Extended Family suddenly becoming dependant please help!

[Toni576]

Hi, I wonder if anyone would be able to give me some advice, I have a big problem and am very worried, sorry it is a long post. I am a UK citizen that has just returned to the UK from Ireland via the Surinder Singh Route, I had worked there for two years and my husband finally was granted permission to join me after a year, we returned to the UK together. I am now working in the UK, having been a Job Seeker for the first three weeks. We have applied for the EEA2 and are awaiting the answer.

The problem which we are having is my husband's non EU sister and her two children have been living and she has been working legally in Greece for several years, but with the economic downturn which they are having her boss can no longer employ her and there is no hope of work anywhere else. She currently is receiving benefit from the Greek government on the basis of working in the summer. Her benefit will cease in two months time leaving her homeless as she has no savings.

The second issue which she has is that her husband had been beating both her and her children up, she left him and he provides no financial support for the children, he also kidnapped the children but she managed to get them back by telling him that she would move back in with him. In a months time she will be granted full custody of the children, she has much evidence both medical and from the Police and the Court of all of this. She has family in Italy and family in Albania none of them can help her as they are struggling themselves and have no room to take her in.

We have room in our house and money to support her, my question is could we get her here on either grounds of fearing for her life and that of her children because he does still threaten them (he also lives in Greece and follows her if she tries to go to Albania) so I mean claiming asylum or on the grounds of being financially dependant on us?

The problem I am seeing with this is that she is not currently dependant on us. We cannot afford to support her whilst she is there as we would have to pay her rent and her bills, food and clothing, etc. Is it possible to get her here on a visitor visa and then apply for her to stay on the grounds of being dependant on us as she would be living under our roof?
Or could we say that in two months time she will be dependant on us and get her here on that basis?

Has anybody managed to do this before, that there was no history of dependance but the circumstances changed quickly, if we cannot get her here I do not know what will happen to her?

[Obie]

Regulations 9 dont seem to cover this sort of scenerio.

The fact they never lived in Ireland with you will most likely add to the difficulties.

Regulations 8 when read carefully, does not provide for Extended family members of returning nationals.

Had they lived with you in Ireland, i believev a strong challenge could have been mounted on the basis that Article 3(2) or regulation 8 is applicable.

[Toni576]

Hi Obie,
Thank you for your response, they did not live with us in Ireland.

I have since found out that although both of her children currently have Albanian passports, they can both apply for Greek Passports. One of them was born in Greece and the other one has been attending school there for six years so is also eligible, it is just that there father stopped them from getting them before, when she has the full custody she will them obtain the passports. This brings about further questions, I have been looking at the various Visa's which are available and can see that there is a Parent / primary carer of an EEA national child Visa which is 332 Euro as well as the Family member of an EEA national Visa which is free. I am guessing that the only visa which she could obtain is the Parent of an EEA National Child as the Family member one is for people exercising their EU Treaty Rights.

I am unsure of the rules of the Parent of an EEA National Visa, I have tried to do some research and can find very little, I found something about the child needing to be self sufficient, does this mean that they would not be able to attend a state school in the UK, would schooling need to be paid for? Or is it just no public money i.e. no benefit money? I also found that they would need Comprehensive Sickness Insurance, does anyone have any further information about this visa and if there is any other kind of visa which she could obtain?