* Proof of EEA Self Employed National status in the UK *

[Pasha]

I have resided in the UK for the majority of my working life and hold dual Irish and British citizenship. I was born in the UK and gained Irish caitizenship through my parents. I have been self employed for a number of years and my fiance and I are due to be married early next year. We intend on submitting an application for an EEA Family Permit so that she will be able to join me on a permanent basis in the UK. My fiance is a non-visa national and once married we intend on submitting an application for the EEA Family permit in Dublin. I have been looking at the relevant website for information relating to VAF1, EEA1 AND EEA 2 applications and would appreciate some advise on the following areas I am not quite sure about..

* Do I need to apply for an EEA Residence card prior to submitting the application for my wife's EEA Family Permit? I understand that this is needed as I have and is curently settled in the UK for more than 3 months.

I have always relied on my British passport and never thought to apply for a residence card but will do if this is advisable for the purposes of my wifes EEA FP application.

* For my wifes EEA Family Permit application, if I do not apply for the EEA residence card to prove residence in the UK, can I use a copy of my British Passport to show that I have been settled in the UK?

I understand that my British passport has no bearings on the EU route and subsequent applications but have read that the next step after the EEA FP is for my wife to apply for a residence card. I have read that if the EEA 1 and EEA 2 forms are submitted together, there is a likelihood that the applications will be processed quicker.

* Being self employed, I am able to show sufficient funds in saving accounts and other investments to show that I am able to support my wife without recourse to public funds. The INF18 guidance document advises supporting documents to be submission of your accounts and bank statements etc....

At the point of application for my wifes EEA Family Permit, the worse case senario is that my years worth of bank statements will be with my accountant and my tax returns and NI contributions calculations will be incomplete. I would rather not risk being imposed with a fine for late tax returns. Would it therefore be advisable to get a letter from my accountant stating this as well as confirming that I have duley completed my tax returns and NI contributions for X amount of years as a self employed person currently working in the UK? Would this be sufficient together with proof of savings?

I could provide payslips for the spells of paid employment I took up with various companies but these are more 2 years old. I also hold a valid CIS card and I have noted is acceptable as proof of self employment for the EEA 1 application.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

So you have been working in the UK and now are planning to move back to Ireland with your wife?

Are you living together now in the UK?

[Docterror]

Getting to the questions at hand,

Do I need to apply for an EEA Residence card prior to submitting the application for my wife's EEA Family Permit? I understand that this is needed as I have and is curently settled in the UK for more than 3 months.

I have always relied on my British passport and never thought to apply for a residence card but will do if this is advisable for the purposes of my wifes EEA FP application

No, you do not need to apply for the Registration Certificate, as the residence Permit for EEA nationals are now called, to apply for the EEAFP for you wife(to-be). But do appreciate that the EEAFP is NOT based on your British passport but your Irish one as you are resident here in the UK. Had it been the other way round, with you being employed in ROI, then you would have been... wait... let's not go there!

For my wifes EEA Family Permit application, if I do not apply for the EEA residence card to prove residence in the UK, can I use a copy of my British Passport to show that I have been settled in the UK?

Look at the above question and as it stands, British Citizens (BC) are not issued the Registration Certificate even if they were eligible via the Surinder Singh route. So, for the time being chuck your British Passport in a locker and fish out the Irish one. The British passport is in no way proof that you are settled in UK.

Would it therefore be advisable to get a letter from my accountant stating this as well as confirming that I have duley completed my tax returns and NI contributions for X amount of years as a self employed person currently working in the UK? Would this be sufficient together with proof of savings?

It is not just advisable, but a necessity to get the letter from your accountant for the time that you have been self-employed with special highlight on the income and tax/NI for the past 3 months with any contracts for services provided or leases for premises etc held during the period along with the statement of the bank account in which the earnings came into to be submitted for the application.

A few things to note-

See if the Dublin embassy will accept the EEAFP application for your wife if she is settled there now.

There is anecdotal evidence to show that an EEA1 application along with the EEA2 one does get processed much faster than the EEA2 alone, but nothing is etched in stone. Also, the payslips that is 2 years old- use it to give the British Passport company. It is of no use in this case.

