Surrinder Singh or Spouse visa?

[Bobby16]

Hi, I am an Irish national living in UK with nonEEA husband who currently has a Residence Card of family member of union citizen (EEA route residence card). We are moving to Ireland as I have been offered a job in Dublin. We were planning on applying for residency under the Surrunder Singh ruling however I am wondering if we can apply for a spouse visa? I thought we couldn't because I haven't been resident there for about 10 years but from reading posts on the website I'm worried about the waiting times for EEA route applications!

[Sedanday]

I don't know about the 10 year rule but I know as spouse of Irish citizen you should be able to go to GNIB and collect stamp 4 with both of your passports, proof of address and marriage certificate. But wait on others to advise better

[shpirtshqipe]

Hi, I am an Irish national living in UK with nonEEA husband who currently has a Residence Card of family member of union citizen (EEA route residence card). We are moving to Ireland as I have been offered a job in Dublin. We were planning on applying for residency under the Surrunder Singh ruling however I am wondering if we can apply for a spouse visa? I thought we couldn't because I haven't been resident there for about 10 years but from reading posts on the website I'm worried about the waiting times for EEA route applications!

Hi There,

I'd suggest the SS route because it will be a continuation of your spouse's existing Immigration status at present which means at the end of the 5 years of her visa she will be able to apply for permanent residency. This also means the Residence Status is Transferable to another EU country so long as they met the criteria. If you took the spouse route you run the risk of starting your spouse's residence process from scratch

How long has your spouse been in possession of the Residence Card in the UK?

Basically if your spouse has been in possession of the residence card for more than 3 months in the UK and you prove to INIS that you have moved your center of life in the ROI then you have a strong chance of getting a successful approval of your spouse's residence in the ROI

Regards

[Sedanday]

I don't know about transfer of residence card from one EU country to another, but I think if she returns to ROI it's another five years again before permanent residence , however spouse is three years to naturalisation (being married to Irish citizen).

But I'm not sure, that's about what I know. You can do your research on citizen information or wait for others who have gone through the process to advise you what's best.

[Obie]

The spouse of an Irish Citizen can still rely on 3 years of residence if they have residence card under EU law.

[Bobby16]

Thanks for the replies. My spouse will have had UK residence card for 4.5 years when we move to Ireland. It's a pity that he will miss the 5 year mark in U.K. But there is nothing we can do about it as I have to start my job after Xmas. Does anyone know how long it takes for a spouse visa? I'm a little bit scared by the posts regarding timelines for EEA visas. If spouse visa is quicker then we would definitely do that as my spouse is keen to find work asap.

[Bobby16]

Hi guys, I have a question regarding evidence to prove residency for my spouse's EU1 application. We are applying under Surrinder Singh ruling as I am an Irish citizen and my spouse is non-eu. When we move to Ireland we are going to live with my family. As such we will not have a tenancy agreement. We are going to get a utility bill on our names. Do we need a tenancy agreement to prove residency or will one utility bill be enough?
Thanks in advance,
Bobby

[Bobby16]

Hi, I am planning to move to Ireland with my non EEA spouse using Surrinder Singh ruling. I am an Irish Citizen currently exercising treaty rights in UK and my spouse has a residence card.

Has anybody used Surrinder Singh to move to Ireland and can give a brief outline of the process?

Can anyone tell me what documentation we will need for my spouse to enter Ireland? Entry visa? Proof of residence and work?

Thanks in advance

[noajthan]

Hi, I am planning to move to Ireland with my non EEA spouse using Surrinder Singh ruling. I am an Irish Citizen currently exercising treaty rights in UK and my spouse has a residence card.

Has anybody used Surrinder Singh to move to Ireland and can give a brief outline of the process?

Can anyone tell me what documentation we will need for my spouse to enter Ireland? Entry visa? Proof of residence and work?

Thanks in advance

Just move.
Spouse should be able to cross border with UK residence card. Carry evidence of relationship and of having exercised SS in UK.

