tonyjames44

Hi everyone,
I'm thinking very seriously about taking the SS route to bring my future wife and kids to the UK.I've been living and teaching English in Thailand for the last 15 years. I have two young boys, aged 2 and 4 obviously British by decent and my girlfriend (working full time here) who I have been with for 7 years.
I've read quite a lot about the method, a friend of mine did it a couple of years ago teaching English in Spain. I realise the pay will be quite low, but if it's not for very long then Im sure we can put up with poor living.
I'd really appreciate any ideas please.
Thanks!

InVinoVeritas

Tony, you need to have a read of this first:-

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...er-singh-cases

From this you will see that you'll need to have employment in France which, if you can't speak French, is likely to prove very difficult. You could go the self-employed route but this is likely to be very expensive. Nevertheless this is the hurdle you need to clear first.

tonyjames44

Surely I wouldn't need to speak French to teach ESL? I've contacted a couple of language schools in Paris and they're both interested in employing me. The problem being only 20 hours a week is'nt going to earn me very much.

InVinoVeritas

With unemployment over 10%, there is nearly always a French-speaking candidate for any job. Let's see what other members have to say once France wakes up.

tonyjames44

If we aren't married does living together for 7 years and having 2 children count as a "durable" relationship?

tonyjames44

Maybe i should consider teaching in Eastern European then. Is there a list of countries where the SS route is possible or is it all the EU countries?

Pulaski

Certainly any EU country, and I think any EEA country, which adds Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Lichtenstein.

tonyjames44

Thanks. More options... this gets more complicated and my ideas seem to change daily.

dmu

Hi, have to agree with the others re unemployment in France. If the language schools in Paris do offer you jobs, rentals in Paris and near suburbs are exhorbitant and a large proportion of your income would disappear into rent and transport. I may be wrong, but I believe most language schools employ free-lances, not salaried, which means that you'd have to set up a business structure, which wouldn't seem worth the hassle just for 3 months.
It might not be necessary to speak the country's language to teach adults, but IMO it's indispensable for children to understand the quirks of English grammar explained in their own language.
It might be worth considering Eire, the Netherlands or Scandinavian countries where English is widely spoken....

Shard

What is the SS route?

cyrian

The Surinder Singh route - Google it or do a forum search.

EuroTrash

Since URSSAF made an example out of Acadomia and penalised them astroeuros for 'concealed employment', I think only very brave or very foolish language schools would risk that now. Acadomia, n°1 du « travail dissimulé » ? - Basta !

I believe that for a spouse/family visa you need to be married, and especially if you have children. The immigration authorities are not interested in how much you love each other, beyond checking that it is a genuine relationship and not a marriage of convenience. What they are interested in is seeing a legal bond that makes you financially responsible for your partner and child, so that you can't abandon them once you've brought them into the country. If you're married, then even if the relationship breaks down you can still be held legally responsible for them until the divorce is absolute, at which point the ex spouse's visa ends with the marriage and she must leave the country. If you're not married, what's to stop you starting a new relationship and leaving your spouse on the street. So a marriage certificate is needed to protect your unofficial dependents from being abandonned, and to protect the state from having lots of abandonned unofficial dependents dumped on it.

If you go about this intelligently and make sure you tick every box I'm sure this is achievable, but if you don't follow the rules to the letter (or figure) you will get knocked back. It's not about what you're prepared to put up with, it's about what's allowed and what's not allowed; you have to prove to the immigration authorities' satisfaction that you can support yourself and your family. No doubt each country will have drawbacks, but I suspect you will find France has more drawbacks than some. For a start you need to show you have somewhere appropriate to live so you need a legit rental contract; rent is not cheap in Paris and to get a rental you normally need to prove you have a secure job and that you earn at least three times the rent. 20 hours a week is unlikely to amount to 3 times the rent of a family apartment in Paris and you may find it hard to get a permanent contract (CDI), most are temporary (CDD). There is also a minimum earnings threshold that you have to prove, would you meet the threshold for a family of four? You can easily find out what the threshold is, how much accommodation for a family of 4 costs in Paris, and presumably you have been told what your salary would be, so you can work all this out.
Then do the same for other countries.
Then you'll have your answer.
Don't start the process until you have everything in place because applications are checked very very thoroughly.

PS "British by decent" - don't teach your students that, will you

jsbach

My father taught me that to be British was to be decent.

tonyjames44

That's how good the autocorrect is on my phone, I type British and it comes up with decent.

scot47

there are not many EFL jobs in France or Eastern Europe that would pay enough to support a family of four.