turned down for EU Family Permit, APPROVED for spouse Visa

[Valentina]

Hi!
just a quick summary:
Im Canadian, my husband is Northern Irish (who also has an Irish passport), and I was applying for an EU Family Permit, because we both have Crohn's, and we were advised this would be the easier less questions asked road..

Any-ways long story short, I finally had my appointment last Wednesday afternoon in Ottawa to hand in my application (my own fault it took so long getting all my papers together etc..)
I handed it in and was asked to wait in case an Immigration Official would need to ask me any questions. So after about 20 minutes, she said she would like to speak to me about my application (I filled out VAF1.. which I was told on the web-site was the correct application for the family Permit)
She said that due to my husbands circumstances she was not going to be able to approve the application. (He receives all his income through public funds due to the stage of his illness and treatment) And she also said I filled out the wrong application form as well (Ive looked, and Im not sure she is correct about that)

needless to say I was in a bit of shock, and very upset.. she asked me a few questions about my savings and job prospects etc, and told me to quickly fill out the spouse visa application instead, they were closing so I had about 15 minutes to do this.
she said if they needed anything further she would email me in the next few days. so I left feeling pretty awful and not thinking it was going to work out at all the way we wanted, so started looking into the appeals process. I had no idea what was happening or when I would know where we stood.

On Friday morning I had a parcel including all my papers, and my passport with the spouse visa included. Im very happy and more than a bit surprised that it worked out this way, Im in no way going to complain about it!
so it took a day and a half to get it, and we were told our chances of getting turned down were pretty high. Im thrilled it all went so well and so quickly.

I know the spouse visa is much better to have, I just wonder if she did that because this way she could charge me the large fee rather than put through the Family Permit which of course is free of charge...


I just thought I would post to let everyone who has given us advice how it went, and to thank you.
Also in case anyone here is in any similar circumstances.. if it could help at all knowing how well it went for me, then Im glad to do it

[Dawie]

I think it's quite clear why she did it....your husband is a British citizen and despite your husband being an Irish citizen too the spouse visa was considered the most appropriate visa to issue.

Ultimately this works in your favour because now you will qualify for indefinite leave to remain after 2 years instread of 5 years if you had received the EU family permit.

[Marco 72]

Directive 2004/38/EC (implemented in the UK on 30 April 2006) does state that EU citizens and their family members residing in another EU country should not "become a burden on the social assistance system of the host Member State", so it is possible that they acted legally when they denied your Family Permit application.

The spouse visa is "better" than an EEA Family Permit in that it gives you much quicker access to permanent residence and British citizenship, but it does have its drawbacks. It's expensive, it prevents you from using public funds, and if anything should happen to your husband or to your marriage over the next two years the Home Office would probably try to deport you. The EEA Family Permit instead is free, gives you access to public funds and you can keep it even if your spouse dies or your marriage is dissolved.

[John]

.... if anything should happen to your husband or to your marriage over the next two years the Home Office would probably try to deport you.

Let's not get carried away here! I totally disagree with your words that I have quoted. Should, heaven forbid, anything happen to her husband in the next two years, it will still be possible for her to get her ILR. There are provisions in the Immigration Rules that cover that sort of situation.

[Marco 72]

Let's not get carried away here! I totally disagree with your words that I have quoted. Should, heaven forbid, anything happen to her husband in the next two years, it will still be possible for her to get her ILR. There are provisions in the Immigration Rules that cover that sort of situation.

I am sorry, I should have been more careful. However I think you will agree that there is much more chance of being allowed to stay in such a situation under the EEA Family Permit.

[John]

However I think you will agree that there is much more chance of being allowed to stay in such a situation under the EEA Family Permit.

Sorry, I don't even agree to that. In both cases ..... visa or the EEA route .... I think that as long as the appropriate application is made before the expiry of the current visa then I would not envisage a problem.

As regards getting ILR as a bereaved spouse, have a look at this section of the Immigration Rules and in particular read para 287(b). Pretty clear that there is a route to ILR for someone unfortunate to find themselves in that situation.

[rotung]

...

I just thought I would post to let everyone who has given us advice how it went, and to thank you.

Also in case anyone here is in any similar circumstances.. if it could help at all knowing how well it went for me, then Im glad to do it

Thank you very much for writing this up and posting it. It is great to have real examples of the different rules and how they play out.

And thanks (indirectly) to the staff at the embassy in Ottawa for handling the situation well!

[Marco 72]

As regards getting ILR as a bereaved spouse, have a look at this section of the Immigration Rules and in particular read para 287(b). Pretty clear that there is a route to ILR for someone unfortunate to find themselves in that situation.

I agree, but what about the case in which the couple gets a divorce?

[JAJ]

I agree, but what about the case in which the couple gets a divorce?

An EEA family permit doesn't give an unqualified right to remain in the UK in these circumstances either.

[John]

Since the new EU/EEA regulations came into force on 30.04.06, in the event of divorce, as long as the couple have lived together for at least three years, and at least one year of that was in the UK, the holder of the Residence Card would be able to remain in the UK and get Permanent Residence status when time-qualified to get that.

Also if the EEA citizen dies, they would also have the right to remain in the UK.