Cardali

Hi there everybody! Been a reader of these forums for a few weeks now and I'm terribly sorry if this is in the wrong section or has been discussed before but I had a couple of questions.

So my girlfriend (US Citizen) and I (UK Citizen) are looking to tie the knot soon. It's an odd situation where I've not actually proposed but we're discussing this anyway, as we've been doing this long distance heartache for too many years now. I am planning to propose to her on her birthday (lets hope she doesn't see this and find out)

Anyway, we're looking at which EEC country to move to. We're both freelance/self employed workers out of America and have discussed this with the company in question and we'd both still be able to do our online work from wherever we move to - this means we're in a unique position whereby we can be earning in USD whilst in our chosen country.

We're looking, therefore, to move somewhere in Eastern Europe, like Croatia, Slovenia or The Czech Republic, as I've spent a fair bit of time out that way and know the cost of living to be cheaper. We estimate that we could have a very good quality of life in somewhere like Prague so long as we kept our workload up.

I have a friend who did the SS route and used Ireland, but we're not entirely set on that idea.

So my questions are as follows.

1 - Are the countries I listed valid options?
2 - Are those countries any more difficult for her (or I) to get a long-stay visa for
3 - Would being self employed out of an American company be sufficient to show I have been working there? I would be paying tax in that country so I'd like to think so; or do I specifically have to have a job that pays the local currency?
4 - In terms of rentals, would we have to rent through a private landlord or would having a place somewhere like a short term holliday home be OK?

We both plan to save up so that, even if work was slow, we'd be able to stay for around six months on savings. As I understand it there's no minimum hours required to be working, but even on a slow week we'd be able to get about 10-20 hours work.

Hope to hear back something soon, even if it's bad news. If needs be, we'll go to Ireland and get "normal" jobs there.

not2old

the ones that have gone the SS route that post on BE primarily go either Malta or Ireland. Basically its a six month event that most complete then end up in the UK

Standard information on the SS is in this part of the BE discussion board in the surinder singh thread

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Surinder_Singh

post 486 in the following thread

http://britishexpats.com/forum/citiz...804420/page33/

further reading & information

http://britishexpats.com/forum/malta...-malta-844728/

EEA2 Surinder Singh 3 Month Success Story : EEA-route Applications • Immigrationboards.com

Surinder Singh question..?

For Eastern Europe, I direct you to

Eastern European Discussion Group - Surinder Singh Route - www.surindersinghroute.com

Cardali

Thank you ever so much! I'm at work right now so can only skim, but it'll be excellent to have some more reading material for when I get home.

Main reason we're gunning for Eastern Europe is is we're earning in USD from the company that we freelance for, it'll go a lot further there than in somewhere like Ireland.

Zena1231

Hi everyone, I' new here and I registered to ask this question.

This is really troubling me..the thing is me and my husband did the surinder singh route and have been back in the uk for 7 months now. He has also gotten his 5 year residence card. We have 2 under 5 year old children and I am now also pregnant. We had a huge blow up after I discovered he had been skyping a girl he used to date back in his home country.

I now don't know if he is genuine with me or if it's all been a fake, with family members putting doubts further in my mind....
I don't know what to do as I'm in two minds about it, he is a lovely father and I can't look after his kids on my own so I feel like I need him and I know he knows that!.

Anyway we have separated and he is living with a friend he has made paying him salary for a bit of rent. My question is will this effect him being about to stay in this country.
We haven't divorced officially or at all....yet...and not sure if we will or won't but one thing is for sure, we have separated in that he and I live separately. We've been like this since a month now. He only picks up the kids for the weekend/ evenings and takes them to his house.
I've heard that if a ss couple divorce after a year then the non british spouse will still have the right to live and work In the uk, is this true and also does that still apply to separating?
See it hasn't been a year since he has come to this country and we hve separated, will be have the rights to stay here because we aren't divorced yet?

not2old

I believe this may answer it for you

c&p'd

1. A person who ceases to be a family member of an EEA national who is a qualified person or who has acquired permanent residence on termination of a marriage or civil partnership will retain a right of residence if:

-the marriage or partnership lasted for at least three years immediately before the initiation of proceedings for divorce, annulment or dissolution, and the parties to the marriage or civil partnership had resided in the UK for at least one year during the duration of the marriage or civil partnership, or the former spouse or civil partner of the qualified person has custody of the children or a right of access to the children in the UK, or there are particularly difficult circumstances (such as domestic violence) justifying the retention of the right of residence.

-In such circumstances a family member retains a right of residence if:
(a) S/he is a non-EEA national but is pursuing activity which would make him/her a worker or a self-employed person if s/he were an EEA national,
(b) S/he is a self-sufficient person, or
(c) S/he is the family member of a person in the UK who is either a worker, self-employed, or is a self-sufficient person.

from the home office website

Additional requirements if you or your family member divorced the EEA national or ended a civil partnership with them

You can only apply if you were in the UK as the EEA national’s family member on the date the divorce was finalised or civil partnership was ended and one of the following applies:

-the marriage or civil partnership lasted at least 3 years before legal proceedings began and the couple lived in the UK for at least 1 year before the divorce, annulment or dissolution was finalised

-you (or the former spouse or civil partner of the EEA national) have custody of a child of the relevant EEA national

-you (or the former spouse or civil partner of the EEA national) have access rights to a child of the relevant EEA national, provided the child is under 18 and a judge has ordered that access must take place in the UK

- you, or a family member, have been a victim of domestic violence during the marriage or civil partnership, or there are other particularly difficult circumstances which justify retaining the right of residence

Zena1231

Thank you for your reply, I understood from above that divorce, annulment or dissolution before a year would not give him the right to remain as an eea family member with those rights, but would separation be called dissolution or annulment do you reckon??

formula

A lovely father but not a lovely husband. Have you got family who can help you? I can see why your family are putting doubts in your mind. I think you might find you are stronger than you think. mumsnet.com forums offer a lot of support for people in your situation as will these people
Marriage, Relationships & Families - MoneySavingExpert.com Forums

The first thing you must do is amend any benefit claims you are making as he is no longer living with you because you have separated. You don't want to get into trouble with benefits or have your benefits stopped, because of him. Benefits use data matching to check and they keep using data matching to check the claim. You must put yourself and your children first.

You can move near your family and transfer your benefits to that area.

If you haven't claimed any benefits yet and aren't working/working many hours, then put your claims in for the various benefits as a single person, asap.

Let him sort his own immigration problems out. EEA right to reside rules (at the moment) are 3 years before a divorce and then only as long as you are living in the UK too during that time.

Even after a right to reside, he would still have to wait the 5 years at the earliest for PR. He would not be able to bring a dependant to the UK under EU rules until he had that PR because the UK have stopped that well used practice.

Zena1231

I wouldn't want him to get kicked out that's the thing because at least he can father and help me look after his three kids if he stay in the uk.
So would separation cause him to be kicked out! Is it the same as dissolution/annulment?