Moving to NI and be a cross border worker with "Stamp 4 EUfam"

[Lee8889]

Hi,

My wife and I are following the "Surinder Singh" path to return to the UK. We have been advised to move before the end of this year, but we are both happy with our current jobs here in the ROI. So we have had the idea of moving to Northern Ireland, which would allow us to apply for my wife's "Pre-settled" status in the UK whilst continuing with our jobs here in the Republic. We have been here for 18 months and my wife has a "Stamp 4 EUFAM" card based on myself exercising treaty rights here in the Republic. We have applied for the "EEA Family Permit" to make the move to the UK smooth and I have read the current details on being "Frontier Workers" and moving across the border for work which all seems to be easy enough.

My main question is would my wife require anything to be able to continue working in the Republic if we were to make the move to the North? My understanding is once she has the "Pre Settled" status 5 year UK residency she will have no problems working across the border as she would have the same rights as myself, but that could take a few months, so its the time between moving and receiving the "pre-settled" status that we are unsure about.

In theory I guess her current "Stamp 4 EUFam" residence card for the Republic would continue to be valid for a while even if she is living out of the country? Or perhaps the EEA Family Permit would be enough considering it technically gives her the right to work in the UK (although not always accepted from what I have read)?

For clarity I am a British citizen and my wife is Brazilian.

Any help on this subject would be greatly appreciated.

[arz1986]

I am doing the samething. I have good job in ireland, I donot want to leave it, but in NI it is hard to find accommodation for me at least. If you have any link or reference for room or house to rent, please share it.
I get the same advice from solicitor in UK.

[Granista]

Stamp 4 EU Fam won't be valid once she moves to the UK. In 5 years time she should have the "pre-settled status" but who knows what is going to happen to UK immigration in 5 years? Let alone what effect Brexit will have on border rules and cross border working, and whether the Surinder Singh route will be valid after the end of this year (doubtful given that FOM will be gone and the UK will likely not continue recognising Article 10 cards, they've already stopped issuing them in the UK)

It's an ok plan if nothing at all changes from how it is today, but that doesn't seem very likely. Personally I don't understand why you wouldn't just stay in Ireland, but it's up to you.

[Lee8889]

I have received some more feedback from various organisations both here in Ireland, Northern Ireland and UK Settlement Scheme helplines.

So I now understand that the deadline for moving back to the UK is 31st December 2020, so we need to do something before the end of this year to not miss out on Surinder Singh route.

Secondly, it does seem that there is no way that my wife can continue working here in the Republic unless we continue to be resident here as her "Stamp 4EUFam" card would not be valid and there are no alternatives as her occupation comes under the ineligible list for Irish Work Permits to be issued.

Also I had tricked my own mind in to thinking she would share the same rights as myself if she had the 5 year "pre-settled status" but of course that does not give her the same rights as a British Citizen and she could not use this to work in Ireland.

Our longer term goal is to move back to England to be close to my family as we would like to start a family in the next couple of years, so our rough plan is to continue with our current jobs as long as possible to save as much as we can whilst settled, then upon making the move to England we wouldn't have to worry about finding new jobs straight away etc.

Cross border arrangements could change yes, but in that case we would just move to England if it wasn't possible to continue. Its more a case for us of remaining in our jobs but making sure we dont miss the Surinder Singh route.