Future ILR Query

[bash_h]

Hi,

Im a brit citizen and my wife is from Pakistan who (hoping she gets her visa in April) will join me here soon.

The firm I work for has offered me a position to work in the the Netherlands office, obviously I can come & go as I please, but I want to think about how we will get the travel/residence paperwork done for her and also bearing in mind I will want to apply for ILR for her as my spouse in 2 years time.

I suppose I can get a schengen visa for her with multiple entry, and then she can come and go with me. Now, as far as I understand, this will not cause a negative impact for her application for ILR in 2 years, as the total period outside of the UK will never exceed 90 days... or is that not such a good idea? I want to avoid unnecessary complications when I do the ILR app!

Basically Im looking for a bit of guidance on what the best way of dealing with this situation is!

Thanks

[John]

Totally accept that the possible ILR is an issue here, but let's just ignore that for a while.

As a British Citizen, and therefore an EEA Citizen, if you are exercising your treaty rights to live and work in the Netherlands then your wife is entitled to a Dutch-issued EEA Family Permit. That could be applied for at the Dutch embassy/consulate in Pakistan. The good news is that under community law the application fee for an EEA Family Permit is, well, nothing!

Also note that as the Netherlands is part of the Schengen area there would be no problem your wife visiting any other Schengen area country. OK, that does not include the UK and a visitor's visa would be required in order to enter the UK. But because your wife is a family member of an EEA citizen, you, such visitor's visas should be issued for free.

Once you have been exercising your treaty rights and living and working in the Netherlands for at least six months, and your wife has been living with you in the Netherlands for at least six months, the UK Government would acknowledge that your wife would be entitled to a UK-issued EEA Family Permit in order that the two of you could move to the UK to live and work. Again no charge for the UK-issued EEA Family Permit.

Now returning to the matter of the possible UK ILR visa. Of course that would be nice to have but if you are thinking that would permit an application for naturalisation three years after your wife first arrives in the UK, well spending considerable amounts of time out of the UK would probably prevent a naturalisation application being made, until back in the UK for some considerable time.

So given the ease of getting EEA Family Permits, compared to getting visas, is the EEA Family Permit route worthy of more careful consideration?

[bash_h]

Thanks for your quick reply Jon!

Well her British visa is currently under process and she will be here soon, so Im working on what to do after she gets here

so, according to your advice, I can apply for a EEA Family Permit, that would have to be done here in the UK, but it sounds like a much better idea than visas!. Is there any info on this anywhere coz I cant see any on the London Dutch Embassy site ? Thanks

Also, the bit about the ILR?! I dont get it :p Do you mean to say that the period where she will be in the Netherlands with me that wont be counted against the 3 year period of ILR eligibilety? Am i right to say that lets say I work there for a year and she is with me, then when we come back to the UK, its only THEN that the clock starts ticking for 3 years? Grateful if you can clarify.

Thanks

[John]

Dealing first with the possible naturalisation application, OK the three-year clock might start ticking .... but the clock might have a dodgy battery! Just think about the conditions, including :-

• not out of the UK more than 270 days in the three years before applying
• not out of the UK more than 90 days in the one year prior to applying
• must have ILR visa
• needing to have been in the UK exactly three years prior to IND receiving the application

In other words prolonged periods of time outside the UK, for example in the Netherlands, will seriously hamper your wife becoming a British Citizen! OK there is a bit of leeway on those 270 and 90 numbers, but not a lot.

her British visa is currently under process and she will be here soon

Ah right, the application for a spouse visa has already been submitted? You have already paid over the £260? Or rather the equivalent in local currency?

In which case hopefully your wife will get that UK spouse visa and then be able to move to the UK. Once she is resident in the UK an application for a n EEA Family Permit could be made at the Dutch embassy in London. I too have had a quick look at their website and cannot immediately spot any mention of EEA Family Permits. However as they exist under community law they cannot pretend they do not exist. If you are exercising your treaty rights to live and work in the Netherlands your third-country wife has the same rights as you, but needs an EEA Family Permit in her passport in order to prove it. Maybe a call to the embassy in London might help? Or might be best to wait until after your wife arrives in the UK before making contact.

[bash_h]

I've found a site at http://www.ind.nl/EN/index.asp which does indeed say that she can get an EEA permit in her passport and come to live with me as a family member.

However, now this side of things is ok, back to the ILR/naturalisation issue :p say if she comes to the UK, and after a short period of time she gets the EEA permit and goes to Netherlands with me.

Now, this is going to cause a problem when appyling for ILR after two years. What will we do then?! (Sorry for panicking two years earlier!), if it seriously hampers her chances of permanent stay in the UK for the future I will probably have to think about turning down this oppurtunity

Wouldnt the worst case scenario be that when we come back to the UK to stay permanently, say after a year.

Then we can wait another 2 years to apply for ILR? (so three years for ILR and four years for naturalisation in total) and apply then? Surely they cant say no, can they?

Or will her visa that she got in Islamabad only allow her to stay a year or so more in the UK? Im kinda confused about that aspect of this issue!

[Kayalami]

bash_h,

EEA permit

1. Your spouse may obtain a 12 month EEA permit from the Dutch Consulate in London - they may have to refer the application to the Dutch IND in Rijswijk, Holland but it should go o.k. given your employment - they will need to see the job contract, evidence of funds and medical insurance.

2. Dutch IND can renew this permit for a further 4 years based on your continuation of exercising treaty rights in Holland.

UK ILR

1. A person on a spouse visa is not required to spend the entire probation/ 2 yr period in the UK. Allowances exist for absences where one is accompanying their settled spouse or for other compelling reasons e.g. family member abroad that is sick and requires your support. However as a rule of thumb any absences totaling over 1/3 of the 2yr period (circa 8 months) will trigger a review of your 'ordinary residence'. The probation visa can be used to enter/re-enter the UK during its validity.

2. Where the HO deem that ILR can not as yet be granted due to extensive UK absences they can extend the probation period in increments of 1 year.

3. All absences from the UK even where accompanying a settled spouse are considered in determining your residence obligation for naturalisation. If this is a priority for you hold back on the Dutch expedition or leave your spouse in the UK (if the latter option expect concerns about the subsistence of your marriage).