Non-EEA with EU spouse visa enquiry

nanasu5

Hi everyone,

Sorry if this question has already been asked. My husband is a Chinese national and I am a UK citizen. This summer I will be going to Ireland for one year (perhaps longer) to study my postgraduate degree, and my husband will be accompanying me but not studying.

My husband intends to live in Ireland with me for at least one year, and plans to apply for a Residence Card once we are in Ireland which will allow him to look for a job etc.

I am confused about which visa he should apply for.

Should he apply for a 90 day C visa, and apply for the residence card after arrival in Dublin, or should he apply for a long-term D visa?

On the online visa application form, if you select "C visa" you are required to enter a proposed leaving date. Must this leaving date be within 90 days of the arrival date, or could it be after one year?

I called the visa help desk in Beijing yesterday but they were very unhelpful.

Final question: I'm assuming a 90 day visa begins on entry to Ireland, not from the date of issue, is this correct?

I'd be so grateful to anyone who can clear this all up for me!

biketard

You have the right to travel to any country in the EEA with your non-EEA spouse (apart from your own country, ironically). It's called exercising your treaty rights. After you've established residency in Ireland, you will actually be able to use this right to move to the UK as a European rather than a Brit. I'll get you some more info in a moment.

biketard

Hopefully this can help you out:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/162770836/Surinder-Singh-for-Newbies

The only thing I'm not sure about is you being a student. You'd need to check up on that.

EDIT: OK, according to http://crossborderlegal.co.uk/content/eu-family-route-what-is-surinder-singh-route/

Rights As an EU/EEA national

By virtue of EU Law (EC Directive 2004/38/EC, which is incorporated into UK Law by the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006), an EEA National has the right of entry to another EU member state. This includes the initial right of residence of up to three months, during which there are no conditions. There is a further right to stay in any EU country provided someone is exercising his or her Treaty Rights.

A EU National is said to be exercising Treaty Rights when he enters another country and is either

Working
A job seeker
Self sufficient
A student,
Is self employed.

A person exercising Treaty Rights is referred to as a qualified person.

Although not compulsory, someone exercising Treaty Rights is entitled to a family permit confirming this and automatically gains Permanent Residence if he has been exercising Treaty Rights for 5 years in that country.

Other good info at that link, btw.

nanasu5

Thanks a lot, those links were very helpful. I'll do a bit more research into whether my being a student will make any difference to the process - if anybody reading this could offer any info I'd be grateful. Still not sure about the C or D visa, but it's looking like D is the more appropriate option...

Also, the example covering letter for the visa application says there's no legal requirement to include supporting documents like proof of finances, letters from employers etc. Is this really true, does anyone know? It'd save so much hassle to not have to get those papers together, but not sure if I want to risk turning up in Beijing to submit the application and being asked for a load of paperwork I don't have.

antgal23

Hi,

I just finished the online application . I am an UK citizen bringing my non EU wife to Ireland.

My circumstance are different as we intend to live there.

I applied ( for my wife) online for a Short Stay Single Entry C Visa and left the Return part empty. When it asks Reason for Application it gives you lots of options - I chose Family - Non EU Spouse.

I am not sure what docs they need as you are going to study but they wanted proof that my wife is dependent financially and that we live together.

If you want, I can send a list of the docs I will use and why

Anthony

nanasu5

Thank you Anthony. I just checked the AVATS online application form and it says "For a short stay (C) visa you must enter the date which you propose to leave Ireland". Did the form you filled not say that? Where did you find out exactly which documents you need to submit? I haven't been able to find a clear list anywhere. If you don't mind telling me which docs you're going to use, that would be great

antgal23

nanasu5 wrote: »

Thank you Anthony. I just checked the AVATS online application form and it says "For a short stay (C) visa you must enter the date which you propose to leave Ireland". Did the form you filled not say that? Where did you find out exactly which documents you need to submit? I haven't been able to find a clear list anywhere. If you don't mind telling me which docs you're going to use, that would be great

I used the dfa and inis visa section (on one of those you will see a set of g/lines the deciding officers use)

There is no list as such - only conditions you need to prove - these are in the links above - but I will explain below breifly

I will submit

1/ Translated and notarised letter from landlord showing we have been living together
2/ Past photos showing relationship
3/ History of emails
4/ Translated and apostilled police record for me and wife (this shows present address)
5/ Health insurance
6/ Our passports and apostilled marriage cert
7/ Hotel booking
8/ One way flight booking
9/ My work contract
10/ Spouse's work contract
11/ My bank statement showing turnover
12/ Wife's bank statement showing turnover
13/ Translated and notarised wriiten statement that my wife will travel with me and that she is dependent on me
14/ Translated and notarised written statement that I as UK citizen wish to exercise my EU tReaty rights and have my wife accompany me under under Directive 2004/38/EC as I wish to establish residency in Ireland
15/ one way flight booking

Whilst my wife hasnt worked in 2 years I still included a letter from her bank stating that she did work there and her salary amount. My salary over the same period shows I earned more and we hope this shows $ dependence

You need to have a ban k statement and a hotel booking upon arrival - I imagine this proves you wont go to the nearest dole office and ask for money.

