UK via EU

I am UK citizen living overseas for the past 35 years, Dubai to be precise, and about to retire. What would be the process, if at all it is possible, for me to take up residency in a EU country as a way to legally have my Filipino wife join me there initially and ultimately in England.

first off--select a EU country and check out its rules for immigration.

I think @Markham is definitely the chap who can give you a few pointers there.

https://www.gov.uk/family-permit/surinder-singh

The European Freedom of Movement Directive 2004/38/EC is the one which you will wish to be aware of.
It applies to those people who have chosen to settle in another member state of the EU other than their nationality.
If you are living in the member state of your nationality, then existing national legislation applies.

If you have exercised your right of free movement and moved to another EU member state, you have the right to have your direct family members join you, irrespective of their nationality, assuming you meet the criteria - usually this means being able to prove that you will not become a burden on the state.

By moving to another member state, this means that you will need to be fiscally resident in that member state before the Directive applies to you. You cannot both turn up on a national border, expecting both to be let in if neither of you are legally resident in that country.

Getting residential status as an EU citizen is a relatively simple process and costs (in Spain) around ten euros. You will need to fill in a form, prove where you are living, show that you have sufficient resources for yourself (around 5500 euros) and have contracted Private medical insurance (if you are going along this self-sufficient route.) The only other options involve being employed or self-employed.

In short, you have the right to come and rent somewhere, go through the rigmarole of getting residency and then you may rely on the Directive.

Your wife will be given a 90-day short-term single-entry visa which will be issued free of charge and issued with minimum delays. All she will need to show is that you are married by showing the wedding certificate, both passports (a notarised copy will suffice) and a letter confirming that she will join or accompany you. No other documentation may be required. The visa will be granted, assuming your wife is not carrying a communicable disease or is a known and active terrorist - a threat to public health or national security. All documents submitted must be translated from Tagalog into Spanish, but English documents will be acceptable.

I would recommend that you employ the services of an immigration lawyer because unfortunately, if you choose Spain, they tend to get it wrapped round their heads.

In short, you could do this by you moving to Spain, and your wife could join you maybe as little as six weeks later.

You should then concentrate on immersing yourself in Spanish life. Learn the lingo. Sign up for classes. Keep every piece of paper relevant to any of this because when you attempt to move to the UK, you will need to show that you made Spain your 'centre of life' and not simply had a very long holiday. Six months is the absolute minimum time that you will both need to remain in Spain.

This is known as the Surinder Singh route. Many couples have used this to hop across Europe into the UK, circumventing the UK immigration laws. Clearly miffed, the UK have begun to scrutinise every application to make sure that this circumvention wasn't the original plan, hence the requirement for you to have made Spain (or wherever) your 'centre of life'.

***All of the above is how things SHOULD work. In reality, it can get a little complicated and confrontational. I would encourage you to check carefully before you take any step in this direction. I made a lot of mistakes and learned from them. I will gladly pass on information on which way you should do things. The first piece of advice is to employ an immigration lawyer from the outset.

You should download these two pdf files and study the requirements of getting a non-eu family member into the EU

David, As a British Passport holder, you are entitled to move to, reside and work in any EU member country completely visa-less. Provided that EU country is NOT the UK, your wife can, in most cases, travel with you and she can also reside and work. She will require a "Family Reunification Visa" which is issued free of cost.

You are, I think, of pensionable age and may be entitled to a State Pension from the UK. If you haven't done so, you should claim it and ask the Pensions Service to provide you a Form S for yourself and one for your wife. This will provide you with the same level of health provision as a citizen of the country you will live in and removes the necessity to obtain private health insurance cover which would otherwise be demanded.

Chris has given you some pointers for Spain. As far as Malta is concerned (hotter than Davao last summer and just as English-speaking), everything is fairly straight forward. You do not need lawyers or visa specialists.

Malta is a favourite for the Surinder Singh route and there are approximately 25-50 couples here at any one time. But you have to allow for up to a year - the Embassy is clamping-down on early applications - as you need to establish bank accounts, tax records, employment history etc., etc. However, please be warned that unless you are economically-active - by which I mean have a job or are self-employed and can show income - you will NOT qualify for a Family Permit for the UK. However visitor visas are easier to obtain than from Phils - or so I'm informed.

Of course you may find that owing to Britain's stance on the EU right now, that a Brit residing in another EU country might not be hugely welcome.

There's a common set of rules covering most of the EU known as the Schengen Treaty - which the UK is not part of, incidentally - so it doesn't matter which country David chooses, the procedures are (almost) identical.

If you wish to draw attention to geopolitical events, could you please do so in the relevant forum. This forum is intended to provide help and information about visas.

In Spain.

Just on the point that if retired one may be eligible for an S1 form which confirms one's right to health cover. (It means UK pays around £3,000 p.a. to Spain for each person, for that ‘free’ cover).

In our case although I had an S1 for my wife, she still had to have private health cover until she was granted Residencia.

On the amount income required. A UK state retirement pension is sufficient And be aware that if you have an OAP then if you have a dependant wife/husband you will get around £60 p.w. extra, albeit that they are under interment age. Every little helps.

And be aware that if you have an OAP then if you have a dependant wife/husband you will get around £60 p.w. extra, albeit that they are under interment age. Every little helps.


wont that effect the " no public funds " rule if the wife is on the 5 year route ?

Not any longer. I asked DWP about this last year and they told me that the additional payment is no longer made to new pension claimants.

Erm ... no because there is no such thing as "the five year route" for living in the Schengen area.

So if my wife and I went to live in say, Ireland, I would not be able to include her in my state pension claim (either there or in the UK) ?

It has never entered my head to claim her as a dependent... ANYWHERE... as I had assumed, no doubt rightly, that I'd get laughed out of their office.

i see--but i was referring to uk settlement visas. i went off topic--sorry.

Markham,

Thanks for that info re " And be aware that if you have an OAP then if you have a defendant wife/husband you will get around £60 p.w. extra, albeit that they are under interment age".

I had not realised it had been abandoned after we qualified as we of course still get it.

Thanks Glen, will check that out.

Some great info, thanks Chris.

Thanks for that Markham, much appreciated.
When you say economically-active, how would I achieve that? I have no plans to set up a business or be employed. I will be financing my stay with my savings and returns from my investments. I do also receive the UK OAP for what it is worth. Having said that I feel I'm pretty lucky to receive anything as I have been out of UK, non-domiciled for the past 35 years.