thaifiancee

Hi all,
I have a number of questions I’ve been struggling to find answers to regarding the Surinder Singh Route. I am from the UK and wish to bring my Thai wife and daughter into the UK, but don’t meet the financial requirements of over £18,600 per year, so I plan to use the Surinder Singh route via Ireland, but I still have reservations of how easy it is in practice. So my understanding is as follows:
1. Move to Ireland and find a job exceeding 12 hours a week. Apply for residence and seek accommodation with utility bills etc.
2. Apply for my wife to enter Ireland on a non-EEA spouse visa to Ireland (how difficult is this?).
3. Move my ‘centre of life’ there. i.e. learn the local language, engage in community, strengthen family life.
4. Live there for at least 3 months (I’m aiming for >6 months).
5. Apply for EEA family permit to bring wife back to England.

My daughter is 10 months old and I am going to register the birth abroad and apply for her passport as soon as I get back to England in a few weeks. Assuming that goes smoothly there should be no problems there. My queries, questions and concerns are as follows…

On the gov.uk website regarding EEA guidance it says the following regarding EEA family permits: that they last 6 months and that refusal can occur if maintenance and accommodation requirements aren’t met which may result in a recourse to public funds.

As I understand it this is for non-UK citizens that wish to bring their EEA family into the UK, but as a UK citizen that has then been a resident in Ireland with his non-EEA wife and daughter I can use this same EEA family permit to entitle me to bring my wife into the UK for 5 years without any proof of accommodation requirements or meeting any set financial requirements and don’t have to prove that there will be no recourse to public funds. Is this correct??

As I understand it I’m exercising my EU treaty rights to live (with my family) and work in another state and then bring them back under EU law as opposed to UK law. I don’t see this as a loophole as I am an EU citizen as well as a UK citizen, but does anyone have any idea if these rules will be strengthened by the UK government as they plan to renegotiate their position in the EU before the in/out referendum? From what I understand their hands are pretty much tied with regard to this.

So I’d like to confirm that the visa does actually grant 5 years and not 6 months and if so please explain why (if it’s possible without tons of technical jargon) and that there is no proof of adequate accommodation as is the case when applying via the normal UK immigration route. I believe I would have to provide a two bedroom flat for this, but our daughter is young and sleeps in the same bed at the moment. Also are the only financial requirements that you had a job in Ireland and not that you need x amount in the bank and a job/accommodation lined up for when you return. I will have these, but not that they would met standard UK immigration requirements.

My situation is that I would meet the UK requirements in approximately 2.5 years, but only just, I would earn approximately £21,500. I can see UK immigration rules also getting stricter, not to mention the approximate £5,000 total costs involved increasing above this mark (this includes beginning to end, biometric testing, ILR, visas, etc.). So does anyone have any opinions on this route in the meantime as I am dearly missing being with my family and don’t want to blow things on this option if it all goes wrong it’s more time and money down the drain.

Many, many thanks to those that have taken the time to read this and take the time to make useful contributions to the discussion.

rebeccajo

Sometimes this thread drops down and you may have missed it. It's a long read but it will likely answer most of your concerns.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/citiz...so-far-804420/

thaifiancee

Ah yes I had read some of this post already, 47 pages though, wow! Seems like this is a very hot topic amongst the expat community, unsurprisingly.

I'll continue on with the research, thanks for the link

thaifiancee

Also I've yet to get my daughter a UK passport or register her birth from the UK authorities (which as I now understand it isn't necessary and with the added time won't speed up the overall process). Does anyone know as I have been British from birth with British parents/grandparents etc. should this whole process be quick? It appears some people have experienced waits of 6 months for their child's first passport abroad.

I'm currently in Thailand, but as I understand it we can do it from the UK embassy in Bangkok or the UK, but ultimately all applications now get processed in the UK so I was planning to do it from back home. A 6 month wait would ruin my chances of using the SS route and then returning to finish my degree next academic year, so are there ways beyond providing the required documents that will speed the process up? Would photos of us together help? Sounds ridiculous, but would a DNA test speed it up? Really couldn't afford to hang around for 6 months for a passport if I am to attempt this SS route...

I have daughter's and wife's certified translated birth certificates, my passport, should be able to get passport photos done here in next couple of days in which she doesn't need to be looking directly at camera as she's under one year. Countersignatary apparently has to have only known me for 2 years as she is a minor and has to be professional and live in the UK. I have someone in mind for this so is there anything else I've missed?

thaifiancee

Wow just went to pick up the certified translated copies in Hua Hin and was told that for a UK passport for my daughter I have to have a court order saying I'm responsible for the child as we aren't/weren't married when our daughter was born! This is news to me. Can anyone confirm this?

thaifiancee

Had some great news after talking to an immigration specialist. If anyone is in a similar position it might be helpful. So I wouldn't have to have the UK passport ready for my daughter in advance, I'd simply have to make two non-EU family member applications providing proof she's my daughter! I completely overlooked this whole aspect! So it looks like it could be done quite easily. Obviously he wants to sell his services and wouldn't give details if I had sufficient proof (along with what I already said I also have proof that I worked in Thailand for 18 months and photos of me and my girlfriend before and during pregnancy) and also with the three of us when the baby was 2 months and 10 months). So anyway he said he could do all the legwork for £2,000 beginning to end for the whole process which is a lot of money, but doesn't seem extortionate. Maybe best to leave it someone who won't overlook any aspect because if I have to appeal any aspect it can add a lot of time onto things.

SanDiegogirl

What is the lawyer intending to do for you for 2K GBP? Get you visas for your wife and daughter for immigration purposes to the UK?

BritInParis

I would echo SanDiegogirl's comment - what will you be spending £2000 on? If you don't meet the financial requirement for a spouse visa then spending a lot of money on a lawyer isn't going to help. If your daughter is a British citizen then any application for her to obtain a visa for the UK should be refused by UKVI.

You say you wish to apply for your daughter's British passport after you return to the UK but your intention is move your family to Ireland and find work there. What is your proposed plan of action?

not2old

in this situation with you in Thailand, since passports are processed in the UK, have you checked how long it would take doing from inside the UK for a person born abroad - my guess is it may take the same amount of time.... just saying?