Brexit Blues - Moving to UK - EEA + Non EEA couple

Hi everyone,
We have always thought of UK as home and left a while ago for careers. Now with Brexit approaching we have decided to move back to UK ahead of the deadline. There are 3 elements which i need some advice on
1-) Order of move - EEA national + eea kids and then non eea spouse  or everyone together is possible.

2-) If it's everyone together can the non eea spouse apply at same time as the eea national even when he entered on a tourist visa?

3-) Since we will not be working initially we will get CSI for everyone + show self sufficiency. How much is self sufficient? Is 50,000 GBP self sufficient?

4-) any documents like bank statements - Do they want them certified or normal copies are ok?

5-) How long after the move can the non eea spouse work? How long does it take?

Feeling completely clueless. Documentation from what they list is ok, its just the order in which it should be done.  Appreciate your help very much.

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

To try and provide some answers to your questions.

First off - you've probably chosen the most difficult time to try and return to the UK; Brexit is reaching its conclusion and nothing specific has been published regarding the future status of EEA nationals (as opposed to EU nationals); perhaps you should wait a couple of weeks as it still has the option for the UK to crash out of the EU with no agreement in place.

Assuming all goes good with Brexit and that you both have valid passports; have not previously been deported or refused entry to the UK previously and are in fact what you claim, then you should have no problem travelling together.  Assuming you're the non-EEA national, then you can apply from abroad; this link will take you to the UK Gov website with the details of how.

There is no reason I can find that stops you from travelling together.

What do you mean by CSI?

Any required documents can be copies; documents that were originally issued by Government departments (birth and marriage certificates) need to be certified by the national government department that issued the original and the certification should be less than 6-months old.

There is no specific amount stated on the UK Gov website; the only warning I can think of is that the amount required does increase with the more people in the family.  I'd recommend you contact one of the UK recognised Immigration Advisers and ask some questions there - these guys do this for a living, so will charge; this link will take you to the UK Gov website with the relevant details.

Work - once you are in the UK legally and have obtained your National Insurance number, you can work; if you've lived here before, then your old NI number is still valid.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Thank you,
That's helpful. I meant EU  when i wrote EEA.. apologies.
Indeed watching the Dec 11 vote for now. Indeed it's because of the crash out that we wanted to move prior to March.

The problem on travelling is related to the fact that i, (non EU) have a valid UK business entry visa but seems like if we are going to apply for pre-settled status, i would need to enter on a family permit. I can't enter UK on business visa. Have received contradictory opinions on those.

On lawyers we engaged several but consultants have cost over 1000 gbp with no one giving clear answers..it's always "it depends" and we find it hard to engage them for the full process with several orders of higher cost without getting any confidence at all in the primary "paid" consultation. Minimum self sufficiency can't vary for same family size in London, hence "minimum" but the lawyers have been nothing short of a disaster. Will check your link on approved lawyers.
Thank you.