Married for 5+ years outside UK
 

Hi Everyone,

I have been married to a UAE national female for almost six years. We have been informed her passport will be revoke:( within the coming months and she must take the nationality of her husband.

What is the process for applying residency/citizenship?

Many thanks.

Re: Married for 5+ years outside UK
 

Which passport do you hold? Ask you embassy?

Re: Married for 5+ years outside UK
 

Have I missed something, I though this forum was British nationals:).

As for the embassy, they don’t dealt with visa or passports issues so you will be either refer to the UK Border Agency or VFS Global.

Has anybody going through the same process? If so I will appreciate your advice on the below questions..

Whilst in London can she apply for the spousal/residency visa?
We have lived in UK, for 2 months, though we travel back for 2-3 every summer…will this go against us?

Re: Married for 5+ years outside UK
 

You still haven't answered a previous question. Which passport do YOU hold? Are you a British National or a British Citizen, that is to say were you born in Britain and are entitled to a British passport or have you gained a British passport by becoming a British Citizen - these are two completely different things and will probably impact on the process your wife may have to go through to be able to obtain residency or even a visa.

Re: Married for 5+ years outside UK
 

Doesn't it depend on HER family?

A colleague of mine in Dubai is American and married to an Emirati lady. She has retained her status and her kids have been given Emirati status too, despite what is commonly thought to happen.

Her father is important and supports the marriage. And that is why she has retained her Emirati citizenship.

Re: Married for 5+ years outside UK
 

Am British citizen (born in Australia). The process seems to be lot smoother if I was in London and she was applying for spousal visa.

Lullabelle – glad to hear your colleague is not facing the same issues. Is he an Arab national with US citizenship?

Re: Married for 5+ years outside UK
 

Rules have recently changed regards spousal visa. My understanding is that:

Your wife must apply for her spousal visa from outside UK (presumably in UAE) - she cannot do it from within UK. If she is in UK, she must travel to UAE to do this and then re-enter.
You must have a savings of £16,500 for at least 6 months before she moves to UK on her spousal visa.
You must have a job with guaranteed income of at least £18,500 in UK. Otherwise you must have additional savings of 4 x this income, or 4 x the shortfall of your income.

There is a thread on the moving back to the UK forum on this very subject.

Re: Married for 5+ years outside UK
 

... oh yes, and regardless of the number of years you have been married, you must wait a 5 year probationary period in Uk before your wife can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain.

Sounds like, if your wife's UAE passport is being revoked, you might be in trouble.

She can enter on a visitors visa, but this has it's own T&C which are ultimately quite restrictive.

Re: Married for 5+ years outside UK
 

Five years for indefinite leave to remain? That's become stricter. Used to be a year (although I know of a case where it was issued after 6 months) and you could apply for citizenship after three years residency.

Re: Married for 5+ years outside UK
 

The UK's rules regarding spousal visas are nuts, and the immigration officers are clipboard wielding nazis, but luckily there is a way around them.

If you are British, then you are entitled to live in any EU country (other than UK) as long as you are 'exercising your EU treaty rights'. This basically means working, studying or just living at your own expense (not claiming benefits).

Furthermore, your wife and direct family, regardless of nationality, are entitled to be with you. The EU country you reside in MUST issue them with residency permits free of charge and may not discriminate against you or her - effectively they must be treated same as national citizens of that country.

Now it gets fun. After more than 6 months, you can come to the UK and bring your wife in, and they MUST treat you in the same way they would treat nationals of the EU country you are in too. This means that they must not only let your wife in (no possibility for them to refuse entry), they must also issue your wife residency if you decide to stay, and they must do so FOR FREE, with none of those financial rules others have mentioned.

The case law is here:

http://webdb.lse.ac.uk/gender/Casefi...d=118&pageno=7

I have clarified this myself with the EU's Signpost lawyers, the case law is sound as is the above interpretation of it. You can google 'Surinder Singh' for more detail.

Re: Married for 5+ years outside UK
 

I believe this is called the Surinder Singh route, which I also believe may be closed off as soon as the UK govt can do it.

I'm not so sure that merely being resident in an EU country counts and that you must have some kind of employment.

Like a lot of areas in this issue it is slightly vague and also contains a certain element of heresay and not fact.

I would love to be able to spend 6 months with my non EEA wife in Portugal or Spain (cheap CoL) on an extended 6 month holiday, and then simply 'walk' into UK without the complicated rules which they have brought in this year for the spouses visa.

Somehow I think this route might be too good to be true.

Re: Married for 5+ years outside UK
 

You are correct, the previous rules were a lot simpler. The new rules are not. If I/we had gone back this June we would have been given automatic ILR based on our 10 year marriage, and could have claimed citizenship fairly quickly.

We wouldnt have had (m)any financial requirements either.

Not now. Lots of people in similar situations who are not happy.

Re: Married for 5+ years outside UK
 

Firstly, you don't have to be working, but you have to be 'exercising your EU treaty rights'. This means living in another EU country legally and 'permanently'. So if you're retired and live in Portugal, for example, that is fine, or if you are studying - but you have to do so at your own expense. It has been established that 6 months is enough to qualify as 'permanent'.

As for the UK being able to stop this, that will be difficult, because freedom of movement is enshrined in the EU treaty, and this interpretation is clearly established by the EU. The UK government cannot simply pass a new law, or change immigration rules to work around that. And even if your partner is a convicted criminal or has immigration issues in the past, this bypasses that. It puts you exactly on the same basis as a non-UK EU national bringing in family.

It isn't hearsay either - these are established legal precedents.

Check out the EU's signpost service yourself:

http://ec.europa.eu/citizensrights/f...d/index_en.htm

It may sound too good to be true, but it is true. Feel free to contact them through that site with your specific circumstances - it's free, and they really do respond to you within a week with detailed answers, unlike the lazy t**ts who work for the UK government's departments where you might be lucky to get a 'sorry, cannot help you' within 10 days. And you will see from that site dozens of cases where nation states have applied rules contrary to EU treaty requirements, and their lawyers step in to sort things out and ensure EU laws are applied.

Re: Married for 5+ years outside UK
 

Will her passport being revoked make her stateless? If so, things are likely to get quite serious - how would she have ILR if she doesn't have a passport? You should probably contact an immigration lawyer PDQ.

Re: Married for 5+ years outside UK
 

I have taken your advice and written to them asking for advice on the Surinder Singh route.

There is a whole thread on this issue on the MBTTUK forum:

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

This also addresses questions about the Surinder Singh route (which is where I got my info from regards the uncertainty of whether you have to be working or not). It's a long thread so put the kettle on before you sit down to read it. :thumbsup: