious reason, living there together for a short while and then coming to the UK.

So much so that the UK government are trying to make it more difficult to follow this route.

Firstly by saying that the couple must have lived together in the other EEA state for at least 3 months; there is no such minimum time limit in the relevant EEA regulations.

This is why the initial application was refused; she had only been in Ireland for 11 days.

Most people would have left it at that; but the OP persevered and got the decision overturned; good for him!

Unfortunately, I don't think he would have been successful if his wife had applied this year.

The government have again changed the UK version of the regulations with effect from 1/1/14; a change they feel does not conflict with the original judgement..

Under these changes the British family member will need to show that they have transferred 'the centre of their life' to the EEA country where they are now living. Various criteria will be used by UKVI in assessing this; including, but not limited to, the length of residence in the other EEA state, the degree of integration in the other EEA state (whatever that means) and where the British partner's principle residence is, the UK or the other EEA state.

As you would expect, this move has stirred up much controversy as it appears to go against the principle of the original judgment. I expect that anyone who is refused for failing to meet these new criteria will appeal and the matter will eventually be settled in court; but that's going to take a long time.

Colin, a good job she applied when she did; had she left it a couple of weeks I suspect that you'd both be in Ireland for the foreseeable future!

[colinthailand20005]

I am going to send my wife's EEA2 application tomorrow and am hoping that the new rules don't apply to us as she already has her family permit?

I am thinking they might refuse it and then I will have to complain again.

[howerde]

I am going to send my wife's EEA2 application tomorrow and am hoping that the new rules don't apply to us as she already has her family permit?

I am thinking they might refuse it and then I will have to complain again.

The new rules came in on 1st Jan, as you applied under the old rules, you will be ok, but you never know how they handle things at Liverpool, expect a wait of 3-4months

[7by7]

Indeed, the new 'rules' apply to out of UK applications for the initial permit.

In UK applications for those already here are not, as far as I'm aware, effected by this change.

Sorry if I gave you a moment of panic.