Renouncing British Citizenship to use EEA FP route

[dalebutt]

Hi Mark: This is a bit of a stupid question but, did you get back your cancelled British passport after you renounced British citizenship? (I'm guessing you sent the passport in along with the form?)

I would like to have the old passport back if possible (after renunciation) as there are loads of entry/exit stamps which I hope to keep for the future. Obviously, the corner would have been cut (showing that it is no longer valid).

Of course, another option would be photocopying every page, but I'm sure this would require some form of stamp from an Embassy before they would be acceptable.

Any thoughts would be welcome!

I thought you were doing a Singh? Do you really wan renounce it? There would be no difference if you did a Singh, the old passport would not be returned I would imagine.

[chaoclive]

I'm so confused...I guess I have too much time to think about these things hehe.

I was planning to do Singh but I think I need to be back home for family before the 6 months or more that Singh will take next year.

[dalebutt]

When You mean back home for family, where would that be? China or the UK? If you will be away temporarily to visit family it shouldn't disrupt your plans, and if you made your employer aware and they agree to it.

[chaoclive]

I need to get back to the UK for family reasons (I'm still in China at the moment). I was really excited about moving to Spain was a while, but, on reflection, I now think that this may be a bit of a hassle (in terms of 'moving' my whole life twice: China to Spain & Spain to the UK).

I also plan to live in Northern Ireland so that my civil partner can get Irish citizenship after 3 years of living on the island of Ireland as the spouse/CP of an Irish citizen (Irish law) but this would also be delayed by the time spent in Spain.

Still confused...
CC

[dalebutt]

You didn't want to go to Ireland? Exercise your rights there, and the move to Northern Ireland, the residence acquired in ROI will then count towards the residence to be spent in NI towards Irish citizenship naturalisation.

I do not think the republic of Ireland government maintain a strong stance on the dual citizenship requirement, I will suggest you apply for an accompany EU citizen visa at the Irish embassy using your British passport and then see how it goes, it should go smoothly.

[chaoclive]

It is still a bit of a hassle to do it this way; even though it's very close, it's really difficult to find a decent job near the border in the ROI and I wouldn't be able to drive every day to be with my family. Also, there would be a need to get new ROI bank accounts etc.

In theory it sounds as if the residency could count towards the 3 years of residency, but it wouldn't be that easy. The Irish government would know that I was a dual national at that time and, therefore, may refuse my partner's citizenship application. At that time it would be too late to change anything...

I still feel that renunciation is the 'easiest' option.

[dalebutt]

Unlike the UK, the Irish visa application does not ask if you own Irish citizenship, if they didn't ask, you need not tell, I don't suspect they will be checking anyways, if you applied and are refused, it doesn't take anything away from you, or affect the plans whatsoever, if you had done that since couple of weeks ago you'd have the result now, IMO it is most likely to succeed, but the choice is yours. GD luck.

[chaoclive]

Thanks a lot for your continued support! We're not ready to move back just yet and will be applying after the winter holidays in China (around March) for a return in July 2014.

You've been most helpful

[wjbrown]

Well this works. I sent in the form (RN1) and £250 to renounce my British Citizenship on 11th December 2012 and received confirmation from the Home Office on 25th January.

EEA FP application submitted in Riga, Latvia on 19th Feb with brief evidence of exercising treaty rights in UK, marriage cert and passports. Also a polite covering letter pointing out that most applications haven't been dealt with inside 3 weeks as required by EU and would they be so kind to deal with this so as not to impede her free movement.

EEA FP issued in 2 weeks!! I never thought I'd say it, but well done UKBA!

Just in case anyone is curious I can confirm that this method works as of Winter/Spring 2014.

I was born in the UK as a UK citizen and also eligible for Irish citizenship but had never registered myself to claim it. I have lived in the UK my whole life. Over the summer of 2013 I registered myself as an Irish foreign birth, gained citizenship, applied for an Irish passport, renounced my UK citizenship, married my US citizen wife in the US and applied for an EEA FP in September 2013. We received the FP within a week and my wife moved from the US to the UK in December. We have just received her EEA2 residence card which we applied for in January.

A bit of a faff with paperwork to say the least but it cost us several hundred pounds and several months less than a UK spouse visa for which we were not eligible due to my low income as a PhD student. I was not returned my UK passport after renunciation.

Thanks for posting the info ShrewsburyMark!

[chaoclive]

Great wj! Well done.

We are just about to apply for the EEAFP on the same basis as your wife. I just received my renunciation certificate after waiting for 2.5 months.

Good luck

[Angie D]

please put my mind at rest! son Brit cit, ROI Father. Irish embassy have offer him an Irish passport without the need to register his birth In Ireland or claim citizenship. son wants to renounce Brit citizenship and his wife Non EU cit to apply for family permit to uk. son born and always lived in UK. Now, on the UK FP form it asks "when did EU national enter UK", remember my son has british birth cert! The fact that my son is/was a British citizen who will now have an Irish passport, then renounce Brit citizenship and wife being asked when did he enter UK, is this going to throw a spanner in the works as HO may not grant FP under this scenario as he has never as a Brit cit exercised his free movement rights? please advise a guys. thanks so much in advance!

