Question about EEA route for American married to a German

[cafeconleche]

Hi all, I've been reading a ton of threads in this EEA section, and though I've learned a lot, I'd like to ask if my plan of a possible move to London is realistic.

My spouse and I live in Germany. I'm American and I have a residence permit as the spouse of a German citizen. It's been fairly hard to find work here, so I've been looking for jobs in London. My spouse will be done with her PhD in the summer. If I were to be offered a job that would begin in, say, March 2014, I thought of doing the following:

We'd both go to London, and I'd get a Stamp 1A at the airport which would allow me to work for 6 months. We'd apply for our residence cards, but my spouse would return to Germany until she finishes, returning to London fairly often until the summer. She'd join me permanently in about 3 months.

I'm asking mostly because I'd like to know if it's realistic for an employer to see me as someone who would have the right to work in the UK if hired. Otherwise, they wouldn't bother calling me for an interview. Is it legitimate for me to claim that I could get the work permit, based on the process above?

Thanks for your input.

[Jambo]

My advice would be to write on your CV : immigration status: spouse of EU citizen (employment permitted). I would not state dates (definitely not 6 months). That would be enough to pass the first screening. You can in a later stage of the recruitment process explain your circumstances in more details.

The difficulty you will find in my view would not be the visa but the fact that you are not in the UK yet. It is not easy to find employment remotely. Unless you got special skills/profession.

[cafeconleche]

You're right. I'm nothing special. This is all just to see if I should even bother applying. I'd have a chance for some positions through connections I have, where my CV would be forwarded to almost guarantee an interview. That's the main hurdle, eh? I would explain the EEA rules to them, but I just wanted to know if that would be a realistic route. We've only been married since January, but we've been together since 2006, and I was even issued a Dutch residence card as the unmarried partner of an EU citizen (before Germany, issued in 2011). I'd say we have a bona fide relationship.

In the first post, I forgot to ask about my spouse's status. She'd be a job seeker, and would be self sufficient with about 20k in the bank. Would this be ok, or would she need a job before I'd be issued my residence card with a work permit?

[Stefan-TR]

She'd be a job seeker, and would be self sufficient with about 20k in the bank. Would this be ok, or would she need a job before I'd be issued my residence card with a work permit?

Being a job-seeker and being self-sufficient are two alternative ways to exercise free movement rights:

• Job-seeker: She'd have to prove that she is genuinely looking for a job (e.g. replies to applications that she has sent out, invitations to interviews, etc.). Ideally, she should find a job in less than six months.
• Self sufficient: If you have enough savings in the bank and both of you hold private medical insurance, then she can qualify as self-sufficient.

It won't hurt to fulfil the criteria for both categories in parallel, just to be on the safe side.

If you are planning to get a job before having your Residence Card, I'd advise that you go through the hassle of applying for an EEA Family Permit. In theory the A1 stamp confers the same rights that you get with a Family Permit; but in practice it might be much harder to convince a potential employer of your right to work if all you can show is the A1 stamp.

[cafeconleche]

She could easily satisfy the self-sufficient part, and of course the job-seeker part (which one can't really prove for the first 3 months, can one?). What I'm worried about is some of the accounts on the forum, of family members of EEA citizens seeking work (as opposed to already being employed) being refused their cards based on EEA2. We'd move to the UK because of MY employment (American), after which she'd find work (or stay home with the kid and receive her maternity salary from Germany, if we have one at that point). OF course, we wouldn't want to mention this to UKBA.

Does the EEA family permit state EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZED?