Query regarding Croatian partner moving to UK

[spencey7]

Your partner can stay in the UK for as long as they wish.

A few people have said this, but it's not what the UKBA have on their website - according to the "Guidance for Croatian Nationals" document:

If you want to stay for longer than three months you will need either to be working, self-employed, a self sufficient person or a student. This is called exercising your Treaty rights. If you want to work as an employee in the UK, you will normally need our permission before you start work. You may need to obtain an accession worker registration certificate (called a "purple registration certificate").

How can we build up time living together to support a "partner" application if her time in the UK is limited to three months?

Options are:
(1) your partner becomes self employed (NOREL)
(2) your partner becomes a student (NOREL)
(3) your partner becomes self sufficient (and gets private medical insurance) (NOREL)
(4) your partner gets a permission from UKBA and a job (NOREL)
(5) you prove you have a long term relationship, and then get the equivalent of a Residence Card
(6) you are married, and then get the equivalent of a Residence Card

The options which have nothing to do with your relationship are marked (NOREL)

I do not think you can claim you have a long term relationship if you have not lived together, do not have a house together, or children together. I think the application will be rejected. There are not hard and fast rules, but I do not think you will win.

So this is about your partner doing one of the options (1)-(4). And then staying in UK is easy.

I do not see that you have ever answered the question of your citizenship. You say you are "UK resident". What is your citizenship(s)?

I am a British citizen. (Apologies for any confusion over this!)

Thanks for your post, I have done the reading on the options above, and the most sensible, honest approach is (5). I am disappointed to hear that you think an "unmarried partner" application would be rejected. My partner and I can evidence an exclusive relationship going back two years and ten months, which can be corroborated by many sources. She has lived with me in the UK for a number of weeks on two occasions, and will be again from next month onwards, where we'd hoped to arrange a more permanent "move".

Do you mind me asking what experience you have of such applications? For example, have you worked for the UKBA? (Feel free to PM if you wish.)

Thanks again for reading, all the best.

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

Your partner can be in the UK for up to three months without any conditions (other than hold a valid passport or ID card), thereafter they would be expected to exercise treaty rights. (For EU nationals this is not really enforced, but should the EU national wish to obtain permanent residence later, it might be refused).

The information on UKBA's website is not strictly correct, it is rather blunt. CF, page for other EU nationals.

The only difference for Croatians and other EU nationals is that they require permission from UKBA to work as an employee. That is it. Nothing more.

[spencey7]

Thanks EUsmileWEallsmile, we do hope that my partner will be able to obtain permanent residence at some point, so will be keeping a close eye on the "three months" thing - we don't want to put any future applications in jeopardy. Hopefully these are the kind of issues an immigration lawyer can help with.

The information on UKBA's website is not strictly correct

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

I don't thing you will require an immigration lawyer. I suggest that you study directive 2004/38/ec carefully, bearing in mind that there are restrictions for Croatian nationals being employed. If the conditions in the directive are complied with, PR will follow.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

I do not work for UKBA and I do not get paid for doing anything immigration related.

If you want professional advice, then you have to do that the normal way through a solicitor. But be warned that many solicitors do not know very much about Eu free movement law, and many conflate with the requirements of traditional UK immigration law. Buyer beware!

Relationship will be hard to prove because you have not been living together in a state akin to marriage for a long period (e.g. more than 2 years). You do not have children together, or a house. Two or three months at a time has never been sufficient in any applications I have heard about. But I urge you to search this board using google to try to identify example which are similar to yours (for a relationship based application it makes no different that your partner is from the EU).

Does your partner work or have savings? Or does your partner definitely not want to work?

[Jambo]

Your partner can stay in the UK for as long as they wish.

A few people have said this, but it's not what the UKBA have on their website - according to the "Guidance for Croatian Nationals" document:

If you want to stay for longer than three months you will need either to be working, self-employed, a self sufficient person or a student. This is called exercising your Treaty rights. If you want to work as an employee in the UK, you will normally need our permission before you start work.

As you quoted one way to exercise treaty rights is to be self sufficient. This basically means living off saving / partner's earning. She can stay in the UK as long as she wishes (even beyond the 3 months) by being self sufficient. To be in accordance with the regulations she will also need a private health insurance when self sufficient (not to be a burden on the state). She could still use the NHS. The HO requires her to hold a health insurance if she wants to have time as self sufficient to be counted for the 5 years required for PR.

[spencey7]

Does your partner work or have savings?

My partner works in Croatia, and can continue to do her job remotely from the UK over the winter. It's seasonal work, and she is required to be "on site" in Croatia from (approximately) February to September. This may seem ideal in the short term, but a Croatian wage doesn't go very far when converted to pounds. She would prefer to work, live and be based in the UK. Unfortunately we don't have any significant savings, and my wage is by no means a great one, so I'd question whether we have the hard mathematics to make "self-sufficiency" a viable option. It would be great to hear from anyone with experience of what it takes to make this work.

Or does your partner definitely not want to work?

On the contrary, my partner is EXTREMELY eager to work - she has a strong work ethic, speaks excellent English and is excited about the prospect of working in another country. This is part of the reason the "unmarried partner" route (and therefore exemption from work authorisation and free access to the UK labour market) seemed like the most appropriate way to go.

I have a meeting with a solicitor soon who is an expert in UK/EU immigration law and is actually originally from the same region as my partner. I'm hopeful they will have some suggestions which can get things moving toward a solution.

Thanks again for all your responses, it means a lot.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

Good answers.

She can work self employed in the UK. She could, for instance, run a business house sitting or cleaning or running errands for people or doing computer repair or ... It does not need to be full time. And it does not have to make her rich. (http://eumovement.wordpress.com/2011/12 ... -a-worker/ talks about employees, but also talks a tiny bit about self-employment)

The key thing is that she not become largely dependent on the government and that she not work without permission from the government. (Ironically working could prevent her from being dependent on the state!).

One option to consider: She could even not bother with formalities, especially if she is not remaining for more than 3 months in the UK in one visit. As an Eu citizen she has a right to come and go as she wants. But she will not accumulate time towards PR in this way (not that it is very important for EU citizens).

I would be interested in hearing what the solicitor says.

[spencey7]

One option to consider: She could even not bother with formalities, especially if she is not remaining for more than 3 months in the UK in one visit. As an Eu citizen she has a right to come and go as she wants. But she will not accumulate time towards PR in this way (not that it is very important for EU citizens).

This is probably the most contrary factor of all - how can we "build up" time towards "two years living together" if my partner has to leave the country every three months? We obviously would prefer not to have a situation where my partner has to go abroad every 12 weeks. The waters are clearly muddy - much more so than I expected - but I hope we can find a solution.

Just to clarify - both my partner and I are keen to work (I've been in my current job for three years) and have no interest in claiming any sort of government allowance or benefit. She's 28, I'm 32, and we want to build a live together here in the UK. The self-employed route is not especially applicable given our rural location, and it would be shame for my partner not to be able to access the labour market - I know she would be an asset to whomever chose to hire her.

Thanks again for your reply.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

Your partner can leave for a quick flight to somewhere and back, or ferry to Ireland/France etc... No need for long absences.

You need to relax about the whole thing. You will both be together.

Why is self employment not applicable to a rural setting? If anything I could argue it is MORE applicable in rural areas than in the city. Help a bit here with somebody's barn, or cleaning the local church for a couple of hours per week plus a few hours of working at the local pub cleaning. These are just random ideas obviously, but self employment can take all sorts of different forms small incremental forms.

She should also consider how her work in Croatia can be structured to make her self employed in the UK.

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

I had mentioned before, but perhaps you had not spotted this, but not all EU countries have imposed restrictions on Croatians. If you're both mobile, perhaps you could consider another country?

http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?cat ... &langId=en

[things123]

Hi Spency7, I would be really interested to hear how you get on. My partner and I are just about to start doing the same thing, we are around the same age as you.

To be honest you situation sound exactly the same as mine, and we are just trying to decide on the best options. However the process does seem a lot better now Croatia have joined the EU.

Good luck!

[surfercro]

Hi Spency7, I would be really interested to hear how you get on. My partner and I are just about to start doing the same thing, we are around the same age as you.

To be honest you situation sound exactly the same as mine, and we are just trying to decide on the best options. However the process does seem a lot better now Croatia have joined the EU.

Good luck!

Hi there, I am Croatian, and I understand that a decision by UK, which makes no sense at all in numbers(threat to labour market is a pure fantasy)-makes things hard for people.

The easiest way to get access to labour market is-a degree(perhaps 1 year masters and part time work at the same time?). A degree means blue certificate, seems easiest.

Tier2 sounds good in theory, but let me tell you-in reality very few firms will sponsor you. Most don't want the hassle, and jobs that can be sponsored are few, and only with higher pay.

[prpa84]

Hi Spency7, I would be really interested to hear how you get on. My partner and I are just about to start doing the same thing, we are around the same age as you.

To be honest you situation sound exactly the same as mine, and we are just trying to decide on the best options. However the process does seem a lot better now Croatia have joined the EU.

Good luck!

Hi there i have almost the sam problem...Im located in Glasgow...

[NikitaKnez]

Good evening,

Apologies if this query may have been answered previously.

I believe each situation is unique and certain rules may or may not apply to each circumstance. 

I have dual citizenship from both South Africa and Croatia. I hold passports for both but obviously neither of these allow we to work in the UK.  I entered the UK on my Croatian passport without a visa. I entered the UK in February 2017 with my boyfriend of 4 years. He holds a Nerdelande and South African Passport.

Our entire relationship was based in South Africa. We have some evidence, but not 6 documents each, of living together for a period of 3 years. We were both studying so were not required to pay any bills whilst we stayed with my parents. We have a large amount of photographs with family, friends and of holidays spent together. Additionally we have holiday bookings, emails, cards and social media evidence of our relationship being one of a "durable" nature. Now that we live in the UK together we are responsible for bills so I am able to provide evidence of this.

My boyfriend is currently working in the UK. Holding the passports I do, I am not able to work in the UK. I would like to work as well as its not financially possible for me to live here without working.  I have my honours degree in Brand Strategy (this is not identified as a special skill in the UK) and I am fluent in English.

My question is, what would my chances of being able to work in the UK if applied using the EEA EFM form based on my circumstances? Is it better to apply as a Croatian national or South African national? - although I believe I would have to submit both passports? And lastly, do I only have the right to be in the UK for 3 months from date of arrival? If yes, how would I leave if I were to submit my passports with my application?

If anyone has any advice or had a similar experience I would appreciate the feedback.

Kind Regards
Nikita Knezovich