Re: Avvats
There seems to be an anomaly with the system.

If it asks applicants to buy a 1 way ticket why does the system require a return date?

I didnt enter a return date as my flight is for 1 way and it seems fine (but this may change when I close the application and print it off)

What the notes will say on the sites is that eventhough you enter short stay c visa, you need to state on the printed application that you wish your application to be considered under the EU Directive 2004/38/EC

If anything else comes up we should let each other know

nanasu5

Thanks a lot for typing that list up! When my husband applied for a UK family visit visa last year we decided to just include every possible document we could think of that might help, and that did the trick. So I guess it's the same principle for Ireland.

Incidentally, I contacted the visa help desk in Beijing again and they said we should apply for a D visa. Which threw me a bit as it seems most other people in the same situation apply for a C. Maybe if I'm submitting the letter from my uni saying I'm going to study for a year and my husband is going to accompany me, it makes more sense that he applies for a long-term visa. Thoughts?

Anyway, we plan to begin the online application in a few weeks (so, three months before we intend to travel). Anthony I'll definitely keep you posted on anything that comes up that might affect you too.

antgal23

nanasu5 wrote: »

Thanks a lot for typing that list up! When my husband applied for a UK family visit visa last year we decided to just include every possible document we could think of that might help, and that did the trick. So I guess it's the same principle for Ireland.

Incidentally, I contacted the visa help desk in Beijing again and they said we should apply for a D visa. Which threw me a bit as it seems most other people in the same situation apply for a C. Maybe if I'm submitting the letter from my uni saying I'm going to study for a year and my husband is going to accompany me, it makes more sense that he applies for a long-term visa. Thoughts?

Anyway, we plan to begin the online application in a few weeks (so, three months before we intend to travel). Anthony I'll definitely keep you posted on anything that comes up that might affect you too.

A D visa would make sense as you are doing a 1 year course, so you are applying for the full duration of the course.

in my case we apply for a C Short stay as according to EU treaty law we have an initial 3 month trial period before my wife applies for a new visa ( in Ireland) Her new visa is dependent on me getting a job, flat etc

nanasu5

Yeah that makes sense. Thanks! Best of luck with your wife's application, hope everything goes smoothly

nanasu5

Hello, Anthony - if you see this message I wanted to ask how it went with your wife's visa application? I hope it was successful. Everything is coming together for my husband's application, slowly. You said you included a statement to certify that you're an EU citizen who will be exercising free movement rights etc etc - can I ask who wrote this for you? A friend advised me to just write a similar statement myself and get it notarised, but not sure if this is enough? Finally, did you both get private health insurance before you applied for the visa? Was it through an Irish provider? I can't seem to find out exact details about insurance requirements - actually I stared a new post yesterday to enquire about that.

Black Swan

MOD: This discussion really belongs in a travel forum, but we will leave it just to be helpful.

antgal23

nanasu5 wrote: »

Hello, Anthony - if you see this message I wanted to ask how it went with your wife's visa application? I hope it was successful. Everything is coming together for my husband's application, slowly. You said you included a statement to certify that you're an EU citizen who will be exercising free movement rights etc etc - can I ask who wrote this for you? A friend advised me to just write a similar statement myself and get it notarised, but not sure if this is enough? Finally, did you both get private health insurance before you applied for the visa? Was it through an Irish provider? I can't seem to find out exact details about insurance requirements - actually I stared a new post yesterday to enquire about that.

Apologies to the MOD if this needs to be moved

Hiya doing Nanasu5

Awaiting visa decision - should be this or next week

Yes, you are right - write a statement explaining who you are and why you are applying and under Directive etc etc. Get it notarized and include it. I think we both got one done

I didn't get HI for myself buy did for my wife, she got it here in her own country. Never thought about HI for myself.

Good luck with e/thing!

Anthony

nanasu5

Great, I think I finally understand everything! Thank you!! Good luck to you too.

And thanks to the MOD too.

antgal23

nanasu5 wrote: »

Great, I think I finally understand everything! Thank you!! Good luck to you too.

And thanks to the MOD too.

Hi

my wife got her visa - it turns out they emailed her the decision last Friday - 28 days after receiving the application.

we are obviously very happy

Good luck!

hkjohn

Good to find this thread and thanks for all your suggestions above.

My wife, a Filipina, and me (a UK national) moved to Ireland from HK about 18 months ago and she eventually got a card (a D card, I think) granting her the right to stay for five-years.

Unfortunately, the stay the Justice/Immigration Dept in Ireland granted her does not seem to be an "EEA" type visa which would allow her free access to all of the Shenzhen states (she already has a five-year visa to the UK from Hong Kong).

Whilst have now written to the Justice/Immigration Dept at the eutreatyrights@justice.ie address we used when applying for her initial stay twice in the last two weeks they never seem to acknowledge receipt never mind reply to queries.

Does anyone know what I can do as having to apply for a new visa each time we travel to Europe is a real pain?

Thanks in advance for your help and advise