My husband ceased to be an EEA national

[joulel]

Hi there,

I arrived in uk as a family member of an EEA national (my husband) with a 6-month entry clearance and then I received a 5-year Residence Card. My husband received his British Passport a couple of months after my arrival in UK and lost his EEA nationality (because dual nationality was not possible for him). I want to know:

Am I still considered an EEA national's family member and should follow the EEA rules for my permenant residence card and then naturalization?
If no, what should I do?
If yes, does the 5-year residing in uk starts from my arrival date or the starting date of my 5-year Residence Card?

Thank you very much in advance,
Jamak

[rosebead]

If he's now only British, then I'm afraid as a British person he cannot exercise Treaty rights in his own country. The UK takes the view that if you're British, you are simply British, even if you have dual nationality, and since your husband is clearly only British now, that makes things even more clearer.

He could apply for you to stay in the UK under domestic Immigration Rules, otherwise he would have to pull a 'Surinder Singh'. So he would have to work in the EEA for a minimum of over three months, preferably six, and come back with you to the UK to earn the right of residence for you to stay in the UK as the family member of an EEA citizen.

I'm surprised he would take up British citizenship and give up his own without considering the position it might leave you in though.

[askmeplz82]

the law says : Once naturalized, EU free movement law will no longer apply to their family members. Any family member will be required to enter the UK on the basis of traditional British law

Let me get this right you entered UK as a family member of an EU nation and then you received 5 years residence card as family member of n EU national which is still valid

as far i know transitional arrangements are put in place for those who relied on the previous understanding of the law. Your husband exercised his right of free movement in the UK So after 5 years as family member of an EU national you can also apply for British Citizenship as long you are married.


correct me if i am wrong GURU

[joulel]

Dear friends,

Thank you very much for your information.

To Rosebead:
Would you please what you mean by domestic immigration rules? Does it mean that I should apply for visa extension as the wife of a British citizen now and then wait for two more years?


To askmeplz82:
The problem is that among the document needed for Permanent Residence Card my husband's EEA valid passport is needed. Do you recommend that I apply for naturalisation without having my Permanent Residence card?

Thank you very much

[dalebutt]

You will continue to benefit from the EEA regulation irrespective of the fact that your husband is now also a British citizen, your husband just no longer would be able to sponsor any new family member under the EEA regulations, in your case, you do not need to apply for confirmation of PR, you can just apply directly for British citizenship as a spouse of a British citizen.

[rosebead]

Joulel, when did you and your husband actually arrive in the UK? I am getting confused with the dates now because there are no dates in your post. Did your husband exercise Treaty rights in the UK for 5 years as an EEA national before losing his EEA citizenship? And did you live with him for 5 years in the UK as the family member of an EEA national before he lost his EEA citizenship? If so, then yes you are entitled to EEA4. However if he had become de-naturalised before both of you had lived 5 years in the UK (and he was a worker during that time), then I'm afraid you do not qualify for the EEA4 Permanent Residence card. And if you've actually just arrived in this country recently I can't see how you would be able to use the lack of your husband's EEA nationality to apply again for residence as the non-EEA family member of an EEA national, whether it's another EEA2 or an EEA4.

But since your husband has no dual nationality and has lost his EEA nationality and is now only mono-nationality British, he can't even use McCarthy case law to argue for his family rights. McCarthy case law is an EU law about dual EEA nationality, and the UK uses it in completely the wrong manner to deem absolutely anyone since July or October 2012 with dual UK/EEA nationality as being British. If your husband had kept his dual nationality he could have argued in court that he had not always resided in the UK and he had exercised Treaty rights, and he would've probably won the right to keep you here as his family member.

UNLESS you've both been in the UK for 5 years and your husband had been working as an EEA national during that time (even if he later acquired dual nationality because of naturalisation as British), you are not eligible for EEA4 I'm afraid. In that case, you can only apply for permanent residence in the UK now as the spouse of a British citizen and you would fall under the domestic Immigration Rules and not the EEA Regulations. The only way for your husband to regain EEA rights for you in that case is if he were able to regain his EEA citizenship and renounce his British citizenship, or if he went abroad with you into the EU and did what is called a "Surinder Singh" (working abroad for over 3 months) and come back with you to the UK with his EEA rights for you restored.