Bingbing25

Hello all,

My wife who's a British national lived in Korea for 10 months, returned to the UK for 2 months, and immediately left for Canada and stayed there for 7 months until she moved to the UK again in March 2018. Prior to living in Korea, she had always lived in the UK and hasn't left the country since coming back. She held work visas in both countries. Does this mean that she hasn't been ordinarily resident in the UK for 3 years?

SanDiegogirl

To clarify: she has been absent for 17 months total in the period March 2016 to March 2019 ?

Bingbing25

Yes. To be precise, she lived in Korea from Sep 2016 to July 2017, returned home and moved again to Canada in Sep 2017, and came back in Mar 2018, and has been here since.

The government document on ordinary residency says that it is possible to be ordinarily resident in more than one place, but doesn't specify the exact criteria, so it's a bit confusing. As I am on the spouse visa, I may be classified as a home student for certain things if she has been ordinarily resident for 3 years.

Bingbing25

https://www.ato.gov.au/law/view/docu...lER536%2F00002

Reading this, it appears that my wife could show that she has been ordinarily resident for three years despite those periods of absence, since she 1) held temporary work visas, and 2) was accompanying me since I had to leave the UK as my visa expired, and 3) never intended to settle in those countries. Am I right to think this way?

SanDiegogirl

Surely it's whether YOU have been living in the UK permanently for three years which would determine if you can qualify as a home student (presume you are looking at home or foreign student fees) From your posts you have only just arrived in the UK

Bingbing25

There are different eligibility criteria for home student status depending on the type of education. For higher education, it is only if I have been ordinarily resident for three years, and my wife's status doesn't have any effect. On the other hand, for apprenticeships, I qualify as a home student if my wife has been ordinarily resident even though I have just arrived here. I was looking at the latter category.

SanDiegogirl

Are you referring to the eligibility for home fees for an apprenticeship as per the following website:

https://www.ukcisa.org.uk/Informatio...tus#layer-6262

Bingbing25

Yes, and also this, if you look at page 61: https://assets.publishing.service.go...Rules_v1.0.pdf

SanDiegogirl

Taken from the link I gave you with regard Apprenticeship courses

Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) funds 'home' fees for further education (FE) in England. You will be eligible as a 'home' student in the 2018-19 academic year onwards if you come within one, or more, of the categories below and you are:

• studying an Apprenticeship course in England; and
• aged 16 years or over.

9. Non-EEA citizens with three years' ordinary residence in the UK

You will be eligible under this category if you:

• are a non-EEA citizen; and
• have permission granted by the UK Government to live in the UK and not for educational purposes; and
• have been ordinarily resident in the UK for at least the three years immediately before your course starts.

If I understand correctly you are from Korea, so you must be ordinarily resident in the UK for three years before being eligible for home fees

Bingbing25

Section 3 says this:

3. Family of EEA/EU nationals, who have not been ordinarily resident in the EEA

You may not have been ordinarily resident in the EEA for at least the three years immediately before your course. However, you will be eligible if one of the following sets of requirements applies to you:

1. You are an EU citizen; and you are the child/grandchild, spouse / civil partner, or dependent parent/grandparent, of an EEA citizen ('the principal'); and the principal has been ordinarily resident in the EEA for at least the three years immediately before your course; or
2. You are the child/grandchild, spouse / civil partner, or dependent parent/grandparent, of an EU citizen ('the principal'); and the principal has been ordinarily resident in the EEA for at least the three years immediately before your course. Your nationality is irrelevant; you can be an EEA or non-EEA national.

I have checked with apprenticeship providers that I am eligible (at least for the time being, unless we leave the EU with no deal). Supposing that I'm eligible, do you know if my wife's temporary absences affect her ordinary residence status?

SanDiegogirl

If you have checked with apprenticeship providers as to your eligibility, why are you asking your questions here?

Personally, I don't think you qualify for home fees.

The website refers to family members of EU citizens. Your wife is a Brit, and yes, while overall she is a European, I understood these rules to comply with reciprocal arrangements for EU members across states.

Bingbing25

I checked with them that I'm eligible provided my wife has been ordinarily resident for 3 years, and that's the question I was originally asking, whether she could be considered ordinarily resident with those absences.

When they differentiate between non-UK EU citizens and UK citizens, they mention that. Otherwise EU citizens include Brits too, well, at least for now.

SanDiegogirl

Yes, I would think she is 'ordinarily resident'