Dependent parents of UK citizens - immigration solicitors comment on additional protection offered by European legislation
London (PRWEB UK) 30 July 2013 -- Immigration solicitors receive frequent enquiries from migrants settled in the UK who wish to bring to Britain their non-European parents. Until July 2012, settlement visa was granted to parents of UK citizens or migrants with indefinite leave to remain if they were over the age of 65, financially dependent on the UK based child and had no other relatives in the country of origin who would be capable of offering them support and care.
From July 2012 the rules have become more restrictive. The new requirements can only be met in truly exceptional and compassionate circumstances where due to illness or old age the parent requires long-term personal care in order perform everyday tasks and the required level of care cannot be obtained in their country of origin even with financial help from the sponsor (1).
In contrast, the law governing the right to family unity of EEA nationals is considerably more generous. An EU national based in the UK has the right to bring dependent parents to Britain as long as they can demonstrate dependency, whether financial or otherwise, or can prove that prior to moving to the UK the non-EU citizen parent was a member of the same household with the EEA national sponsor.
How do the British citizens benefit from this rule?
The EEA Regulations have recently been fitted with an amendment excluding British citizens from its ambit, with the exception of those who are either exercising their right to free movement of workers in another EEA member state or have returned to the UK after exercising their rights elsewhere in the European Union. In legal jargon this scenario is called “Surinder Singh route” after the name of the case where the European Court of Justice confirmed transportability of EU rights back to the country of nationality once these right have been engaged in another EEA state.
A recent coverage in the BBC news http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23029195 addressed the plight of Britons leaving the UK to work in Europe in order to circumvent the severe financial requirements of the immigration rules relating to spouses of British citizens. Yet, the EEA Regulations 2006, which transpose into domestic law the European Citizens Directive and related caselaw, give Surinder Singh principle a broad interpretation and extend the principle to the wider concept of family members, including dependent parents and grandparents. Thus, a British citizen who has been employed or self-employed in another European country can rely on the EEA Regulations when asserting their rights to unity of the family.
Kadmos Consultants is a firm of immigration lawyers based in London. The firm specialises in the rights of migrants and their family members and assists with applications for entry clearance, settlement and British nationality.
Helena Sheizon, Kadmos Consultants, http://www.kadmos.org.uk, 02089309503, [email protected]
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