[wjbrown]

I was in the same situation having never lived in the EU outside the UK where I was born.

I simply put down my birth date as when I entered the UK and sent in the HO confirmation of renunciation to prove I was not a British citizen any more. Unless it has recently changed (and I would check carefully just in case!) the EEA FP wording requires you to be in an EU country other than that of your citizenship, not of your birth.

Being an Irish citizen in the UK it is key that your son can prove that he is currently exercising treaty rights in the UK as an EU citizen under one of the employment/study/self-sufficient categories, not that he has exercised his freedom of movement per se.

Hope that helps.

[el patron]

please put my mind at rest! son Brit cit, ROI Father. Irish embassy have offer him an Irish passport without the need to register his birth In Ireland or claim citizenship. son wants to renounce Brit citizenship and his wife Non EU cit to apply for family permit to uk. son born and always lived in UK. Now, on the UK FP form it asks "when did EU national enter UK", remember my son has british birth cert! The fact that my son is/was a British citizen who will now have an Irish passport, then renounce Brit citizenship and wife being asked when did he enter UK, is this going to throw a spanner in the works as HO may not grant FP under this scenario as he has never as a Brit cit exercised his free movement rights? please advise a guys. thanks so much in advance!

Has the son never ever been on holiday outside the UK? Right of entry/residence for non-eea family members is activated by the 'admission' of an EEA national to the UK.

[Angie D]

Hi, not sure what you mean by Son ever going on holiday? He has in the past been on holiday with me and holiday with his fiancée in her Country Thailand! She has also been granted a uk visa for holiday in UK! Have I missed something?

[Angie D]

He has visited many counties in the past but not with his Finance (soon to be wife)

[el patron]

For the family permit you can enter the date he last entered the UK, that could simply be the date he returned from his most recent holiday.

[Angie D]

Really? Wow, I never knew that! So when we all go out to Thailand in 5 weeks Time for the wedding and return a month later that will suffice?

[Angie D]

Do you think it would be better to gain Irish cit, renounce Brit cit, then go on holiday and re-enter uk as an Irish citizen?

[el patron]

Yes greater benefits with entering UK as an Irish national than as a British one, though the renunciation process takes several months so timing is a bit adrift, otherwise this will work for them.

[Angie D]

Wow, several months, I thought it was around 12 weeks! oh well, if it takes that long then so be it! Thank you do so much for your help. One last question, where can we find the form for renouncing? Thanks

[chaoclive]

You should be reading this: https://www.gov.uk/renounce-british-nationality.
The form is here: https://www.gov.uk/renounce-british-nationality/apply. Please read the guide first.

You must be able to prove that you have another citizenship when you apply to renounce. If you don't have an Irish passport how do you propose to do this?

My renunciation took 2.5 months, although some have taken longer. They say that you should leave up to 6 months. Also, don't forget that the Irish passport will take a few weeks to come through.

Good luck!

PS: I've written 'you' - read as 'your son'

[Angie D]

Thanks, will take a look at your link! Irish passport application arrived today so he will apply ASAP!

[Angie D]

Hello again helpful people! Can someone please advise what supporting evidence needs to be submitted when applying for my Sons wife and kids to join him in UK once he becomes Irish citizen? Apart from the firms that is?

Thanks

[chaoclive]

Hi there

The basic info is here: https://www.gov.uk/family-permit. It says: You must provide:-
-your passport
-proof of your relationship, eg a birth or marriage certificate
-a letter from your partner or family in the UK declaring that they’re travelling with you or that you’re coming to stay with them in the UK
-your partner or family member’s passport or ID card

However, as your son is already working in the UK, he will need to provide evidence that he is there as a 'qualified person'. This is all the firms stuff, e.g. pay slips, work contracts etc. The Home Office have another list of supporting documents here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... -form-vaf5. This might give some ideas as to what he should provide, but this goes way beyond what the EEA law requires. It may, however, give a good indication of the things that a the family member of an EEA citizen already working in the UK should provide.

Please note that she should be applying online and not via form VAF5 which is on the link above. She should be applying via the online form at: https://www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk. She shouldn't choose settlement. That is a different visa. She will need to choose:
-Reason for visit: other
-Visa Type: EEA/Swiss family member
-Visa Sub Type: family member of an EEA national.

I was born British and Irish. I renounced British citizenship in April and my civil partner applied for his family permit at the end of May with only the following:
-both our passports (my Irish one)
-my proof of renunciation
-a completed application form
-a letter from me stating that we were traveling to the UK together
-a copy of our civil partnership certificate (We were told that we didn't need to provide the original by the visa processing centre in Beijing).

I also provided a copy of the directive, from here: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/Lex ... 123:EN:PDF with some parts highlighted, e.g. Article 5, Right of Entry, 2 re: visas (free/accelerated procedure) and Article 6 Right of residence for up to three months, which proves that I don't currently need to be working in the UK.

Then we went to the appointment and waited our turn. We submitted our documents to the clerk and she checked everything. She didn't take the originals and said that they didn't need them now. His permit was issued 8 days later.

Sorry - bit of a messy post. I'm happy to answer more questions if you have any.

[Angie D]

Thank you so much, this is a big help, can't thank you enough!