Fees for spouses of British v EEA Citizens

[mirnat]

Are the visa fees for spouses of British citizens more than those for the non-EEA spouses of EEA Nationals ? I know there was a post something along the lines of this a while back but I can no longer find it.

Anyway, just wondered how can this be the case? I am a British girl married to an Albanian. I've noticed from BIA's website that as well as paying in excess of £200 for his 2 year spouse visa that my husband will need to pay either £750 or £900 odd (depending if done in person or by post) for his ILR but that a person who came to live in the UK as a spouse of an EEA National paid nothing for their family permit/residence card and will not have to pay anything to get ILR!!

I've also noticed from the forms that the spouse of a British national needs to provide a lot more documents/evidence of finances/living together than the spouse of an EEA national. I mean, on the EEA forms there is no specific list of having to provide evidence of bills, bank accounts etc in joint names like there is on forms FLR (M) or SET (M) and nor is there any requirement for passing a Life in the UK test (unless I've got it wrong!). I just think it seems to be a lot easier (and cheaper!) for non-British citizens to bring their spouse to live and work in the UK than British people to get there spouses over here!!

Just wondered about anyone else's thoughts on this?

[Wanderer]

It's true.

EU citizens exercising a treaty right (ie living in another EU state) can use EEA immigration rules. Makes sense since they cannot use their home state's rules since they don't reside there.

Niether can they use the rules of the state they live it since they are not a citizen of that state. So the EU provides the EEA route for those people.

Now the fact that's it's free the EU way and bloody expensive the UK way is irrelavent really, the EU likes things to be free, the UK is turning immigration into a profit centre and that's the way it is.

[mirnat]

I understand the EU providing the EEA route for people not living in their own states and that's fine. What I don't understand is why can't it be more fair?!! I thought that technically the UK is part of the EU so why can't it be free too or why can't the UK immigration encourage everyone to be charged a more modest fee instead of penalising British people who want to marry foreigners?

Also,as well as being charged a fortune, the spouses of British citizens are probed in detail about their finances, work, living arrangements to the point of having to provide documentary evidence of all these things as is listed specifically on the application forms. Surely the fact that someone can afford to pay £900 to apply for ILR (as well as still eat and have a roof over their head!) is proof enough that they are financially able to support themselves without recourse to public funds! I would have thought that those who are getting the necessary documents for free to live in the UK are the ones who should have these same questions asked of them!

[Wanderer]

I think the point is the UK is one of the most desirable places to emmigrate to and our gov takes advantage just as any business would.

Ever heard of 'price elasticity of demand'? It's like that, increase the price of bread and people will still pay; increase the price of fluffy pink pen gonks and no-one will pay.

Visas are bread. Our profit-centric Gov knows that and know it can charge what it wants cos people will still pay.

I've got no problem with it, the EEA route is not without it's issues!

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

The UK government sets the visa fees that apply to people applying for UK visas. By law they can not charge for EU releated visas and Residence Cards. They like to charge a lot for the rest of them though.

Best is to complain to your MP. Nothing else will help!

[JAJ]

I understand the EU providing the EEA route for people not living in their own states and that's fine. What I don't understand is why can't it be more fair?!! I thought that technically the UK is part of the EU so why can't it be free too or why can't the UK immigration encourage everyone to be charged a more modest fee instead of penalising British people who want to marry foreigners?

Also,as well as being charged a fortune, the spouses of British citizens are probed in detail about their finances, work, living arrangements to the point of having to provide documentary evidence of all these things as is listed specifically on the application forms. Surely the fact that someone can afford to pay £900 to apply for ILR (as well as still eat and have a roof over their head!) is proof enough that they are financially able to support themselves without recourse to public funds! I would have thought that those who are getting the necessary documents for free to live in the UK are the ones who should have these same questions asked of them!

It is British government policy that those who immigrate under the United Kingdom rules pay a financial contribution that reflects the cost of running the system, and also reflects the benefits that many people obtain from a settlement outcome in the United Kingdom.

As someone else has posted, British citizens sponsoring spouses to live in other EEA states are similarly exempt from charges those countries levy on their domestic citizens.

It's not fair, but that's the way it is. The EU could have legislated to simply demand the same fees for locals vs EEA applications (which would have been fair) but instead insists that the EEA applications be "free" which means the entire cost of the system in each country has to be shouldered by domestic nationals.

Unfortunately the EU is unlikely to change its ways, so until Britain withdraws from the European Union, the unfairness will persist.

All that said the EEA route isn't quite as good as it looks. Permanent resident status only comes after 5 years, not 2 years. And as permanent residence is a prerequisite for applying for British citizenship, then there's also a long delay here.

That can be a huge deal for some people. And the naturalisation process is outside the scope of EEA rules so costs the same for everyone.

[vinny]

See also New Immigration Fees Anounced

[thsths]

As someone else has posted, British citizens sponsoring spouses to live in other EEA states are similarly exempt from charges those countries levy on their domestic citizens.

It's not fair, but that's the way it is. The EU could have legislated to simply demand the same fees for locals vs EEA applications (which would have been fair) but instead insists that the EEA applications be "free" which means the entire cost of the system in each country has to be shouldered by domestic nationals.

Indeed, but the intend was not to make it fair, but to remove internal barriers in the EU labour market. And any cost for moving within the EU is such a barrier, therefore the requirement was "free".

As to fair, there is the distinction between moving within the EU and moving from outside of the EU. The European legislation is not clear whether it covers both, and the national implementations vary greatly. I think a clarification of this issue would be nice and could increase the fairness.

[clairey]

As the spouses of EU citizens are SUPPOSED to have the same freedom of movement as the EU citizen they are married to, does the fee not create a barrier?

[JAJ]

As the spouses of EU citizens are SUPPOSED to have the same freedom of movement as the EU citizen they are married to, does the fee not create a barrier?

If a British citizen is returning to the U.K. from a period of residence in another country, there is the option of using the EEA rules "Surinder Singh".