[Pasha]

Thanks for the advise. I am currently resident in the UK and we will be remaining in the UK once married. We are not planning to move to Ireland and my wife to-be is a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago in the Carribbean.

We will be having our wedding and in her home country and our honeymoon in Dublin. My wife to be and I will be travelling from the Caribbean (Trinidad) together and she is classifed as a non-visa national for the purposes of entering Ireland for up to 3 months. There, whilst on our honeymoon, we plan to submit the application for the EEA FP in Dublin to ensure that her application is considered under EU Law.

I have confirmed via email and telephone calls to UKVisas that her application for the EEA FP will be accepted in Dublin as she will be lawfully resident in Ireland on a visitors visa for less than three months.

It is not just advisable, but a necessity to get the letter from your accountant for the time that you have been self-employed with special highlight on the income and tax/NI for the past 3 months with any contracts for services provided or leases for premises etc held during the period along with the statement of the bank account in which the earnings came into to be submitted for the application.

Ok I see, thanks for the advise, so to clarify, being self employed I should provide the following documents to support my wife to-be application for an EEA FP;

1. A letter from my accountant stating my duration of self-employment in the UK

2. Evidence of Tax and NI contributions

Does my accountant have to mention figures for previous tax years or should it just be limited to three months calculations of the current tax year prior to the application for the EEA FP being submitted?

3. Three months worth of bank statements where income generated through self employment was banked.

Am I right in thinking that bank statements submitted should cover the period of three months or should it be longer for self employed persons?

4. Savings account statements

5. Letter from Bank Manager

I read from gerenal research on the internet that in addition to bank statements, it is advisable (but not necessary) to get a letter from my bank manager to confirm that I have been with the bank for X amount of years and that my account has been maintained sufficiently during this time.

6. Evidence of ability to maintain without recourse to public funds by way of proof of accomodation (rent/mortgage statements), proof of household bills.

7. Evidence of settled status.. my Irish Passport as my status in the UK as being settled is assumed based on my Irish Citizenship.

I understand that my British passport is irrelavant to this application. Going solely on my Irish citizenship and passport, would I therefore not be able eligible to apply at all for an EEA residence card to proove my settled status or is it just not necessary at this stage as my right to residence as an Irish citizen in the UK called/ assumed for the purpose of my wife to be EEA FP?

To confirm, would I be able to apply for the residence card based on my Irish citizenship?

If this is open to me, it would be purely to back up the fact that I am currently in the UK exercising my EU Treaty right to work in another Member State and have done so for more than three months.

If this option is available to me based soley on my Irish citizenship (not BC) I wanted to apply using the EEA 1 form as proof of my right to reside in the UK as an self employed Irish Citizen purely to aid my wifes EAA FP and residence permit applications.

Many thanks, your advise is greatly appreciated.

[Docterror]

Does my accountant have to mention figures for previous tax years or should it just be limited to three months calculations of the current tax year prior to the application for the EEA FP being submitted?

The more, the merrier. But the last 3 months are an absolute must.

Am I right in thinking that bank statements submitted should cover the period of three months or should it be longer for self employed persons?

Same answer as above.

Going solely on my Irish citizenship and passport, would I therefore not be able eligible to apply at all for an EEA residence card to proove my settled status or is it just not necessary at this stage as my right to residence as an Irish citizen in the UK called/ assumed for the purpose of my wife to be EEA FP?

Irish nationals are considered 'settled' in the UK for immigration purposes and have the right to chose the UK or the EU route as they please. The ECOs are aware of that and will not ask for further proof of being settled in the UK.

To confirm, would I be able to apply for the residence card based on my Irish citizenship?

For EEA nationals, as Irish are, the Residence Card is called the Registration Certificate and I have never been a part of a case in which I applied for one with an EEA1. But I do not think there si any reason for them to refuse you one as only British Nationals are not given one, and so Irish should not be a problem if you apply with the EEA1 and EEA2 together to speed up the EEA2 (Residence Card) application.