Life your life in Eire.

EU documentation for a spouse in EU country is optional as it is in all EU countries.

[Bobby16]

Thanks for your response noajthan

[TKK]

Hi guys, I have a question regarding evidence to prove residency for my spouse's EU1 application. We are applying under Surrinder Singh ruling as I am an Irish citizen and my spouse is non-eu. When we move to Ireland we are going to live with my family. As such we will not have a tenancy agreement. We are going to get a utility bill on our names. Do we need a tenancy agreement to prove residency or will one utility bill be enough?
Thanks in advance,
Bobby

I am a little confused- are you a Irish national who has been exercising your treaty rights in another EU country? or are you planning to move to Ireland with your non-eu spouse so as to exercise your rights?

[vanjam]

If renting, copies of the following documents should be provided:
• Letter from landlord/agency or tenancy agreement
• Letters of Registration of Tenancy from the Private Residential Tenancies Board
• Utility bills for the applicant and the EU citizen
If home-owning, copies of the following documents should be provided:
• Letter from mortgage provider, local authority or County Council
• Title or deeds as applicable
• Utility bills for the applicant and the EU citizen
Other evidence of residence may be considered if deemed satisfactory. If you are not renting or a homeowner, then the person you are living
with should provide the above documents with a written declaration of your residence from the landlord or homeowner in addition to any
other evidence of your residence.
Note: If for any reason you cannot supply some or all of the required documentation above, you should provide a written statement
explaining why. Provision of some or all of the above documentation is not a guarantee of a successful application.

[DingDong]

@Bobby16
Sorry for invoking an old thread, so how did you get on as did you applied for an EU residence card in Ireland on the basis of UK's EU residence card or took a spouse visa route.

[Bobby16]

Hi folks, I have just moved to Dublin with my spouse as I accepted a job here. We are planning on applying for residence card for my non eu spouse as I am eu citizen exercising treaty rights. The thing is my spouse found a job and started working one week before my job started. Is it ok that he started work before my job started or will this go against us when we apply for rc card as technically I didn't start to exercise treaty rights until I began my job? Or can I claim self-suffiency for the week he was working but I hadn't started my job yet? Thanks in advance for any guidance on this.....

[Bobby16]

Hi, we are about to apply for a residence card for my non-eu spouse using surrinder Singh ruling. We have just moved to a Ireland having lived in U.K (I am an Irish citizen). We can't find any form for SS applications so we're planning on completing EU1 form and writing a letter saying we were applying under SS ruling and submitting copy of UK RC and other docs to show evidence of having lived in U.K. Has anyone successfully gone this route or can offer advice?

[pukon_check]

Hi there,
If you are an Irish citizen why you have to apply for EU-1 ..
Ireland is your home country,why don't you follow Irish domestic rule ..
Once it's grant they will give 3 years residency permit with stamp4 visa..
After completing 3 years of residency she can apply for Irish citizenship straightaway..
See below link:
http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/inis/pages/wp07000024


Hope it helps..

[crisbella218]

Hi, we are about to apply for a residence card for my non-eu spouse using surrinder Singh ruling. We have just moved to a Ireland having lived in U.K (I am an Irish citizen). We can't find any form for SS applications so we're planning on completing EU1 form and writing a letter saying we were applying under SS ruling and submitting copy of UK RC and other docs to show evidence of having lived in U.K. Has anyone successfully gone this route or can offer advice?

Hi Bobby16,

I can't see a reason to use Surrinder Singh when moving to Ireland. I understand the need to have it when going to the UK with the income amount for spouses and family. You can apply for a visa under the Irish immigration rules as pukon_check has stated.

In relation to citizenship, you say you have moved from the U.K and are an Irish citizen, so I could guess maybe you have moved from Northern Ireland? If so if you have been married for 3 years and living in Northern Ireland for that period of time you could apply for Irish citizenship for your spouse. If you have moved from GB forget what I said and wait 3 years while living in Ireland to apply.

