- I am a US citizen by birth and my wife of 2 years is a Greek citizen by birth
- I have a Greek Residence Permit
- She is a student on a 1-year masters program in the UK, she arrived in Sept 2018 without any special visa and has not applied for any residence permit
- We plan to leave the UK when she finishes in September 2019
- I joined in late 2018 on a visa-on-arrival (unsure the correct term) and will reach 180 days in the UK in late May. I have been warned not to overstay my 180 days.
I feel that my best course of action is to fly to Greece in mid-May and apply for a Family Permit. I see that processing times are 94% in 15 days, meaning I should plan about 3 weeks for the process. This is obviously inconvenient given that we will only stay in the UK for four more months from mid-May, but I do have a free place to stay there
- Am I right thinking that this is the fastest/simplest way forward?
- Does it help or expedite my application if she applies for 'pre-settled status' before I submit my application?
- Should I already have a FP visa to apply for this? Most that I see already have this
- Can anyone confirm that this is indeed a bad idea?
- Given that it is free and straightforward, is there any downside to this? or anything to consider for the timing of her application and mine?
- does anyone know what happens to those who apply just before leaving the UK? I assume submitting the day that I fly is probably OK, but a few days before....