National Insurance Number

With respect to employment, if I secure employment within the next 90-days, but my spouse has not, would we be best to begin filing paperwork for self-sufficiency?  We are both looking; I realize everything hinges on my spouse's status, but I want to understand different employment scenarios and how best to deal with them.

To clarify, does my spouse (the one with the EU passport) need to file this application within the 90-day period?

No. He has an automatic right to be in another EEA country for 90 days and after that he must be a qualified person to be lawfully in that country. If he does that then he has an automatic right to be in the UK under the EEA regs.

As the RC link I gave shows

Who should currently apply

You don’t need to apply for a residence card as a family member of an EEA or Swiss national, but it can:

    help you re-enter the country more quickly and easily if you travel abroad
    show employers you’re allowed to work in the UK
    help prove you qualify for certain benefits and services

You must apply for a residence card if you’re an extended family member.

EEA(QP) Application for a registration certificate as a European Economic Area (EEA) or Swiss national who is in the UK as a qualified person

Next, it sounds like our niece needs to file the extended family member RC application.  I assume also within the 90-day period.

Yes, as the quote from that RC link above, shows. You can only apply for her RC when your husband can prove that he is exercising his treaty rights. That's why Nan is applying for RCs for herself and her daughter as she has that proof. Have a read of that Home Office link and extended family members links from the RC link I gave, for more information as I'm not sure on the rest.

Lastly, it sounds like my daughter and I don't necessarily have to file the direct family RC application, but according to Nan it's a good idea to do so. 

That's in the RC link I gave yesterday and that I have now quoted in this post.

At this moment, as we've been in the UK for 27 days, I assume we are fine with respect to being here legally. 

You have a FP with an end date and are here with your EEA spouse.

To understand how the EU Regs work, you and your husband really need to read that Home Office link and the one from gov.uk on RCs. They are much easier to understand than the UK immigration laws that many people on here use. If you don't read them then you will just go around in circles.

Here they are again-
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/588174/EEA-qualified-persons-v4_0EXT.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-a-uk-residence-card
You can follow the links on this one for an extended family member.

You will also need to keep up to date with the Brexit news and can sign up for texts from the UK government, or read those texts when Nan puts them on here to help others.

 

With respect to employment, if I secure employment within the next 90-days, but my spouse has not, would we be best to begin filing paperwork for self-sufficiency?  We are both looking; I realize everything hinges on my spouse's status, but I want to understand different employment scenarios and how best to deal with them.

Your Family Permit does not give you permission to work in the UK. As you are not an EEA citizen, you can only work if your EEA sponsor is a "qualfied person".

As I said above, even RCs will also become invalid if he ceases to exercise his treaty rights in the UK as the end date on an RC doesn't mean anything. What gives you permision to work in the UK, is your EEA sponsor exercising his treaty rights at all times (being a "qualified person").

For your EEA sponsor to show he is self sufficient, he must show he has the means to keep himself and all his family members. If he can do that (and has CSIs for himself and all of you, and doesn't take UK benefits) then he is a Self Sufficent quaified person and you are then allowed to work. You can't use your wages to show he is being self sufficient as you are only allowed to work if he is being a self sufficient qualified person (or any other type of qualified person).



Your right to reside in the UK and being able to work, rests entirely on your EEA sponsor exercising his treaty rights at all times (usually means him being a "qualified person"). If he isn't, then he and all of his family members no longer have a "right to reside" in the UK.

This shows that the Family Permit is not a work permit.

"What it does

An EEA family permit makes it easier and quicker to enter the UK. You might not get a boarding pass and could experience major delays without one.

You may be refused entry into the UK if you don’t have an EEA family permit."



 

It looks like the rest of this answers your question of how long you can stay in the UK on your FPs if your EEA sponsor isn't being a qualified person after the 90 days the EEA Regs allow him in the UK.



"How long you can stay

An EEA family permit is valid for 6 months. You can leave and enter the UK as many times as you need within that time."
https://www.gov.uk/family-permit/eligibility