Family Member of British/Irish Citizen

[Trishaann92]

Hello there!

I'm a Filipino national currently in the UK on Limited Leave to Remain under Private Life Rules and due to apply to extend my leave in the coming months.

My husband and I both work part-time and have a son who is British by birth and has special needs, hence our working arrangements.

The fee to extend my leave as well as the NHS surcharge on top will financially cripple us, which led me to stumble upon the possibility of applying as a family member of an EEA national and its far less daunting application fee.

My husband was born in the UK and is in possession of an Irish passport through his parents, who were born in Ireland.

Would I be able to apply as his family member? Asking around, I was told that having an EEA member state passport is not enough and he needs to exercise his treaty rights for us to qualify. Does this mean he needs to have worked in Ireland? Or does his employment in the UK satisfy this?

Thank you for any advice you can give in advance!

[CR001]

My understanding is that as a dual British/Irish citizen, he would only be considered British in the UK and you cannot use the EEA route based on his Irish citizenship.

It is exercising treaty rights as a qualified person in the UK, if he held only an Irish passport.

[Trishaann92]

Ah thank you, that makes sense. Did seem too easy to be true!

Hypothetically though, would this work if he renounced his British citizenship?

Of course this is extreme compared to a few months in the financial red, but it would be nice to just have a list of options, even if they're ones we probably won't take.

[Richard W]

Hypothetically though, would this work if he renounced his British citizenship?

Yes. People used to do it fairly frequently until the Brexit referendum. It used to take about 6 months for renunciation to take effect, which would leave you with neither leave to remain nor right to reside while you waited for your husband to stop being British.

[Trishaann92]

I see. Well this is out of the question then, but thank you for your insight. Have a nice day