EU citizen with non EU spouse
 

Hi all,

My husband is a dual Spanish/British citizen. He is entertaining a possible contract role in Belgium. I am a Canadian, we have one child together - right now a dual Brit/Canadian. We are looking to get her Spanish passport.

What rights do I have as his spouse? How do I enter the country legally if he takes this opportunity? Do I need to apply for anything? Can I work in Belgium? We are also looking to have another child - am i entitled to health care?

If our second child is born in Belgium are they Belgian citizens?

Any input would be appreciated.

Re: EU citizen with non EU spouse
 

Providing Spain doesn't leave the EU then yes, you can accompany your husband to Belgium and legally reside there as the spouse of an EU citizen exercising their Treaty rights. You'd need to register after you arrive but it's a formality. You can work or not work, it's up to you. If your child born in Belgium they will not be Belgian. You will be access the Belgian healthcare system on the same basis as Belgians resident in Belgium.

How long have you been living in the UK? What is your current immigration status?

Re: EU citizen with non EU spouse
 

Regarding the second child, probably best to register as Spanish due to EU membership. Dual nationality parents means the child can take the nationality of either one (but is not automatically Belgian due to country of birth). An EU one is probably more useful than Canadian, but up to you. After 5 years residence you could have either child registered as Belgian, but why bother. As long as Spain is in EU (as mentioned above by BIP) the child could decide themselves when they get to 18.

Re: EU citizen with non EU spouse
 

Thank you for the response.

My UK status currently expires in July. I've been in the UK nearing 8 years (1.5 on a work visa - and then remainder on the 5 year spousal visa).

But with our PR application in -and Brexit happening, we are thinking we just to go to the continent and wait for our Canadian PR to come through rather than drop another £5000+ on a UK extension since alI I have to do once we are on the continent is register with the local authority. No fees or anything.

Re: EU citizen with non EU spouse
 

If you’ve spent five years on two consecutive spouse visas then you’ll be eligible for ILR come July. The fee is £2,389 plus £50 for the Life in the UK test, not £5000+. As your husband is a British citizen you’ll be able to naturalise immediately after being granted ILR and as the spouse of a British citizen there’s no requirement to live in the UK after naturalisation. You could even have your citizenship ceremony in Belgium if necessary. I would strongly advise you to secure your status in the UK before you leave, particularly as your husband and child are already British citizens.

Re: EU citizen with non EU spouse
 

Ideally that is the plan but meeting the financial requirements is proving complicated for us. My husband left a job he was miserable in in mid September. While he was working there he more than exceeded the financial requirement in salary to sponsor me. (ie.June to September he earned well over 18,600). He took sometime off - and has been presented with this contract offer in Belgium - he'd be paid by a UK based company (ie.paying taxes in the UK) but he'd based in Brussels for the contract.

With the naturalisation fee at around 1300 + 2389 for the ILR - plus we would need to pay for premium service because I couldn't give up my passport for the apparent 6 month wait it would come nearer 4k for us I think (even more if we use a lawyer) to help process the case.

We have already put in so much time and money into this - but this stupid financial requirement may hold us back - because while we will have earned WAY more than the actual requirement - I am not sure if his fixed term contract work will be work under category B.

Re: EU citizen with non EU spouse
 

You don’t need to give up your passport for six months nor use a lawyer. Whilst it’s still a lot the expense of not gaining British citizenship, both in financial and personal costs, could be much higher.

Has your husband been unemployed since September? What was his salary then? When does he start his new contract? Have you been working at all? Any other sources of income or savings?

Re: EU citizen with non EU spouse
 

Can I suggest you ask your questions in a space where people who are qualified lawyers are advising people (free of charge) - EU and UK - who are affected by Brexit? They have a lot of information and you might find your question has already been answered. Please be aware that there is a waiting list to join the group, I believe.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/UKCEN/

Re: EU citizen with non EU spouse
 

Or you just ask here. It’s not like we’re short on success stories.

Re: EU citizen with non EU spouse
 

Except we don't usually answer tough legal problems, in a potential nightmare of legislation that seems to change by the day, and that we aren't qualified to pick through or advise on. Schools? Best and worst areas? Healthcare requirements? We can do those answers very well. 'How do I enter the country legally', 'what are my (legal) rights?' Giving/getting the wrong advice one questions such as these - at this time - could be crucial, and could potentially cost the OPs family extra thousands if the advice received is wrong - which is why I think a legal forum is a better place for those questions.

Re: EU citizen with non EU spouse
 

You’ll find that we do and do so very well. If I was that concerned then I wouldn’t be taking my legal advice from a Facebook group.