Retaining Right of Residence card

[austin100]

Hello Everyone,
The forum is very informative.

I have a few question which I will like to ask.

I have been living legally in this country since May 2004 . on the 14th july 2007, I got Married to my Wife who is an EEA ( Swedish national) .
I was Issued with a Residence card in July 2009 which will expire in July 2014. I got the decree Absolute on the 13th of March 2012 that the marriage has been dissolved.

1 How do I go about retaining my residence card

2 My wife has been in and out of work for that period of our marriage has i could bearley provide all this period. And We lived mostly for two years of the marriage. Has i could provide bills ,tenancy agreement for 1 year period which I believe that is what is needed for the proof
out of the 3 years of the marriage.

3. I have been working since I have been in the country and i have all the proof.
4Should I wait till the RC expires before I apply for anything i.e PR or I appply for PR based on a 10years lawfully residing in country in may 2014. Under the Immigration law

5. I am still in good communition with my ex-wife at the moment

6 Do my Ex-wife is considered in this matter before I can retain my residence card. As I assume that , if the marriage lasted for 3 years and one year was spent in uk showing the period is all that is needed. Even though I can not provide all her working for the years. What if I can provide for within one year before tha divorce
I will like to have your Opinion or Idea regarding this case . Thanks[/b]

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

You appear to be reasonably familiar with directive 2004/38/EC, which is good.

Pre-divorce, your employment is not particularly relevant (unless it was to support your wife). The important question is what did she do in the UK from the day you married?

Post divorce, you need to be a worker (or self-sufficient), but as you are a worker that's fine.

When did the divorce proceedings commence? This may be important.

You may have already qualify for PR depending on the answers to the above.

You can apply to have your retained right of residence, but as far as I know there is no special card for that. The directive does not call for one.

While you are on good terms with your ex-wife and before you lose contact with her, now is a good time to get matters sorted for your sake.

[Obie]

It is difficult to see how you may qualify for a ROR if you are unable to provide evidence for the year preceeding the divorce, that your wife was a qualified person.

[austin100]

Thank you EUsmileWEallsmile, As at the time we were together she had a son but not from me which was difficult for her to work, but was getting all the child benefit and other realted benefit as an EEA with a child. Can that proof be used as well ? But, at some point she worked for a few period and not much in and out like i said. she has proof for that .
The divorced commence around December last year 2011 but the decree Absolute was issued in March 20112.

like you said do I need to apply now to retain my residence or I just wait till it expires? My ex-wife is ready to help me to any point. but the Issue is that she has not been in continueosly employment for all the period we were married. Because has to look after the child which was the main reason.No one was to help her with it

looking forwad to hear from you

[austin100]

Thanks Obi, There are some proof that she worked for a while within the year , but nt for long maybe a few weeks .
That sould be Valuable as well. And you didnt answer the rest part of the question. can you go over it again

[Guerro]

If you were working all the time since you got married till decree absolute; and you have CSI your ex can be classified as self sufficient and you can retain your residence

[Obie]

Thanks Obi, There are some proof that she worked for a while within the year , but nt for long maybe a few weeks .
That sould be Valuable as well. And you didnt answer the rest part of the question. can you go over it again

Well it will all depend on a whole host of issues, like what the reasons for her being out of work ? was she made redundant or simply choose not to work, did she have a medical insurance and evidence to confirm she had sufficient resource during period of economic inactivity.

I am not sure a CSI after divorce will be useful in your case, but if one was held prior to divorce it will be vital.

Evidence of the EEA national being qualified at least 6 months prior to the Decree absolute being granted is a vital piece of information.



I did not answer your other question, because i believe they are irrelevant at this stage.

The first thing to establish is your qualification, without you qualifying, none of the other question are relevant.

My policy is the applicability of the law first, and the administrative formalities are simply secondary.

[austin100]

Thanks to you EUsmileWEallsmile & Obie ,
1. I have been able to get the P60 of my Ex-wife prior to our divorce. Do I need anythine else again ? I have my own payslips, P60, Gas & Electricity bills. or I dont really need the bills for now . As the most important thing is that she was working before our divorce

2. Should I apply now to retain my residence or just write them a covering letter , with probably copies of it ? because I have some traveling I will be doing till towards end of the year, as one is not sure how long it will take to get my pass[port back.

Looking forward to hera from you soon.

[Kitty]

It is difficult to see how you may qualify for a ROR if you are unable to provide evidence for the year preceeding the divorce, that your wife was a qualified person.

The Regulations only provide that the applicant was living in the UK "in accordance with the Regulations" at the date of the divorce. The one year of residence as a couple does not have to be "in accordance with the Regulations".

So the EEA national only needs to be a qualified person at the date of the divorce.

austin100, was your wife working, or looking for work, at the date of your decree absolute? If she was not actually in work at that date when was she last working?

[Obie]

I believe you need to look at my responce in its full context.

I never said the op has to show 1 year of treaty right for his wife in order to qualify.

The OP stated initially that he has evidence of his ex exercising treaty right about a year prior to the divorce. I was simply stating that such evidence is not sufficient to establish retention of right of residence. before the decree absolute was finalised.

I was simply responding to the concluding statement of point 6.

Had i seen his most recent post i may not have sent that responce.

Furthermore he stated the wife worked for about 2 week during the relevant period. That on its own is not sufficient to confer right as a worker without looking at the whole circumstances and i am mindful of Barry.

[austin100]

Thank you guys for all your replies. I have more proof now like i said before, that she worked before the divorce started and still worked till the divorce finished.
I am sorted in that case now.
My second question is , should I apply for the retention of RC now by writting the HO or when it expires.
Because I may need my passport now for traveling for a while. Thanks