Good luck.

[DingDong]

Hello Bobby16,

So basically you have two routes available.

1) EU Route : In this case you will use the Surinder Singh ruling to return back to Ireland and your non-eu spouse can retain the EU Residence card that was issued by UK, in this instance you will going to use EU1 form and attach EU residence card along with few proves that you both exercised the free movement in UK.

"Please note : Surinder Singh ruling applies to all the EU countries however nowadays it's observed that it's exercised mostly by UK citizens due to their strict domestic UK immigration law, but in principal the ruling can be availed to any EU citizen who exercise there free movement rights in a different EU country & at return to their home country there non-eu spouse/relatives will be treated as EU citizen if they possess EU residence card"

2) Irish domestic : This is quite a straight forward process , just to present yourself & spouse in front of any Garda station along with few proves and they will issue you a Stamp 4 , however the only catch is what visa/permission is the non-eu spouse is currently holding, but however the good thing in your case is you will be entering in Ireland along with non-eu spouse based on a UK residence card, so I really dont think it should be any problem as far as local Garda can understand how you have entered the state and what permission you hold, because for local Garda a normal scenario for when dealing with the Irish domestic marriage STAMP4 applications is when the applicant is either Student if in the state or on a Spouse visa if the non-eu national was outside the country and the Irish national has applied for Spouse visa (please note spouse visa is taking an ages nowadays)

I hope the above helps and please keep us posted.

All the best!

[Bobby16]

Hi, thanks for your replies. We were planning on applying for Surrinder Singh because of the waiting time for spouse visa for visa required non-EEA (which wife is a citizen of a country that requires a visa for Ireland). I am now thinking of going down the spouse visa route especially if we can get it at Garda station. When we entered Ireland we explained to the immigration officer that we were moving here and going to apply for RC under SS ruling. The officer stamped my spouse's passport with 90 day permission to remain. Do you think the Garda station will issue stamp 4 if we produce relevant documents (passports, proof of address etc) and my wife's uk EEA family member RC? As she is from a visa required country I'm worried they will make us send in an application and then have to wait a year for approval in which case I'm thinking SS route may be quicker?

[Bobby16]

Hi Dingdong, still haven't made the application. Looking into spouse visa. Will post update when we have made the application

Cheers

[jul1]

Using the SS route has another advantage, your spouse wont require visa when traveling in the EU, which i guess you want to, everyone goes to Spain for holidays for ex., normally your spouse needs a Schengen visa from that county, like Spain, and a re-entry visa for Ireland, both is free for you (except if you have to travel to Dublin to give fingerprints and collect the passport) but its just a hassle, with the article 10 card she can travel easy.
After 4 years she has to apply for the permanent resident card which im not sure you want to go trough, for many its a hassle, delayed applications, therefore expired gnib cards and therefore firing from the workplace, but you can apply for the normal stamp 4 lets say after 4.5 years of living here, so for 4.5 years eu4fam easy travel, than normal stamp 4 as spouse of Irish, after 5 years apply for citizenship, in 6 months she will get it, so she will hassle with visas only from 4.5 to 5.5 years of being here.
Another thing, maybe just overthinking the story, but when you have eu4fam the eu freedom of movement is really strongly protects you, but when she will have normal stamp 4 she will be under domestic rules, and you can find weird things on the internet what inis is doing, i just heard a case where the spouse of irish being here for years on stamp 4 went home to take care of lone sick parent for months ad upon return INIS took away the stamp 4 saying she is not a normal resident here anymore and she has to leave Ireland and apply for for visit visa if she want to see her Irish husband....that is pretty crazy...under eu law they cant just justify doing this kinda stuff that easily, so being under the eu very strong protection of eu directives could be an advantage.

edit:
i just realized that she can apply for citizenship after 3 years anyway cause you are Irish already, than i guess the SS route looks better for you.