Foffion

Hi,
I have dual nationality: British and Italian. If I intend
to do the Surinder Singh route, can my husband
and I move to Italy for 6 months or so or is
it not valid(in order to get an EEA permit for my husband for the UK) because I am an Italian Citizen?
Thanks a lot.
Vivien

englishguygoinghome

It's highly unclear. On the one hand there is a clear ruling (McCarthy) that, if you had only ever lived in the UK, you cannot use your daul-nationality to claim EU status. After living in Italy this clearly would not apply to you.

On the other hand the basis of Singh is that you must have exercised treaty rights beforehand (recent judgements and opinions form the EU court seem to extend this to all such freedoms, e.g. movement, provision of services, etc). When living in Italy as an Italian this also would not apply to you.

In your case the question is whether you fall under Singh (and are therefore not elligible) or whether your EU-citizenship takes precendence and you fall under the rules for any Italian coming from Italy (and are therefore not excluded under McCarthy).

My guess is that you'd be rolling the dice. If you are lucky the UK will let you in, if you are unlucky they won't. To challenge any decision and get a clear legal statement in this case could take years of appeals.

Your easiest option is still to get him Italian citizenship given that he'll be giving up his Japanese later anyway in order to get British.
Second to that I'd go to a different EU country and play it safe.

BritInParis

Regarding his Japanese citizenship - although the loss will be automatic de jure, practically speaking providing his Japanese passport is renewed as necessary and he only ever enters and exits Japan on his Japanese passport then it's unlikely the Japanese authorities will ever discover his acquisition of Italian citizenship and he will effectively remain a de facto Japanese citizen.

Foffion

Hi englishguygoinghome,
it looks like I am not the englishwomangoinghome.
I am in the UK now (on holiday) and I feel so bad thinking that I have to leave the country in 2 weeks.
Anyway, you remember everything about me, you have good memory.
I went to a solicitor and it was a bloody waste of money (£300 for an hour), he didn't give me the proper answers to my questions, when I explained what I have learned by reading on the internet for days on end he later checked and I was right on everything. He didn't even know about the McCarthy case.
I have changed my mind and I don't want to give up my British Nationality. I read (also here) some cases of people with dual nationality (British and bla bla) that got the EEA permit for their spouse because they (the British National) lived ALONE in another European country before getting married. I guess I will apply for an EEA permit for my (lovely) husband, pretty sure they will reject my application but... who knows. At least I have to try.
I feel so depressed.
Probably many people can't go back home and are in a worse situation than mine (we don't have children).
I am not going to waste another £300 for the solicitor, google knows more than him.
Just wonder how the other Brits here who can't go home cope with this situation.
Any advice on how to emotionally cope would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Vivien

Foffion

Britinparis, my husband is Japanese, he would NEVER do something like that. Japanese people don't do these things. He doesn't even want to park for 5 minutes in the (big) convenience store parking unless he buys at least a coffee.
Also... honestly, I think it's too risky. Maybe Italy will check with Japan before giving him the Italian Nationality.
Vivien

BritInParis

I know how law abiding the Japanese can be It's entirely up to your husband.

Actually I was incorrect when I stated that the loss would be immediate and automatic. Your husband would actually have two years after acquiring Italian citizenship to choose whether to keep his Japanese citizenship or not.

http://www.moj.go.jp/ENGLISH/information/tcon-01.html

As such taking out Italian citizenship might be a good idea so you can both leave Japan together sooner rather than later and he'll then have two years to think it over by which time the financial requirements for spouse visas might have been eased and/or you would be able to find a job in the UK that pays enough to sponsor him anyway.

Foffion

Britinparis that's great news. I will tell him
to look into this matter. Thank you very very much.

clarep2606

Hi,
Please help!
I am a British born citizen married to a Colombian guy, we met in Spain where we lived for 5 years and had 2 children. My husband was working in Spain and I was at home with the children and working on a casual basis as an english teacher.
In May 2012 we moved to the U.K using a spouse visa, my husband has been working since a few months after movng here and I have also worked most of the time. As his Spouse visa is about to expire we must apply for ILR or a residence card.
I am currently in the process of completing the application EEA2 for a residence card, however I am totally confused with regards o the Surinder Singh judgement, is this us or not?? must I complete all sections or tick the box and go to section 10?

Any guidance is appreciated )
Clare

englishguygoinghome

Did you come in on an EEA permit or a spouse visa in 2012?

clarep2606

Hi, thanks for the response. We came on the Spouse Visa...

chaoclive

Then I guess you cannot use Surinder Singh. You will have to apply through the UK Immigration Laws. Apparently, you can't mix and match

rebeccajo

They are also "old rules" because they entered in May 2012.

In this case, ILR is a far better choice than an EU residence card.

clarep2606

Hi. He has had a family permit twice before for visiting purposes? ?

Would prefer not to take ILR route and pay so much and then pay again for citizenship too??

Its confusing!

englishguygoinghome

It almost certainly makes no sense in your case to move to the EEA route (which is what you'd be doing by fiolling in the EEA2 form and trying to prove Singh).

As your spouse visa is dated before the rule change you are still covered under the old rules and have none of the issues with the new financial requirement.

In order to get ILR (see rule 287 here for all the details: https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...t_8_MASTER.pdf)
- Your spouse will need to pass an english language test and the Knowledge of Life test
- You will need to have both been in the UK for 2 years
- You need to fulfil "adequate maintenance") which basicly means not living off benefits

In another year you should apply for citizenship

clarep2606

Hello,
Why do you not advise the Residence card? I understand ILR is better but I feel its alot of cash to pay £2000 in total for this and then next year Citizenship?

Thank you for your advice