ishfaq

I am currently in Spain on an expired family reunion visa (legal spanish extension given pending residency decision). I have been here nearly six months.
I am a Pakistani national and my wife is an English national (holding residencia in Spain for the last 10 years).
We want to return to the UK immediately.
How should we go about this? Can I travel there as a visitor and start the process to remain once I am there?
Will registering our marriage in the UK help?
How long does it take to get the British passport through Spouse visa? and/or EEA FAMILY PERMIT?
we are confused about the route we should take EEA family permit is for the national of Europe and my wife is British which is part of Europe but we are not sure about it in terms of immigration law.
Which way could be easy to not only get the there but be the right way to get the British passport?
I would also like to know the changes made to the spouse visa on 8th July 2012 and how this affects us.
There are so many other questions to ask, but all we need is a quick entry explanation.
We will not be relying on public funds but we also don't have more than 2k in the bank. My wife will have a job though which pays enough to support us.
Thank you in advance for your time.

Perth

Sounds like the family permit would work for you, as long as your wife has been working in Spain. Here is a thread that gives a lot more detail.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=761780

SanDiegogirl

You have to be legally resident in the UK for 5 years before you are eligible for naturalisation and obtaining a British passport.

There is no quick entry - you need to go through all the necessary channels.

To go the EEA permit route your wife needs to have been living and working in Spain.

You say you are in Spain on an expired family reunion visa? So overstayed your visa - that won't help you in obtaining a visa in the UK.

ishfaq

Thanks for that guys, i have not overstayed since i have an extension (permission in writing from the spanish government) until they give me the ok to gain spanish residencia. I just wondered if i could get there without it.
We are just looking for the easiest route. It seems that if we opt for the eea permit my wife will still have to get a job which pays over 18 k in order for me to stay in the UK. Can anybody confirm/deny this?

SanDiegogirl

The EEA permit does not expect the British spouse to have a job earning over 18K.

It does however expect them to have worked in the EU county from which they are moving.

roaringmouse

The EEA permit under the "Surinder Singh" ruling (which is what we're talking about here) is probably preferable now, since the rule changes for the spouse visa. This is because the length of residency to UK citizenship is about the same for both (5 years minimum), and the EEA permit is free of charge (with the spouse visa there would be a minimum of 3 visa applications and charges to get to Indefinite Leave stage).

ishfaq

Thank you. It is confusing at the moment due to this recent change because they are saying that you can only apply for citizenship after 5 years unless you are married to a British citizen of which my wife is, so i thought maybe it would be quicker for me (maybe three years).

englishguygoinghome

I'd say use the EEA Family permit. It will save you at least 3k in visa fees and will get you an initial reply and visa within a couple of weeks rather than months. It cannot legally be denied IF your wife is working in Spain.

If you wife is working in Spain why are you not there on a family permit too? It would save you the hassle with the Spanish authorities. If you go the EEA route they will probably ask questions if you aren't in Spain under the same rules. Why not just go to the local authorities and ask for the EU-Residence permit for Spain based on your wife's British nationality?

Yes, you can get a passport after three years as the spouse of a British Citizen BUT you also need to have permanent residency in the UK either after 5 years of living on an EEA permit or via ILR. Both of these take 5 years now, so no short cuts for spouses any more unless they enetered before last July.

As for other shortcuts. You could drive to the UK wihtout a visa IF your wife is working in Spain. Take your passports, marriage certificate, her Spanish residence permit, your Spanish residence permit, proof of her job - ask for an A1 stamp at the border. Expect problems but in the end to be let in. Take a look at http://britcits.blogspot.com they posted a link a few days ago of someone's story who had sucessfully done this from Greece.

ishfaq

Thanks for that Englishguygoinghome. Lots of interesting points.
I was issued a family reunion visa (3 months validity) and then i applied for Spanish residency which is still being processed. My wife is working (self employed at the moment) and also has a work history in Spain for the last 13 yrs. If we used the A1 stamp to get into the UK for a visit once my residency certificate comes through, could we get back out into Spain? Also, any idea how long I would need to be a resident here in Spain before applying for an EEA family permit to the UK? Thanks again for your time.

roaringmouse

As a minor point, spouses did not have to enter the UK before last July to be able to get citizenship after 3 years of residency - they had to have applied as a partner of a British citizen on or before 8 July last year. It's possible that a small amount of such visa holders have not entered the UK yet, but they would still remain under the old rules.

englishguygoinghome

Did you apply based on EU rules (ie through your spouse) or on your own grounds? I guess the family reunion visa was to reunite with your EU spouse - so it sounds like the right paperwork.
If the family reunion is to reunite with your wife then you can probably already apply for a EEA Family permit for the UK or try and get your A1 stamp. As long as you have proof that your wife has been exercising her treaty rights, is your wife and you are living together (having a Spanish visa or permit which says you are allowed in in order to live with her helps with that last point)

Once you are resident in the UK then you can get another EEA Family permit for Spain at any time. You may well find that your UK residence card is sufficient (legally it must be, technically at the border and at check-in...)

There is no time limit that I've ever been able to find in the directive and no one has, as yet, pointed one out.