EEA National & spouse of British citizen

[jsmith1]

Hello

Apologies for the basic questions . I will include as much information as possible and hope you can help.

My wife is a German national. She’s been living in the U.K. since December 2009, in which time she has been self-employed (and so has HMRC tax returns) and also spent 12 months studying for and achieving an MSc at a London university.

I am a British citizen by birth. We got married in 2012 in London and have a child together, born in the U.K.

In the wake of the EU referendum vote, she’s decided to apply for British citizenship. She’s taken and passed the ‘Life in the U.K.’ test recently.

We started to complete form EEA(PR) as a first step. Now I’m confused as to whether this is the correct form for her*. Is it? Am I her sponsor?

When we send originals of everything I assume (and hope) the HO takes copies and returns things promptly? We can’t be without our passports for any length of time!

Thanks

J


*As an aside, I see that the forms aren’t actually a mandatory requirement and as long as all the detail, documentary evidence and the fee page is sent, a covering letter will suffice for EU citizens exercising their treaty rights…

[Casa]

Yes, confirmation of PR is the correct form under EEA Regulations. She can't apply for ILR as your spouse as she hasn't been resident under the UK Immigration Rules.
Has she been self-employed throughout her 5 year qualifying period?

[jsmith1]

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, she's been self-employed, although she did a degree in 2010-11 (just inside the 5 year period) and I think she was technically employed for a 3 month period in 2013 when she worked on a film project.

[Obie]

Brexit is unlikely to affect her if she acquires PR. However naturalisation may cause her to lose German Citizenship . She needs to check her German citizenship status before making potentially irreversible decision.

When UK leave the EU, it will become a non-EU country, and this may have an implication retrospectively on her German citizenship.

Given the choice of European Citizenship and UK citizenship, I know which one I will go for. Especially when PR will secure her long term position in the UK.

[jsmith1]

Hi Obie

Yes, she will definitely check on the implications for her German nationality.

Our child already has a British passport and we're going to sort out a German one soon.

[Obie]

Well the action of the child is involuntary, your wife will essentially be making a voluntary move by seeking naturalisation.

[jsmith1]

One last question - at least for now:

Do they really need to know all the exact dates of each of our holidays and trips abroad for the last five years and all the documents, statements etc. again for the last five years???

Doesn't our marriage four years ago make a difference?

[LilyLalilu]

However naturalisation may cause her to lose German Citizenship

Fortunately not. Since August 2007 Germany has no problem with multiple citizenships received by application if the countries are EU countries (or Switzerland). As long as she obtains UK citizenship whilst the UK is still a member of the EU there is no issue and in this case dual nationality will still be allowed even if the UK later leaves. That's what the German Embassy London and the Bundesverwaltungsamt have confirmed.

As for the application for EEA PR:

1) You cannot be her sponsor as you are a British Citizen and cannot exercise treaty rights in your country of citizenship. She will need to apply in her own right but if she has been self-employed throughout and can prove this there should be no issue. If she was not also working/self-employed whilst studying, she would need private health insurance or a non-UK EHIC to prove that she has been exercising treaty rights during this period.

2) You can do a SAR to see if any travel data comes back (unlikely as she is an EU national). If nothing comes back just list the trips/dates you remember and state that you do not remember all trips but that the overall absences were under 6 months per year (assuming that's the case).

3) As she is married to you (British Citizen), she can apply for BC as soon as she received her PR document.

[noajthan]

One last question - at least for now:

Do they really need to know all the exact dates of each of our holidays and trips abroad for the last five years and all the documents, statements etc. again for the last five years???

Doesn't our marriage four years ago make a difference?

The reason for questions on travel is to confirm that continuity of residence has been maintained;
also that PR status, if acquired, has not been lost again due to a prolonged absence; (unlikely to have been lost in your case).

[jsmith1]

[quote="LilyLalilu"]

As for the application for EEA PR:

1) You cannot be her sponsor as you are a British Citizen and cannot exercise treaty rights in your country of citizenship. She will need to apply in her own right but if she has been self-employed throughout and can prove this there should be no issue. If she was not also working/self-employed whilst studying, she would need private health insurance or a non-UK EHIC to prove that she has been exercising treaty rights during this period.


If I can't be her sponsor, who should be instead or does she not need one?

[Obie]

You can't sponsor her unfortunately, unless of course, you have resided with her in another memberstate of the EEA as a worker or self-employed person, and you both resided as Man and wife in that state.

Your marriage makes no difference, except of course in regards to Naturalisation.

[LilyLalilu]

If I can't be her sponsor, who should be instead or does she not need one?

She will need to apply in her own right.

[Richard W]

Yes, she's been self-employed, although she did a degree in 2010-11 (just inside the 5 year period) and I think she was technically employed for a 3 month period in 2013 when she worked on a film project.

Are you confirming that she was self-employed while doing her degree? If she was not, she cannot count time spent as a student unless she had CSI during that time.

[secret.simon]

Do they really need to know all the exact dates of each of our holidays and trips abroad for the last five years and all the documents, statements etc. again for the last five years???

While the holiday data is not that important as regards acquisition of PR (under relaxed EU laws), be aware that the naturalisation application is based on much tougher (British) rules regarding absence and you would want very precise dates for that application. For instance, there is a requirement that the applicant must have been in the UK exactly three years to the day before the application (for spouses of British citizens) and in its wisdom, Parliament decided that the Home Office has no discretion to dispense with this rule. There are also specific rules on absences in the last year and overall across the three years preceding the application.

So, go through your emails, dig up those vacation photos and get as accurate dates as possible regarding these absences from the UK.