EEA Family and Surinder Singh

Hi there!

I am a British citizen. My long-term boyfriend is from the USA. We are looking at moving permanently to the UK in the coming years. We are contemplating whether to move under the fiance visa process, or the Surinder Singh route, and are researching both at the mo.

We are pretty clear on the fiance visa stipulations, but have a few questions regarding the Surinder Singh route. What we know about the Surinder Singh route already -

* We have to be married or in a civil partnership
* The British citizen half of the couple (me) must exercise their EEA treaty rights, by moving to and working for a minimum of six months in another EEA country.
* The non-EEA spouse must accompany the British person (me) during this six month period.
* This marriage or civil partnership must exist *before* we move to an EEA country to exercise my treaty rights
* We can apply for an EEA Family Permit as an *unmarried* couple, but must prove we are in a "durable relationship", by providing a record of our living together for at least two years as if in a marriage

That's what we know. Now for our questions -

1) Are the EEA Family Permit process and Surinder Singh process the same thing? How do they differ? How are they the same? (From what we can ascertain, the EEA Family Permit route is a process for *non*-UK folks and their family members only. Surinder Singh is the exact same process, but for **UK citizens** and their family members...is this correct?)

2) Timeline stuff! We have read that unmarried couples can apply under Surinder Singh, so long as they can demonstrate a "durable" established relationship akin to marriage, including living together for at least two years. However, if we were *married* and applying, would we *still* need to demonstrate a two-year previous commitment? We have been together for just over a year only at this point, and are weighing up whether we should get married or not before applying.

3) What is the cost of Surinder Singh? We believe the process to be free. Can anyone confirm this?

Many thanks for any help anybody out there can offer! It's much appreciated!

* We have to be married or in a civil partnership
* The British citizen half of the couple (me) must exercise their EEA treaty rights, by moving to and working for a minimum of six months in another EEA country.
* The non-EEA spouse must accompany the British person (me) during this six month period.
* This marriage or civil partnership must exist *before* we move to an EEA country to exercise my treaty rights
* We can apply for an EEA Family Permit as an *unmarried* couple, but must prove we are in a "durable relationship", by providing a record of our living together for at least two years as if in a marriage

Bear in mind that if you do decide to move to another EEA country for at least 6 months, you will need to research what visa requirements that country has for you to move - the UK has the EEA family permit, but other EEA countries will have different residency cards for EEA family members.

1) Are the EEA Family Permit process and Surinder Singh process the same thing? How do they differ? How are they the same? (From what we can ascertain, the EEA Family Permit route is a process for *non*-UK folks and their family members only. Surinder Singh is the exact same process, but for **UK citizens** and their family members...is this correct?)

Surinder Singh isn't a visa, it's a way in which you can qualify for an EEA family permit if you are married to a UK citizen who is living and working in another EEA country (it is the outcome of a court case regarding an immigration appeal made by a man named Surinder Singh, who argued that he had the right to settle in the UK under the EEA route because he and his wife had lived in Germany before moving to the UK: http://webdb.lse.ac.uk/gender/Casefinaldetail.asp?id=118&pageno=7)

So, what you do is apply for an EEA family permit, proving you and your partner have lived and worked in another EEA country, and the application will be considered under the Surinder Singh ruling.

2) Timeline stuff! We have read that unmarried couples can apply under Surinder Singh, so long as they can demonstrate a "durable" established relationship akin to marriage, including living together for at least two years. However, if we were *married* and applying, would we *still* need to demonstrate a two-year previous commitment? We have been together for just over a year only at this point, and are weighing up whether we should get married or not before applying.

No, it's one or the other - if you are married, then all you need for the permit is your marriage certificate.

The unmarried couples qualification is generally intended for people who don't believe in marriage but have been living together in a relationship akin to marriage... the idea being that they shouldn't be discriminating against people who don't wish to marry if they are in a committed relationship by insisting that all couples be married... the 'committed relationship' part is proven by showing you have lived together for at least 2 years.

3) What is the cost of Surinder Singh? We believe the process to be free. Can anyone confirm this?

The EEA family permit is free and that is what you apply for.

Is the 6 month thing set in stone too, I can never seem to find anything that says 6 months, although that's the recommended time?

I don't think it's necessarily set in stone, but the principle is that the UK citizen has to be exercising their treaty rights more than transiently, and it's likely that anything less than six months could be considered transient and therefore wouldn't count.

I don't think it's necessarily set in stone, but the principle is that the UK citizen has to be exercising their treaty rights more than transiently, and it's likely that anything less than six months could be considered transient and therefore wouldn't count.

I see, as good an explanation of any I heard.  Thanks.