MandyBoo

Hello there, I'm new--so, I'm sorry if this is in the wrong area! I was told to come here by a friend whom also has a British boyfriend. I'm going to give a quick overhaul of my situation.

I'm American, my boyfriend is English. My boyfriend and I have known each other 7 years. We've been in an romantic relationship for a little over a year in a half now. We were planning on getting married on his next visit here.

However, he doesn't meet the minimum money requirement for a visa to sponsor me, even though he works at a hospital full time and sometimes overtime. We were going to try to both save up but the money they want in the bank is just.. too much, we'd be saving for 4 or 5 years for what they want to see.

Anyway, so, we are now considering the Surinder Singh route as we have no other choice, after we get married of course. The new rules are just too hard for us to reach and this might be a much needed lifeline for us to be together. So, he has a friend who's family lives in Dublin, of which he might be able to stay with.

I know that Dublin is apart of the EU and I was wondering, could he go there, find work (which will probably be pretty hard, but probably easier than the 18,600 pound requirement in the UK) and work there for 3 months, then apply for me to come over from the US on an EEA family permit? If we could, how long do they typically take to be processed and a decision to be made? What might be a reason for a refusal?

If I get an EEA family permit, after given that could we return to the UK together? Would I have to apply for a visa after six months after the EEA family permit expires? If so, which would I apply for?

I know, I'm sorry for the bombardment of questions. But I'd really like to know how this would work exactly.

I've read places that it's 6 months he needs to be there working, or even that this route is completely closed? There is a lot of misinformation going around and I'd like to know if anyone could give this to me straight on how it is to be done? Sorry if this has been posted before, but I literally just found out about this today and I want to get all my facts straight for myself and my boyfriend to discuss our options.

I don't have the money to currently ask an immigration solicitor, so I was trying to get as much info as I can online.

roaringmouse

I believe you would also need to be living in Ireland with him, or whichever EU country.

WEBlue

Hi Mandyboo, many of your questions can be answered by reading the 'Surinder Singh' section on the sticky thread entitled EEA FAQs - Common Questions - Read Before Posting at the top of the EEA Route board of Immigrationboards.com:

http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=114867

I would read the whole thread, so you understand how the EEA system should work in general. Then focus on the 6th post, the one that explains the specifics of the Surinder Singh route in detail.

Good luck!

englishguygoinghome

Oh and the quick good news woudl be that he wouldn't have to wait 3 months to apply for your Irish visa - you can get it in advance and both go together.
There's also a very good post from the last few days in this forum from someone who is in the middle of this process right now