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Hi, my partner is a UK citizen currently applying for Irish Citizenship. I've got US citizenship, have been in the UK for 5 years on Tier 4 (Student) which is soon expiring. We are looking for a way for me to stay with him and want to know if we can do the EEA route, without leaving the country, and without him renouncing his UK citizenship. Any advice much appreciated!

wormsnail wrote:Hi, my partner is a UK citizen currently applying for Irish Citizenship. I've got US citizenship, have been in the UK for 5 years on Tier 4 (Student) which is soon expiring. We are looking for a way for me to stay with him and want to know if we can do the EEA route, without leaving the country, and without him renouncing his UK citizenship. Any advice much appreciated!

Doubtful.
A BC who is a dual national (with EEA nationality) is (only) considered to be a BC by UK immigration law.

For a BC to switch to operate under EU rules you would have to go via Surinder Singh and shift centre of life out of UK for a while.

noajthan wrote:

wormsnail wrote:Hi, my partner is a UK citizen currently applying for Irish Citizenship. I've got US citizenship, have been in the UK for 5 years on Tier 4 (Student) which is soon expiring. We are looking for a way for me to stay with him and want to know if we can do the EEA route, without leaving the country, and without him renouncing his UK citizenship. Any advice much appreciated!

Doubtful.
A BC who is a dual national (with EEA nationality) is (only) considered to be a BC by UK immigration law.

For a BC to switch to operate under EU rules you would have to go via Surinder Singh and shift centre of life out of UK for a while.

Hey, Thanks for your response. Do you know if it says anywhere clearly that being a UK citizen along with EEA means you are considered UK only? This seems to deny the rights of an EEA citizen.

Here's the link to the legal ruling on what is now known as 'the McCarthy rule'. Scroll all the way down the page.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ ... al_british

In particular:
"The UK interprets this judgment to mean that a dual British/Irish citizen cannot rely on their Irish citizenship to exercise free movement rights in the UK (and so bring in family members under EU law). Similarly, the same person cannot rely on their British citizenship to exercise free movement rights in Ireland. In both situations, the person would be residing in a Member State of which they are a national and in which they enjoy an unconditional right to reside. Consequently, a dual British/Irish citizen moving from Ireland to the UK would not be able to be able to invoke the judgment in Surinder Singh in order to engage family reunification rights, because their residence in Ireland would not have been covered by the Free Movement Directive.

There is, of course, nothing to prevent a British/Irish citizen from exercising their free movement rights in a Member State of which they are not a national and relying on Surinder Singh on their return to the UK (or Ireland, as the case may be)."

wormsnail wrote:

noajthan wrote:

wormsnail wrote:Hi, my partner is a UK citizen currently applying for Irish Citizenship. I've got US citizenship, have been in the UK for 5 years on Tier 4 (Student) which is soon expiring. We are looking for a way for me to stay with him and want to know if we can do the EEA route, without leaving the country, and without him renouncing his UK citizenship. Any advice much appreciated!

Doubtful.
A BC who is a dual national (with EEA nationality) is (only) considered to be a BC by UK immigration law.

For a BC to switch to operate under EU rules you would have to go via Surinder Singh and shift centre of life out of UK for a while.

Hey, Thanks for your response. Do you know if it says anywhere clearly that being a UK citizen along with EEA means you are considered UK only? This seems to deny the rights of an EEA citizen.

Search the forum, the answer is there.

No 'rights' have been infringed, the BC in question has not exercised a treaty right and still has the UK immigration route available to them.

ECJ judgement in McCarthy v United Kingdom (Case C434/09).

wormsnail wrote:...

Hey, Thanks for your response. Do you know if it says anywhere clearly that being a UK citizen along with EEA means you are considered UK only? This seems to deny the rights of an EEA citizen.

I do indeed - it is stated quite clearly in the 2012 amendment to the UK Immigration Regulations (2006), as referenced here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... _0_EXT.pdf
- see page 19

Definition of an EEA national
The definition of EEA national in regulation 2(1) of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 was amended on 16 July 2012 to exclude EEA nationals who also hold British citizenship.

This means a British citizen who also holds the nationality of another EEA member state cannot sponsor a family member under the regulations, except where they meet the conditions set out in regulation 9 (Surinder Singh cases)

Sadly for British citizens, HMG does not currently fully embrace the European spirit of free movement and Treaty Rights.

Indeed some citizens go so far as to renounce their BC to achieve what you are attempting.
Surinder Singh is an alternative too.