Maintaining EU Scheme Pre-Settlement Residence Card

My wife (US Citizen) and I moved from the USA back to Northern Ireland where I am from in 2018, My wife now currently has an EU Scheme Pre-Settlement Residence Card (work permitted/ leave to remain) that was issued in the UK April 2021. We have been back in the USA since March 2022 and plan to return to Northern Ireland in the Summer/Autumn of 2024. As I understand it my wife will need to return to either the UK or Ireland before she has been gone for a total of two consecutive years to maintain her residency, she is planning on returning next year February 2024 for a week/ 10 days. The question that I need help with is should she enter back in through a UK Airport (port of entry) or if she enters through Dublin Airport will it suffice and will there be a record that she entered back in?

My wife (US Citizen) and I moved from the USA back to Northern Ireland where I am from in 2018, My wife now currently has an EU Scheme Pre-Settlement Residence Card (work permitted/ leave to remain) that was issued in the UK April 2021. We have been back in the USA since March 2022 and plan to return to Northern Ireland in the Summer/Autumn of 2024. As I understand it my wife will need to return to either the UK or Ireland before she has been gone for a total of two consecutive years to maintain her residency, she is planning on returning next year February 2024 for a week/ 10 days. The question that I need help with is should she enter back in through a UK Airport (port of entry) or if she enters through Dublin Airport will it suffice and will there be a record that she entered back in?

Welcome to the forum. 

I don't know anything about the rules for EU partners, I had a quick look and am none the wiser.  Can you please link to the source of the  information where you found a short visit before 2 years is up is enough to maintain residency?

I was hoping @Sirius would pop in as she knows a lot about the EU rules. If she doesn't, I'd try on immigration boards, they will be able to  help.

Please keep us posted.

My wife (US Citizen) and I moved from the USA back to Northern Ireland where I am from in 2018, My wife now currently has an EU Scheme Pre-Settlement Residence Card (work permitted/ leave to remain) that was issued in the UK April 2021. We have been back in the USA since March 2022 and plan to return to Northern Ireland in the Summer/Autumn of 2024. As I understand it my wife will need to return to either the UK or Ireland before she has been gone for a total of two consecutive years to maintain her residency, she is planning on returning next year February 2024 for a week/ 10 days

The UK’s EU Pre-Settled Status is Limited Leave to Remain.

If you were hoping for your wife to obtain the UK's EU Settled Status when you return next year, those 2 years abroad allowed for those on Pre-Settled Status does not let the applicant meet the requirements for Settled Status.

To be able to apply for Settled Status, it’s only 6 months in any 12 months, to be able to meet the “continuous residence” requirements to apply for Settled Status.


"How your continuous residence is worked out

Five years’ continuous residence means that for 5 years in a row you’ve been in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for at least 6 months in any 12-month period."
https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families/what-settled-and-presettled-status-means

"The 5 years is counted from the day you started your continuous residence, not the day you were granted pre-settled status.

You may not be eligible for settled status if during the 5 years you spent more than 6 months outside the UK in a 12-month period."
https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families/switch-from-presettled-status-to-settled-status

She might get the new 2 years added on to her Pre-Settled Status,  because the EU said those who used their rules to live in the UK are low skilled and won't remember to renew their visa and could become overstayers.

During that time/2 years extra time, Pre-Settled may remain valid. Those who can qualify for Settled Status can apply for Settled Status. Those who can't make the requirements for Settled Status of 5 years of continuous residence, can look for another visa to be able to continue to live in the UK.

The question that I need help with is should she enter back in through a UK Airport (port of entry) or if she enters through Dublin Airport will it suffice and will there be a record that she entered back in?

As the UK left the EU, it will be up to the Republic of Ireland if they let her in at Dublin. The UK's EU Settlement Schemes means nothing to the Republic of Ireland just as the EU's Free Movement/EU Residence Cards/EU PR, meant nothing to the UK from 1 January 2021.

I appreciate the feedback. As there hasn't been a physical border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland for some time, it's challenging to prove entry into the UK via this route, as my wife needs to do in this case. If a friend or family member picks you up from Dublin Airport and drives you to Belfast, there won't be a record of crossing into Northern Ireland/ the UK. A bus ticket would serve as proof for a bus journey. The only other option I was thinking about was to schedule an appointment at a UK government office in Northern Ireland while there. The Immigration Solicitor who assisted us in obtaining my wife's residency advised that she return within the two-year period to maintain its validity after seeking guidance on this matter, he also informed us that, in the worst-case scenario, we might need to reapply entirely when it comes to the long term as we do plan on settling in Northern Ireland which we had originally planned on doing but had to return to the USA for family reasons.

There seems to be at least two people on https://www.immigrationboards.com/eea-route-applications/ who have read all the Withrawal Agreement, for those EEA citizens who lived in the UK before 2300 on 31 December 2020. I was losing the will to live when I started to read it.

I think you might be better off explaining your plans on that forum and let them help you?

There seems to be at least two people on https://www.immigrationboards.com/eea-route-applications/ who have read all the Withrawal Agreement, for those EEA citizens who lived in the UK before 2300 on 31 December 2020. I was losing the will to live when I started to read it.

I think you might be better off explaining your plans on that forum and let them help you?

For future reference, that site has said the same as I thought.

Here is the link if anybody needs it in future
https://www.immigrationboards.com/eea-route-applications/maintaining-eu-scheme-pre-settlement-residence-card-t341426.html