Job Discussion Forums

[uspech]

Hey I'm wondering what getting a residence permit is like if I have an EU spouse.
We mainly want to know if we need to commit to a long lease before heading there, just so I have a resident to list on my app rather than maybe staying on a sublet for a while while we job search.
We don't want to commit to a long lease especially without having a job lined up. We hoped we could sublet for a short while while job searching (either Berlin or Frankfurt), but can I apply for a residence permit w/o a "permanent" residence?

It feels like a catch 22. Will employers want to hire me before I have the permit and how could I plan to find permanent housing without an income...?

Help?

Btw I have 3 years EFL experience, TrinityCERT TEFL. He is British and has about 2 years experience.

Thanks for any advice.

[spiral78]

The process is different in different countries and I haven't tried this in Germany. In the Netherlands, having an EU spouse allowed me to get a residency permit - but NOT a work permit .

Work permit requirements are more lenient in Germany - I'm not implying that you won't be able to work!!

I suggest you might start by ascertaining what the laws in Germany are on this score - the information is likely available on an Embassy website. If it's the same in Germany as in the Netherlands, this may solve your problem, as you'll be automatically entitled to residency so long as your husband is living/working in Germany.

[uspech]

it says that the residence permit will be issued unconditionally within six months for any spouse of an EU citizen who is living in germany, guaranteeing them the right to work as long as their spouse is in the country. six months is a long time though. will i be able to work whilst my application is being processed? would anyone hire me just on the promise that my residence permit was pending? would i even be allowed to stay in the country since i am going to be entering on a 90 day tourist visa?

[spiral78]

I really doubt that anyone can answer this unequivocably. One of the most consistent aspects of German bureocracy is its inconsistency
The answers really may depend on exactly where and to whom you apply.

I think if you are married and go over together, it should be fairly safe, so long as you find someone who wants to hire you.

It would possibly be wise to give your British husband first dibs on any jobs you find, though

[BenE]

Me and my wife (a Belarusian) went through the system. I'm a British national so she gets right of residency.

My wife has the right to live and work for 5 years PROVIDED I have a job and she has adequate health insurance (that's where things can get complicated if the EU national is not employed full time)

After recieving that my wife has full work rights and subsidised German lessons as well has support in getting work in Germany. Pretty good eh?

[Hod]

[uspech]

thanks for your advice. this sounds encouraging! so you went there with your work contract and they gave your wife a work permit in 45 minutes? wow.

i was under the impression i would only have to show that i was married to an EU citizen, but that i would have to wait anywhere up to six months for my permit to arrive.

[Hod]

I think if you've got the right paperwork and bring along a German speaker, it shouldn't take more than a few hours.

From memory, that paperwork was:

My contract of employment
My bank statements - they didn't ask to see them
My Freiz�gigkeitsbescheinigung, which is a piece of paper to say I am an EU citizen who can work anywhere in the EU
The usual passports, proof of address, etc

The biggie for many is health insurance. The rules for everyone residing in Germany changed on 01.01.2009. You now need health insurance from a company approved to operate in Germany. My wife initially tried to apply with some foreign insurance, but this was rejected. Expert advice is needed. Bear in mind, going to a broker to get insurance and advice costs no more than doing it yourself. Get a broker first.

[scot47]

Marriage to a UK national does NOT guarantee right of residence in the UK. So how can it for the wider EU ?

[sparks]

[scot47]

I have heard first hand from others that residence has been refused in the Uk even after residence has been acquired in another EU State. The Ukanian Home Office is anti-EU.

[Hod]

An EEA citizen living and working in another EEA state, e.g. Germany, Spain, France, UK, etc, can "exercise their treaty right" to move and live and work in another EEA country, e.g. UK, etc. They can also bring their spouse, whether the spouse is an EEA citizen or not.

If you google "Surinder Singh", which is the name of an Indian national who was living in Germany with a British wife and won a famous court case in 1992. I could copy and paste further, but you can google it yourself, and see the salient points as per my paragraph above.

Basically, within reason, an EU citizen with a non-EU spouse can move from one EU state to another and bring their spouse. The UK, being part of the EU, cannot stop this, as the aforementioned Surinder Singh case has proved. The application process is as per the usual UK spouse visa, but it's free and far simpler.

Certain people can write they have heard "first hand", but see above. The UK border agency�s website doesn�t make it obvious that this route exists, but it�s there.

The EEA option aka Surinder Singh route is a separate issue altogether from the stringent and costly UK spouse visa, which recently changed rules and now requires minimum salaries amongst other things.

[scot47]

Not sure that the "Surinder Singh" route is foolproof. I know of one UK national married to a Russian, living and working in Bulgaria whose wife was refused by the UK Home Office.

[Hod]

Not too sure what can be more foolproof than law. The Surinder Singh verdict, as is the case with British law, created a ruling. The UK Border Agency may not like it, but there's nothing they can do. OK, if applicants bend the rules, for example, by entering the EU for a very short time before applying, having no money at all and/or being dependent on benefits, then an application would likely fail, but a genuine applicant will get a UK visa via this route within a matter of weeks.

[scot47]

From my cyebrbuddy who is British married to a Rusian living in a EU state

"I recently applied for a UK EEA Family Permit for my Russian Wife who has a Bulgarian residency card as a family member to accompnay me to the UK for a short visit and also, because the EEA family permit is issued for free. Free does not include the required visit to Sofia for an interview and the procedure of having your passport scanned and being provided with some digital ID. At no time did the Interviewer give my Wife any reason to suspect that the application might be turned down and I had made is quite clear in the application and the covering letter that we simply wanted to visit my Mother. The whole application is then sent off to Warsaw for processing.

A couple of weeks later, we get back a REFUSAL because the Immigration officer could see no evidence that I had worked or been self employed in Bulgaria. I was stunned to say the least as we have always been self-sufficient, but because I am British they were able to utilize something know as the Singh case whereby I had not exercised my Treaty rights. Shocked Therefore, they used UK National Law over EU Directives to refuse my Wife 'free' access to the UK.

In the rest of the EU, I am legally entitled to travel visa free as long as my Wife is accompanying me or coming to join me, but not in the UK it seems. Yes, she can apply for a visitors visa and pay around �80 for it; I can also appeal the refusal at around �200. "