Any downside to trying for EEA2? (Northern Irish)

[stupot]

Hi all,

I'm aware that there are a few similar threads asking about Northern Irish applying for EEA2, but none of them quite answer my question.

I'm Northern Irish and have both British and Irish passports. From 1996 to 2001 I lived in Spain and my Spanish residence card from that time (which I still have) states "Irish" as my nationality, as I was using my Irish passport at the time.

I'm currently living in Taiwan with my Taiwanese wife and two kids, but aiming to return to the UK soon.

It's my personal opinion that the McCarthy ruling is ambiguous and that the main reason for the rejection was that she had never exercised her treaty rights. However, I have obviously done that by living in Spain, and even using my Irish passport (though not with my wife). Nowhere do I see that your spouse/partner had to have lived with you while you exercised that right (remember, this is not the Surender Singh route). If anyone can show me something in black and white that proves me wrong, please let me know as I haven't been able to find it.

I've very little doubt that my application for a UK family permit for my non-EEA wife would be rejected anyway, whether correctly or not, but my big question is whether it is worth TRYING. It's pretty much free to apply. However my concern is if we got rejected and then later applied for a standard UK spouse visa, would my wife have a mark against her for being denied an EEA2? Would we even have to mention that on the visa application, given that the family permit isn't strictly a visa (or is it)?

OK, sorry if any of that doesn't make sense. The whole Northern Irish dual-nationality thing is very confusing and I don't think the McCarthy ruling is very clear. Unfortunately it is open to being interpreted as the UKBA wants.

I appreciate any and all comments.

Stu

[stupot]

Sorry, that should've been EEA1 (Family Permit), not EEA2.

[n2o]

issue as always is the application form (I believe) asks the 'sponsors' place of birth, which for you is GBR (once a Brit always a Brit), unless you renounce British citizenship prior to the FP application, or spend time in an member state then its the Surinder Singh route

As for the rules, see EUN2.16

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... ily-permit

Where a person has applied on the basis that they are a dual British citizen/EEA national on or after 16 July 2012 then the application must be refused unless the person either:

1. Meets the provisions of regulation 9 (which gives effect to the ECJ case of Surinder Singh or

2. Comes within the scope of the transitional arrangements set out below.

[stupot]

OK, I guess we'll try the standard UK spouse visa route. Thanks for your reply, n2o.