Lozikinz

Hi guys,

My name is Lauren, I'm a British citizen and my fiancé is from Brazil. We are planning to get married at Christmas time and re-locate to Portugal at the end of January when his 6 month tourist Visa ends here in the UK, live and work there for 3-6 months and then ultimately apply for the EEA Family Permit under the Surinder Singh route.

We were originally planning to apply for the UK Spouse Visa, but because of the £18,600 financial requirement being so outrageous and strict, I researched the Surinder Singh Route and it seems like the ideal thing for us to do. I've lived in Portugal previously and so know the country's ways pretty well, and my other half speaks the language, so I think we'll be just fine.

I just have a few questions regarding the Permit and how it works.


- Do we BOTH have to work in another EU country or is it just me?


- According to the EU website, as long as José (my fiancé) is married to me, he can live and work freely in any European country without any specific Visa or work permit. This sounds great, but what will he need to do when he gets there to be able to work? Just get a tax number like other EU citizens? (That's what I had to do when I lived there before)


- Is it 3 or 6 months that we need to live in another country?


- Do we apply for the EEA Permit FROM the other country? If so, how?


Last question...
Anyone else in our situation?!

Thanks in advance

Lauren

SanDiegogirl

Three to six months of living in another EU country is not going to be enough in order to then apply for the EU family permit to return to the UK.

The authorities have tightened up on this route and you now have to show that you have moved your centre of living to the other country i.e have stable long term jobs, accommodation, paying taxes, involved oneself in the other country/community.

You should be looking at 12 months or more

Yes, the EU permit needs to be applied for from outside the UK

Look for other threads on this topic especially one from AngelaV who just went through this situation

Lozikinz

Thanks for your reply. I've looked at lots of websites about this that have been updated recently and it says that 3-6 months is fine. Do you really think we could be rejected if we stay for 6 months, even if we have our own apartment and jobs?

Vexcore

Isn't the Surinder Singh route, closing now? or certain countries stopping it?

UK gov have had enough of that route. I'm sure i read somewhere on here someone did say it's closing.

Lozikinz

According to this site which was updated pretty recently, it says nothing about the Surinder Singh route closing. It also says that 3-6 months is an okay amount of time to live and work in another EU country.

Surinder Singh immigration route | Free Movement

Confused!

not2old

Agree with this totally, spot on SanDiegogirl

Basically OP, IMO, you need to show & prove that you have severed all ties with the UK, that your centre of interest is elsewhere, that you have left the UK permanently along with your non-EU partner to live in another EU country.

My suggestion is to either close your UK bank accounts & shift it to the new place in the EU, do not have mail, bills, credit cards going to a UK address.

To add to what SanDiegogirl posted. Get off the electoral roles, quit your job (no unpaid leave of absence), tell HMRC you are leaving the country to live in XYZ. I wouldn't even visit back if at all possible before going the SS route

This is just like emigrating.

Not before 4 months, as per the directive in post 5, and 6 months is probably the safest period before applying for the 'family permit'. Then again, for those doing it - try after 3 mopnths that is the EU rule, its just the UK seem to have a different interpretation at times.

More importantly is to show the centre of interest is not the UK

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2...0133032_en.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...ts_v7_0EXT.pdf

UKBA folks are not daft, they will look, to seek out if you severed ties, whether you moved your centre of interest away from the UK, looking - have you resided abroad for a period (as though you'd made it a permanent move), did you rent abroad, pay utilities, work etc.

Lozikinz

Hi,

Thanks for your advice Really appreciate it!
I've lived in Portugal before and already have a bank account there. Do you think it would be okay if I kept my UK bank accounts but only used my Portuguese one?

Thanks

not2old

suppose you kept your UK bank account, would you inform the UK bank that you no longer live in the UK & to change the contact details to Portugal?

Where is your centre of interest?

UKBA would say - 'wait a minute 'if you live in Portugal, then why do you have a UK bank with a UK address'?

Just be careful is what I am suggesting given the responses above

Lozikinz

Do you think they would let me do that? In some banks you have to be a resident in the UK to even keep the account.

not2old

depends on the bank.

Does the Portuguese bank allow you to have an account even though you are not resident?

The UK bank reports to HMRC all account holders information, address & contacts - for what other than tax. So, you have a UK bank account with a UK address...that might indicate that you are still resident UK

Its a tricky one for sure with no real right or wrong on the UK bank account with a UK address for a person living as a resident outside the UK.

From post 2 above
Angela that wrote the thread on the SS route was in South Africa going through Ireland to the UK. She wasn't in the UK, leaving for a few months then returning... slightly different from your situation..

'Centre of interest' is key

emmaandshane

We are doing Surrinder Singh currently in Portugal. arrived in Oct, started work in Dec. About to do the AF5 form through a lawyer in the UK. What is the community work that is spoken about? What work involving the community would we have to do? Have applied for the family permit for my husband but do we have to wait until we have this or is the receipt of application for it enough to do the VAF5 form?

(, this is a long road, taking it's toll on us (

holly_1948

If things don't work out as planned (I hope you don't need this information), but if it all goes sideways then you might both consider moving to Spain. A Brasilian person can become a Spanish citizen after only two years living in Spain. Spanish citizenship would, of course, give an automatic right to live and work in Britain.

holly_1948

Do you mean you applied for a EEA family permit for your husband to live and work in Portugal? Or what?

emmaandshane

Sorry I got my wording wrong, we applied for the residence card for here but we're wondering if it's ok to apply for the family permit now, but we only have the recipe that it's in process of happening. We have a lawyer in the UK and he has said its fine so going with that :0)....