family permit or settlement permit

[modemfish]

Hi looking for advice and any help

My wife and I have been living in the Netherlands for 4.5 years
I'm a Brit and she's Malaysian - so she has a NL residence permit. we've been married for 6 years. We have a son born in NL who has British citizenship.
My expat contract is up and I need to move back to the UK end of June and we plan to settle there permananetly.
My wifes residence permit for NL expires also end of June.

I'm told she can apply for either a family permit or a settlement permit.
I'm trying to weigh up the pro's cons.

EU Family permit
Can only apply within 3 months of travel Y/N? Lead time only 15 days.
permit is for 6 months - then extended to 5 years and only after that time she can apply for permananent residence
6 months permit is free?
Do we pay for the 5 year extension?
Don't have any details on how she applies for permanant residency after the 5 years and cost - does it then follow the same path as the settlement permit. Anyone know? Also given the state of the Uk and immigration settlement it may be harder 5 years from now to apply.
During the 5 year period of the Family permit she can't travel independently during the 5 years. I always have to accompany her Y/n?
No language test required Y/N? Not really a problem as her English is better than mine, but it's the hastle of doing it. If Yes it is required to be taken before the family permit application? i.e. before entering the UK?
A life in the UK test is not required Y/N? If Yes does it need to be taken before the visa application? I.e. before entering the uk?
Anything else to consider?

Settlement permit.
Can only apply within 3 months of travel Y/N? Lead time only 12 weeks.
Costs 938 Euro's
We may not have a probationary period as we've been married for at least 4 years.
A Language test is required? Does it need to be taken before entering the uk?
A Life in the UK Test is Required? Does it need to be taken before entering the uk?
Anything else to consider?

Really struggling to figure out the best option as i have so many unanswered questions on this.

Any help is greatly greatly appreciated.

Thanks Mike

[86ti]

I think the short answer to all this is as follows.

EEA route: all free, five years to permanent residence and six for naturalisation under current scheme
UK route: costs, ILR after 2 and citizenship after 3 years under current scheme

For most persons it all boils down to money and if British Citizenship is aimed for. But after mor than 4 years of marriage maybe ILE is also possible if your wife passes an English language test (KOL?)? Ask in the 'Immigration for family members' subforum for details.