Non-EU spouse residence for EEA family permit

[roxx79]

Dear All,
I am British and will hopefully be moving to Europe from Bangkok with my Thai partner and our two young children.

For my partner to gain a residency permit as my spouse, what requirements need to be met for the various countries in the EU?

We are lesbian and in a UK Civil Partnership. I am a teacher and hope to find a job in an international school. I love learning languages and will attempt to do so with gusto.

Can anyone shed light on:
a) the acceptance of my partner as my legal spouse in any EU countries for the residence card,
b) on any language requirements
c) on living costs in major EU cities.

Furthermore, as an excellent English speaker, would my partner be likely to be able to get any work in a hotel (she is a very talented chef)?
Thanks,
R

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

It may be helpful for people to be aware of your other tread in the EEA section.

http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=113867

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

Given that you'd like to move to another European country with your civil partner and this was a general request for experience, you may consider changing the title of your thread. The instructions for doing so are here.

http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=75081

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

Dear All,
I am British and will hopefully be moving to Europe from Bangkok with my Thai partner and our two young children.

For my partner to gain a residency permit as my spouse, what requirements need to be met for the Czech republic (Prague)?

We are lesbian and in a UK Civil Partnership. Neither of us speak any Czech. I am a teacher and hope to find a job in an international school. I love learning languages and will attempt to do so with gusto.

Can anyone shed light on:
a) the acceptance of my partner as my legal spouse in the Czech republic for the residence card,
b) on any language requirements
c) on living costs in Prague.

Furthermore, as an excellent English speaker, would my partner be likely to be able to get any work in a hotel (she is a very talented chef)?
Thanks,
R

Now to answer some of your questions. All the member states of the EU have transposed directive 2004/38/EC to a greater or lesser extent. For the family member of an EU national to benefit from the directive, they need to comply with article 7 (be a worker, self-sufficient person or be a student). Since returning to the UK is your goal, you need to be a worker to make your return to the UK as simple as possible (workers are explicitly covered under the regulation 9 of the 2006 immigration regulations).

The only "difficulty" you will have is that not all EU countries recognise civil partnerships as being equivalent to marriage. That said, even if this is the case, they would need to consider an application under article 3.2 (a) of directive 2004/38/EC.

A good place to start for an overview of transposition would be here.

http://ec.europa.eu/justice/doc_centre/ ... ort_en.pdf

Bear in mind that it is a number of years old and will be slightly out of date.

You should also read this to give you an idea of the requirements for an application to an EU country. It will answer some of your other questions.

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/Lex ... FIN:EN:PDF

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

On a slightly separate topic, Ireland has joined the list of countries that recognise same-sex partnerships as being equivalent to marriage for immigration purposes.

See this for some background.

http://glen2010.glen.ie/attachments/877 ... 4783da.PDF

[roxx79]

Hi there,
thanks for all the useful tips - I have started reading. Sorry if the posts are unhelpful - I didn't know how to obtain specific country info without referring to it in the post title. I have edited the name of this post now - is that the sort of name you had in mind?

We are interested in moving to a European country on its own terms - and hopefully settling there for a couple of years, perhaps longer if there were no danger of the UK holding a referendum to leave the EU etc etc and thus cutting off the EEA family route. Our first choice originally was France, but I assumed that we would have to move to the UK first for my partner to obtain her visa... How wrong can one be!? As long as we are able to stay together and have our family a legal unit (not possible here in Thailand) any location closer to my parents is preferable to Thailand. I am not at all sure we would leave unless I had received an offer of employment, although it might be worth considering in a country whose language I speak (but they are in the worst positions to offer me work (Spain, Portugal and Italy).

With reference to Ireland, funnily enough I am pretty sure there is no way I could get a teaching job in Ireland - I would need to study catholicism and Irish language to be employable.

Thanks again for those documents - very helpful indeed!
R

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

I'm not sure what type of teaching job you propose, suspect ESOL.

Another questions, please post back.

[roxx79]

Hi,
re teaching, I might do ESOL, but I am looking for work in British international schools - I am a qualified teacher. If you trained in the UK as I did and want to teach in Ireland, you have to familiarise yourself with Catholicism and Irish language and take additional qualifications to work in their state schools.

In international schools by contrast, they are usually looking for qualified UK staff (or qualified native speakers).

[roxx79]

Hello, I am the OP here. Writing again as I (UK citizen) have just accepted a job offer in Prague.

I will travel to the country from Bangkok around the end of July 2014 with my partner and our twin daughters.

I just can't find any info online to confirm that my UK civil partnership will be acceptable to the Czech authorities as evidence that she is my spouse, and therefore my family member under EU freedom of movement.

The Czech Republic has same sex civil unions, does anyone know if we will be ok moving to the Czech Republic together on this basis (UK CP, EU citizen employed)?

Thanks.

[Your Europe]

You might want to check this website for your (and your spouse's) rights when settling in another EU country: http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/re ... dex_en.htm

[chaoclive]

I enquired about the Czech Republic and the CP (same situation here) and the Embassy said it would be fine. Their exact reply way:
"The same rule applies for all EU countries. In case you and your partner (your partnership has been officially registered) plan to visit the Czech Republic and your partner needs a short term schengen visa, he can apply only with the application form, one photo, passport, partnership certificate (in English). No need for the appointment."

You might want to contact the Czech Embassy in Thailand to see what they say, but I don't foresee a problem. I haven't been able to find anything about getting a residence card for a CP but I'm sure it should be fine!

Good luck
CC

[roxx79]

Chao Clive - all the best - keep me up to date with your progress... have contacted the Embassy here and sooooo... hopefully we will be in the know soon.

Thank you so much to this forum!

[treena.oakley]

You should be okay with your civil partnership since Czech republic acknowledges/allows registered partnership as of 2006 and the Directive stipulates that "family" should extend to your registered partnership so long as the Host member state acknowledges these. Hopefully the embassy will confirm this for you.