EEA Family Permit or UK Spouse Visa? What!?

[CatV]

So I am really confused. I hope you guys can help.

My wife and I were going down the path of applying for a UK Spouse Visa. She just went to London to sign to rent an apartment for us, so I could submit my application.

We are living together in the US as of now. I'm a US citizen, and she's US and Irish.

...And the more I read, the more it seems like, since she is Irish, but NOT British, we actually need an EEA Family Permit or an EEA2 Residency Card?

Is all my UK Spouse Visa research for nothing??

If that's the case, for right now, I'm looking at the EEA Family Permit. Apparently this has some requirements of her proving why she wants to live in the UK as well. I have some questions...

1. She could file as either job-seeker or self-sufficient. She has been applying for a couple jobs in the UK while in the US, so we do have her correspondence with a couple companies in the UK from within the last month.

But since she hasn't yet been hired, we were planning to file the UK Spouse Visa on savings alone, and we have well over the 62,500 pound minimum.

Which of these would you recommend? Or maybe file as job seeker and also mention we have more than enough to support ourselves while we search with a support bank statement?

2. Do I need to send her Irish passport, or just a copy and my own passport?

3. I have our marriage certificate and our joint lease and bank account. What other docs would you recommend?

4. We've decided to go ahead and rent an apartment anyway (I found out we may have to file under EEA while she was in London looking for one, she's just arrived back). Do I still need a letter from the landlord saying I can live there?

5. Do I still have to do the online app on Visa4UK? We don't have our lease finalized, so I have not completed it yet. When I do, will it automatically offer me the choice of an EEA Family Permit or do I need to apply elsewhere?

Thanks! So confused!

[vinny]

If your Irish wife is not also British, then it's simpler applying for an EEA family permit under the EEA regulations. Else, it may be more complicated.

Don't forget about CSI if it's required.

There are no advantages in applying for a spouse visa under the UK Immigration Rules. So, it's better if you are able to avoid this route.

[CatV]

Thanks!

I am currently unclear whether she needs to fall under one of the "qualified persons" requirments, given that she's in the US with me.

She has applied to a couple jobs already in the UK, but nothing exhaustive. She doesn't live there yet, so exactly how much work do they expect her to have done?

[chaoclive]

Thanks!

I am currently unclear whether she needs to fall under one of the "qualified persons" requirments, given that she's in the US with me.

She has applied to a couple jobs already in the UK, but nothing exhaustive. She doesn't live there yet, so exactly how much work do they expect her to have done?

She doesn't need to be a qualified person for the first three months of her stay; this is called an initial right of residence. Search for this.

She doesn't need to have a job before arriving, nor does she need to have applied.

I was in the same position in July. I entered (before my civil partner) and secured a job which started after he arrived. No issues whatsoever.

[CatV]

She doesn't need to be a qualified person for the first three months of her stay; this is called an initial right of residence. Search for this.

She doesn't need to have a job before arriving, nor does she need to have applied.

I was in the same position in July. I entered (before my civil partner) and secured a job which started after he arrived. No issues whatsoever.

Thanks! So... marriage certificate, joint lease, joint bank account, letter declaring her sponsorship and her intent to work... Anything else that is helpful? Do I need her original Irish passport or a copy? Any financial info? Do I need pictures?

I'm not sure what to put in for "length of stay." I will immediately apply for a Residence Card to stay, but I have heard of people running into problems when putting in a length of time longer than the 6 months of the EEA Permit.

[chaoclive]

Thanks! So... marriage certificate, joint lease, joint bank account, letter declaring her sponsorship and her intent to work... Anything else that is helpful? Do I need her original Irish passport or a copy? Any financial info? Do I need pictures?

I'm not sure what to put in for "length of stay." I will immediately apply for a Residence Card to stay, but I have heard of people running into problems when putting in a length of time longer than the 6 months of the EEA Permit.

So: this is what we provided:
-BOTH of our original passports (this is a requirement): a copy isn't enough
-Proof of our relationship (civil partnership certificate)
-A cover letter (from me) stating that we were traveling together to the UK (from China). This stated that I was planning to seek work in the UK and was planning to stay there indefinitely. (RE Dates: just put in anything you like and then expand in the cover letter). It is your wife's right to stay in the UK as long as she likes.
-Completed printed application form (fill in the online one first and then print it)
-My civil partner's pictures (think they required 2)
-Copies of the relevant legislation (Directive) with the relevant points highlighted, e.g. the initial right of residence

I think that was all! We got the FP in about 10 days (if I remember correctly).When my partner applied, I just put "NA" in all the spaces that allowed me to do so. If they don't allow this I just put a rough number or 0 for the number/financial questions.

At the notes section at the end of the application I wrote something like: "Financial and accommodation details are not required under the EEA legislation governing EEA family permits."

You won't be able to apply for an residence card immediately; she will have to be a qualified person and you will have to show that you are living in the UK (e.g. TV licence/bank statements etc) and that she is working/self-employed or otherwise exercising treaty rights; i.e. need pay slips/contracts of employment etc. We had all the documents in about a month. I also applied for EEA1 (registration certificate for European nationals) to strengthen his case for the residence card. It's not necessary at all but I had everything I needed really quickly anyway so I just put through the application and got it back in about 5 weeks. I enclosed my registration certificate with his residence card application.

[CatV]

So: this is what we provided:

Thank you!

One more question, because I know most rejections are based on something having to do with the relationship. So I want to be insanely thorough about that.

We've been married about 7 months. Same-sex marriage was only legalized here about a year ago, so before that we were just cohabitating. We started planning our wedding shortly after the ruling. Is this worth mentioning in the cover letter? Or providing other supporting docs (of which we have many going back a decade -- I'd just rather overdo it than underdo it).

[chaoclive]

Oh dear. I'm not really sure about that. We had been in our civil partnership for three years before that.

In theory, the marriage/civil union should mean that you don't need to provide any other information about your relationship, however, as the marriage is less than two years (the amount of time needed for durable relationships to be recognized), it might be a good idea to state some background to your relationship in the cover letters provided.

I hope someone else will come back and comment on this as it's a little different from our situation!

CC

[CatV]

Oh dear. I'm not really sure about that. We had been in our civil partnership for three years before that.

In theory, the marriage/civil union should mean that you don't need to provide any other information about your relationship, however, as the marriage is less than two years (the amount of time needed for durable relationships to be recognized), it might be a good idea to state some background to your relationship in the cover letters provided.

I hope someone else will come back and comment on this as it's a little different from our situation!

CC

Yeah, that's why I wonder if I should mention that it was only recently legalized.

Perhaps a couple photos or emails something? Maybe the snarky Valentine she sent me! I mean, we've known each other and been together for eons, and we lived together before we were married (though I think shy of 2 years). So all that stuff exists. It's just that our marriage is new because we couldn't get married before.

[CatV]

ETA: Does the fact that my copy of the lease I just got obviously predates our marriage license date help? She was put in as a co-habitant when I got the previous lease, and officially fully on lease when the near year started in January. The copy I have where she's written in is dated October 2013.

[chaoclive]

Not sure, but hope that someone else will come along and answer!