EU Residence in Ireland and UK?

[EUspouse82]

Hi Folks,

I have a question and I will appreciate if experts and members can help out. It is quite complex but I try my best to explain it in a simple way.

My friend, a Pakistani has been married to his wife a British citizen for 8 years and they have 3 children together. They moved to Ireland in 2006 and he got the EUFam card in 2006 which expired in 2011. He applied for a a Permanent Residence Card but this was declined because his wife did not work for the full 5 years. He reapplied for another EU1 card and this was granted in November 2012 until 2017. However his spouse started a part time MBA programme in the UK and they temporarily moved to the UK where he has now been issued a UK EEA residence card.

He still travels to Ireland using the card as he is self employed and does business in both Ireland and the UK

My questions are:

1. Does this invalidate his residence card in Ireland? Given the fact that he was in Ireland for 6 years with EU fam card and considering the length of their relationship (I assume that the EU directive of Free Movement indicates that a Non-EU spouse can stay in the country if the marriage has lasted 3 years and they are resident for over a year)

2. On 2 occasions, his passport was stamped by immigration officers despite the fact that he explained that since he had a EU Fam cad, they should not stamp it but they insisted they were not aware of that rule- what should he do in future as he travels between both countries very often for business?

3. He will eligible to apply for Irish citizenship in August 2013, are there any impediments to his application? Given the fact that he travels between the 2 countries?

Thank for your your anticipated replies

[IntegratedMigrant]

Can I ask why he did not apply for naturalisation after 5 years of continuous residence in Ireland?

[EUspouse82]

Can I ask why he did not apply for naturalisation after 5 years of continuous residence in Ireland?

Good question, It was an oversight on his part and hope it would be a lesson for others. He was fixated on getting Permanent residence under EU application.

Do you have any advise on the questions asked? It will be highly appreciated.

[IntegratedMigrant]

Well I can answer No. 3 at this time. There may be some issues regarding his residency since he temporary residing in the UK.

One of the conditions of applying for a certificate of naturalisation is that he must have a continuous 1 year residence in Ireland prior to the date of his application.

If he is absent in Ireland for more than 6 months in a given year, that will not count as a continuous residence. But I must stress that the INIS only check is Residency Stamp Record so he may as well be eligible to apply for a certificate of naturalisation.

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

Hi Folks,

I have a question and I will appreciate if experts and members can help out. It is quite complex but I try my best to explain it in a simple way.

My friend, a Pakistani has been married to his wife a British citizen for 8 years and they have 3 children together. They moved to Ireland in 2006 and he got the EUFam card in 2006 which expired in 2011. He applied for a a Permanent Residence Card but this was declined because his wife did not work for the full 5 years. He reapplied for another EU1 card and this was granted in November 2012 until 2017. However his spouse started a part time MBA programme in the UK and they temporarily moved to the UK where he has now been issued a UK EEA residence card.

He still travels to Ireland using the card as he is self employed and does business in both Ireland and the UK

My questions are:

1. Does this invalidate his residence card in Ireland? Given the fact that he was in Ireland for 6 years with EU fam card and considering the length of their relationship (I assume that the EU directive of Free Movement indicates that a Non-EU spouse can stay in the country if the marriage has lasted 3 years and they are resident for over a year)

2. On 2 occasions, his passport was stamped by immigration officers despite the fact that he explained that since he had a EU Fam cad, they should not stamp it but they insisted they were not aware of that rule- what should he do in future as he travels between both countries very often for business?

3. He will eligible to apply for Irish citizenship in August 2013, are there any impediments to his application? Given the fact that he travels between the 2 countries?

Thank for your your anticipated replies

Generally, a non-EU citizen can live with their EU citizen family member in a member state, provided that the EU citizen exercises treaty rights. The validity of the residence card is not affected by absences of up to six months per year.

In the event that the EU citizen leaves the EU state permanently, it may be possible for the non-EU citizen to retain rights of residence.