New successful case and testimonial for a UK Spouse visa, entry clearance from the USA, for a husband of a dual British/Irish citizen.

By 1st 4Immigration - #1 UK Immigration Experts -
“I just wanted to thank 1st4immigration Ltd for doing such a GREAT job! Before contacting your office concerning my request for settlement, my wife and I were sent from one immigration office to another by Home Office, with each appointment being with the wrong forms and the wrong office. Not only was it frustrating, it was expensive due to transportation costs and Home Office appointment fees. Thank you for understanding exactly what would be needed and how very complicated immigration has become. Your office understood the law and the amount of information that would be needed for a successful application. Outstanding job!!! We are grateful for your expertise and all you've done to assure our settlement together here in the United Kingdom. Absolutely outstanding!!!!"    
                                                        
This came from Daniel and Sandra who are now residing in the West Midlands in the UK. Daniel is an American citizen and his wife, Sandra, is a dual UK/Irish citizen. When Daniel was visiting the UK in the beginning of 2015, the couple tried to apply for a Spouse visa on same-day service in Birmingham. It did not work because the Immigration Rules do not allow switching from a visitor to a Spouse visa inside the UK.
 
 
The staff at the Home Office in Birmingham suggested Daniel and Sandra to apply under the European law instead, based on Sandra’s Irish citizenship, by post to the EEA applications department. Sandra was asked whether she was exercising treaty rights in the UK, which was indeed a relevant term but it wouldn’t be easy to answer for a person unfamiliar with EEA law terminology. Yet normally, such a switch would have worked (from a visitor stamp to a Residence Card as a spouse of an EEA citizen).
 
This is when Daniel and Sandra came to us. In addition to the above, we explained that Daniel could not apply under the European law because Sandra was both British and Irish (not just Irish). This is because of the change in the EEA Regulations in July 2012. Before that dual UK/EU citizens could pick and choose which passport to use for visa applications, thus many benefiting from applying under the EEA Regulations (rather than under the UK law), given the choice. And who can blame them? There is no Financial Requirement under the EU law, no English language tests and more recently, no Immigration Health Surcharge (known now as NHS surcharge). Plus very low government fees, currently £65 compared to £649-£1,049 under the UK law.
 
From 16 July 2012 dual UK/EU nationals, including dual UK/Irish, have to applied based on the Sponsor’s British nationality, thus forcing people to apply under the UK law. The only exception is a Surinder Singh route, which requires  a British citizen to work or be self-employed in another EU member state (can be Ireland) then for the couple to return to the UK and apply under the EEA law.
 
In Daniel's case we applied under the UK law. The next step for Daniel will be to renew a visa after 2.5 years and then to apply for permanent residency after 5 years. Both steps can be done using same-day service, such as the one we use in Croydon.
 
 
 
If you find it difficult to qualify for a Spouse / Partner visa because of the Financial Requirement, you may find this article useful (plus a few similar ones on our blog): http://1st4immigration-visas.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/solution-for-margaret-on-how-to-secure.html   and this one of who is exempt from the £18,600 threshold: http://1st4immigration-visas.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/who-is-exempt-from-financial.html 
 
 
 
For an individual advice or to make your application as successful please contact us: info@1st4immigration.com or visit www.1st4immigration.com 
 
 
 
If you are an Immigration Adviser or a Solicitor please visit our immigration Training and CPD website: www.1st4immigration.com/training We have OISC Level 1 course (online and classroom) as well as a Spouse Visa – Case Studies & FAQs course, all CPD-accredited.

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