Rather nasty to have granted leave under SS and then revoke that!
They weren't. Don't confuse UK immigration rules with the EEA Regulations. EU rules end at PR and UK immigration rules end at ILR. The EU Regs and UK immigration rules, are not interchangeable.
These were never "granted leave" to be in the UK, as that is UK immigration rules and these non-EEA citizens were trying to avoid using those. These people were only in the UK on a wing and a prayer.
These non-EEA citizens chose to enter under EU rules and they now have to use the EU Regs. The EU grants their "PR" automaically if their rules are followed continiuosly for 5 years and therefore it is the EU who says they can't have the EU's "PR". Or in this case, it's the highest court in Europe who has said that these non-EEA citzens cannot abuse their Singh Ruling: which has pleased all the EEA countries as this one of the abuses they all wanted stopped. An end date on the EU's RC means nothing and their EU RC can easily become invalid.
Abuse of the Singh Ruling by third country nationals (to try to avoid the immigration rules of that EEA county) has been well known and well abused over the years and the sheer numbers doing this meant they were always on borrowed time. EEA countries were forced to grant these an RC until the ECJ looked into this abuse on their Ruling, but as said (many times in posts on here
) an EU RC can easily become invalid. An RC is nothing like a UK "visa". There aren't any EU visas.
This was just a chance taken by those who carrried out this "fraud" and the length of time it took the ECJ to look at this, paid off for some. This won't affect the genuine people who used the Singh Ruling, but it does seem rare to find these genuine people.
Those third country nationals who used this "fraud" as the EEA countries call it, would have known the European Court of Justice, who made the Singh Ruling, was looking into this abuse and also would have known how slowly the ECJ moves. Everybody who uses EU Regs also knows that changes can be made retrospectively.
Last year the ECJ finally stated that third country nationals (non-EEA citizens) cannot use their Singh Ruling to avoid the immigration rules of that country: it is an abuse of the ECJ Ruling.
Last year, quite a few then realsed that their gamble hadn't paid off and they then applied for a spouse visa to start their 5 years to ILR asap (UK immigration rules). That's how we then knew that these people had to apply from outside the UK as they were reporting to the forums that they were getting refused if they applied from inside the UK, because they had never been "granted leave" (Limited Leave to Remain) in the UK - LLR is UK immigration rules and they only entered under the EEA Regs. As said, the EEA Regs and UK immigration rules are not interchangeable.
Many now reporting they have been granted a spouse visa when they returned home to apply and that their "fraud" hadn't affected that visa being granted.
In fact the UK brought in "centre of life" to the EEA Regs a few years ago to try to stop thos fraud while they waited for the ECJ. Those who abused the Singh Ruling before that CoL came in (by going to another EEA country for a few weeks: usually Ireland: and then entering the UK to avoid UK immigration rules) know the EU allows retrospective rules and that this centre of life proof will affect them too if they were not genuine Singh users. They will also know that an RC can become invalid.
It was also well know on the forums in recent years, that those who wanted to use Singh for this "fraud" should not use Ireland anymore as they were delaying applications to help the UK, ready for when the ECJ finally replied to all the EEA countries on the Singh abuse. This delay meant that many of these third country nationals, who then finally got into the UK on a 6 month EU FP, could not have an RC and they had to leave.
Singh was also a favourite route back to an EEA country for third country national criminals, that that country had just deported straight from jail and banned.
Even the ECJ Metock Ruling in 2008 that then allowed third country nationals to enter the EEA and be family members too, is meant to be changed by the EU at some point. This also was never agreed to by the EU or the EEA countries and every EEA country wants this stopped. The EU moves slowly too.
In fact one EU council had to take another EU council to the European Court of Justice years ago, because they were slow and obstructive and the ECJ have only just ruled on that!
