EEU member with British spouse - NOT Surinder route

[palebluedot]

Hi,

I have got couple of questions and would be very grateful if anyone could help - I simply cannot find any advise/guidance on cases similar to mine.

1. I have been in UK as an EEU national since 2004 and would like to apply for P Residency card. My husband is British, we have been married since 2007 and have got 3 kids. As I have some gaps in employment due to prolonged maternity leave I would like to include my British husband into the application and apply as both EEU national and family member of British Citizen.

Could I do that? We live in UK so can't use the Surinder route and I can't find any official and unofficial guidance in relation to my case. Also, as a family member of a British Citizen, do I need a proof of comprehensive sickness insurance? I simply haven't got it and wonder if need to wait until 2019 to apply for P Residency when I will have full 5 years of residency/employment.

2. When I initially came to UK, I applied for WRS card with my first employer but as the company went into insolvency I lost my job, I didn't think about applying for another WRS card with a new employer. It was long time ago i.e 2004 and this time will not be included in my P. Residence application or later B. Citizenship. Does it automatically disqualify me from getting either? How can I go about it?

Once again,

Many thanks

[ohara]

1. Your British spouse cannot be your sponsor in this context as they are not recognised as an EEA citizen for these purposes. You cannot exercise treaty rights in a country that you are a national of, and there is no "family member of British citizen" option on the EEA route. You will need to acquire PR in your own right.

2. Do you have any continuous 5 year period of exercising treaty rights? Your period without WRS will not count, and in the worst case scenario your PR clock may not have started until May 2011 (when WRS was abolished). You need to give a detailed timeline of your economic activity for us to help you more.

The Surinder Singh route is mainly for British citizens to bring NON-EEA spouses into the UK, circumventing domestic immigration law. As an EEA citizen, you have the right to live and work here (for now).

It is my understanding that lack of WRS won't be held against you for a future British citizenship application as you haven't actually broken the law.

[noajthan]

Hi,

I have got couple of questions and would be very grateful if anyone could help - I simply cannot find any advise/guidance on cases similar to mine.

1. I have been in UK as an EEU national since 2004 and would like to apply for P Residency card. My husband is British, we have been married since 2007 and have got 3 kids. As I have some gaps in employment due to prolonged maternity leave I would like to include my British husband into the application and apply as both EEU national and family member of British Citizen.

Could I do that? We live in UK so can't use the Surinder route and I can't find any official and unofficial guidance in relation to my case. Also, as a family member of a British Citizen, do I need a proof of comprehensive sickness insurance? I simply haven't got it and wonder if need to wait until 2019 to apply for P Residency when I will have full 5 years of residency/employment.

2. When I initially came to UK, I applied for WRS card with my first employer but as the company went into insolvency I lost my job, I didn't think about applying for another WRS card with a new employer. It was long time ago i.e 2004 and this time will not be included in my P. Residence application or later B. Citizenship. Does it automatically disqualify me from getting either? How can I go about it?

Once again,

Many thanks

1) BC hubby can't sponsor you.
You have to apply in own right as an EEA national.

It is possible to retain worker status if you were a worker qulaified person prior to maternity leave.
Depends on your particular timeline (and WRS too ofcourse) - the devil is always in the detail

If you have gaps you could still qualify as a selfsufficient qualified person (for example, financed by hubby) but you would need to show you have/had CSI in place.

2) Lack of proper WRS registration doesn't disqualify you if you have an alternate qualifying period;
- it just delays you as you can only use time as a worker since May 2011, that is after WRS was ended.

[palebluedot]

THANK you very much for clarifying, now it does make sense. I wish I hadn't spend the time providing evidence of our cohabitation etc. I suppose I will need it later, when applying for BC.

I will explain my 'employment gaps' (due to WRS regulations I need to start calculating the time from April 2011)

I was self-employed since 2008 and got a full time job in March 2012, my fixed term contract ended at the end of January 2013. In the meantime I got pregnant with twins and had them a month later. My employer paid my SMP until the end of Sept 2013. I then registered as unemployed but didn't get JS Allowance as I simply wasn't in a position to start looking for work as had 3 children under 5. The twins had food intolerance issues, I won't even mention the cost of childcare.

Now, my previous employer offered me my job back at the end of June 2014 on part time basis. It was clearly indicated in the employer's letter that they will treat this as a continuity of service.

Can I argue that in this case we are talking about justified extended maternity leave and the continuous service?

Once again, thank you very much for your comments.

[noajthan]

THANK you very much for clarifying, now it does make sense. I wish I hadn't spend the time providing evidence of our cohabitation etc. I suppose I will need it later, when applying for BC.

I will explain my 'employment gaps' (due to WRS regulations I need to start calculating the time from April 2011)

I was self-employed since 2008 and got a full time job in March 2012, my fixed term contract ended at the end of January 2013. In the meantime I got pregnant with twins and had them a month later. My employer paid my SMP until the end of Sept 2013. I then registered as unemployed but didn't get JS Allowance as I simply wasn't in a position to start looking for work as had 3 children under 5. The twins had food intolerance issues, I won't even mention the cost of childcare.

Now, my previous employer offered me my job back at the end of June 2014 on part time basis. It was clearly indicated in the employer's letter that they will treat this as a continuity of service.

Can I argue that in this case we are talking about justified extended maternity leave and the continuous service?

Once again, thank you very much for your comments.

You didn't need WRS if selfemployed.
So if that work was genuine and effective then you can make a case for your PR clock starting in 2008.
You will ofcourse need rock-solid documentary supporting evidence (as is always the case).

My understanding is up to a year of ML may be accepted - how does that compute?

[palebluedot]

1.) I could start the clock in 2008 but... I was also employed and didn't have WRS card. Bearing in mind the case worker will be looking for any reason to reject the applicaTION I thought it is safer to start in April 2011. I do have solid evidence re my self-employment, although one year i.e 2010/2011 was pretty poor - was only able to work part time.

2.) My understanding, based on the communication from HO as a response to a query from Freedom of Information website, is that Maternity Leave is ok up to a year but only if the mother is in a relation of employment - hence my query. Also, do we start calculating ML from the date of SMP start time (February) or the time when SMP has ended (September)? I got my job back as a new contract at the end of June so one can interpret this in a different way.

Minefield

[noajthan]

1.) I could start the clock in 2008 but... I was also employed and didn't have WRS card. Bearing in mind the case worker will be looking for any reason to reject the applicaTION I thought it is safer to start in April 2011. I do have solid evidence re my self-employment, although one year i.e 2010/2011 was pretty poor - was only able to work part time.

2.) My understanding, based on the communication from HO as a response to a query from Freedom of Information website, is that Maternity Leave is ok up to a year but only if the mother is in a relation of employment - hence my query. Also, do we start calculating ML from the date of SMP start time (February) or the time when SMP has ended (September)? I got my job back as a new contract at the end of June so one can interpret this in a different way.

Minefield

1) Not sure why you say that.
There is no concept of punitive assessment in either the Directive or in EEA Regulations.
If you can show you were a selfemployed worker then you were a worker. But yes, its all about supporting evidence.

2) Not sure on calculations around ML.
Stand by for others.

[palebluedot]

ok. Thank you for responding. Applying is worth a try for £65