BRP for spouse of Irish citizen

[IrishLass]

Good evening everyone,

I am an Irish citizen, in the UK with my South African husband and 2 children, all on EEA family visas.
I understand that I have automatic settled status and there for so do my children (apparently?)
My question is; seeing as I have automatic settled status, can my husband and kids apply for their BRPs now already, on the basis of me having settled status (we have been in the UK since 5th Dec 2018) or would I have to show 3 months of working and therefor prove I am a qualified person?
Would it be better to wait for the pre settled scheme opening in March, and when that opens would it also hinge on me working or would the onus be on him proving habitual residency rather than me proving my employment status?

He is the main bread winner of the household and wants to do his HGV license as well as an MOT course, but most of the work available to him would hinge on him having a BRP.

He has sent away to exchange his drivers licence (hopefully they grant it) as well as had an interview for his NI number, has an NHS number and a bank account.

Thanks in advance for any and all help!

[IrishLass]

not sure how to 'bump' this and hope it didnt get lost...

does anyone have any advice please?

[Richard W]

I am an Irish citizen, in the UK with my South African husband and 2 children, all on EEA family visas.
I understand that I have automatic settled status and there for so do my children (apparently?)
My question is; seeing as I have automatic settled status, can my husband and kids apply for their BRPs now already, on the basis of me having settled status (we have been in the UK since 5th Dec 2018) or would I have to show 3 months of working and therefor prove I am a qualified person?

You and many other people (even some moderators!) may believe that you automatically have settled status, but you only have settled status if you arrived from the Republic of Ireland, in which case you would have a 'qualifying CTA entitlement', which is relevant for the acquisition of British nationality. (The concept was greeted with some incredulity in the House of Lords when it was introduced into the British Nationality Act.)

In principle, you can all apply for a residence card now on the basis of your working.

Would it be better to wait for the pre settled scheme opening in March, and when that opens would it also hinge on me working or would the onus be on him proving habitual residency rather than me proving my employment status?

It would hinge on all four of your being ordinarily resident. You can apply from the 21 January, but until the next phase the rest of the family can only apply for residence cards. The condition restricting their application for a BRP is that they each be:

A non-EU citizen who has been issued by the Secretary of State with a residence card or permanent residence card under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016, on the basis of an application made on or after 6 April 2015.

Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... ember-2018

He is the main bread winner of the household and wants to do his HGV license as well as an MOT course, but most of the work available to him would hinge on him having a BRP.

More precisely, a residence card until the EU settlement scheme is sufficiently open.

[secret.simon]

Let's sort a few concepts out at the beginning.

Irish citizens are generally considered settled on arrival in the UK. But that status is under UK domestic law and applies only to the Irish citizen themselves, not their non-EEA family members.

So, if you are an Irish citizen, you yourself are considered settled under UK domestic law. So are your children, but only if they are Irish citizens themselves.

However, for your husband to work in the UK, he will need to meet all the requirements of the spouse of an EEA citizen under EU law. For the purposes of EU law, you are not a settled person/holding PR under EU law. You will need to be a qualified person (work yourself or study/be self-sufficient with Comprehensive Sickness Insurance aka private medical insurance for all non-British members of the family) for your husband to be able to work in the UK.

He will need to apply for a Residence Card if he wants to start working as soon as possible.

Richard W, nice to see you back on these forums. I read an interesting article on Twitter a month or so ago on the CTA and its statutory underpinnings (or lack thereof) and immediately thought of you. I'm trying to locate the article (I think it is this one), but in the meanwhile, Section 2 of the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill explicitly provides for all Irish citizens to not require leave to reside in the UK. Note again that it applies only to Irish citizens, not their family members.

[Richard W]

You will need to be a qualified person (work yourself or study/be self-sufficient with Comprehensive Sickness Insurance aka private medical insurance for all non-British members of the family) for your husband to be able to work in the UK.

Where does this exemption for *British* citizen members come from? In this particular case, it would apply to settled members (but not the OP!) by virtue of EEA Regulation 4 Subsections (2)-(4). That would be relevant if any of the children were Irish, but I assume the OP's birth was registered as a foreign birth too late, if ever. Of course, it is possible that the children are entitled to be Irish, but not yet Irish, in which case they should be made Irish.

Section 2 of the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill explicitly provides for all Irish citizens to not require leave to reside in the UK. Note again that it applies only to Irish citizens, not their family members.

Thanks for that link. I've been looking for that bill for months.

[IrishLass]

Thank you very much for your replies. I’m Irish through FBR only done after the birth of the kids. So they have no automatic entitlement.

Thanks again