Wife of EU member - settlement? Work visa?

Hi,

I am a little confused after reading some of the British visa sites. What exactly does "settlement" mean? Is that the equivalent of the green card/permanent resident? From what I read, as the wife of an EU national (Ireland), I am able to work in the UK without a work permit, though if I stay more than 6 months I will need to enter with a family permit which is free and basically lets them know I am staying for more than 6 months. However, I read somewhere else, that one must apply for a visa for $520 if one wishes to "settle" in the UK - wasn't sure if this was contridictory information or if settlement implies that one wants to stay permanently in the UK...ie. on the road towards british citizenship (which is not my case).

My husband (who is Irish), and I plan to move to London after Christmas. We are not sure how long we'll stay but both of us plan to work - I'm a nurse (currently applying for nursing registration over in the UK) and he's in construction. I know he doesn't have to worry about any visas since he is part of the EU. Any clarification appreciated!

Thanks

Your husband will have to apply for a residence permit, which confirms he has the right to live and work in the UK cause of the EU status. He doesn't need it, but you do as his family member, because that's what you'll be basing your application on. The permit is valid for 5 years. You then apply for an EEA permit which ideally you should get before you enter the UK to save you a ton of hassle. You will get the same 5 years.

Bascially do a google for EEA family permit (UK) and you should find the info you need. It's pretty straightforward.

We have a similar situation. I am a German citizen and thus do not need any papers but my husband is a US citizen. Since he is transferring with his company, he could get them to issue a work visa sponsored by his company. However, to allow him to be independent of his employer and we don't know how long we'll be there, we decided to go with the "non-settlement" "family permit. This permit is good for 6 months and lets him live & work there. After the 6 months we have to decide if we want to apply for the "settlement" permit or residence.

I did not apply for a residence permit since we did not use the 5 year "settlement" permit.

I don't think that you can work there as a non EU national without at the least the family permit.

It took the British consulate only 5 days to issue the family permit!

I'm on the same boat, but with a strange dilema

We apply for "settlement" visa for my wife (I'm EEU and she is USA) .. the consulte in NY at the last minute gave us a "non-settlement" visa saying they cant give a settlement visa to a EEU's national wife .. we had to apply over here .. and that was it

She is now in the UK with a 6 mo visa. were do we need to go now to apply for settlement ? any ideas ?

Call the home office. Since she is here legally, you have the 6 months to get your residence permit and then apply for her family permit. Once that is done she's good for 5 years.

what's the "home office" ?

LOL - Visions of us aliens phoning home ala ET.

http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/content/ind/en/home.html

This page gives you the contact info. You will spend some time on hold or trying to get past a busy signal but you can get to speak to a human.

http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind/en/home/contact_us/immigration_enquiries.html