EEA Family permit needed?

[parabellum]

Hello,
I am American, married to an EEA National (Portuguese). We have been married for nearly 4.5 years now, we have been living in Portuguese for these years and I have a residency card issued by the Portuguese government.
We both want to move to the UK for the purpose of work.

Do I need to apply for an EEA Family permit? The FAQ on this forum that says it is not really needed, and once at the UK border to just identify that I am entering with my EEA wife and present a translated copy of the marriage certificate etc. And that a Code 1A stamp will be applied, from which I can work and apply for EEA2. Is it really this simple?

Gov.uk site does not make the distinction for non-eea people being from non-visa countries or not. Intuitively, there is nothing impeding me boarding the airplane here in Portugal and passing through uk immigration as a tourist with my wife. And by her exercising her treaty rights, we would just jointly apply for eea1 and eea2 respectively?

Thank you in advance for any guidance or clarification

[a.s.b.o]

These are two options BOTH open to you at this moment. The route you take is totally contingent on your time scale and personal propensity to apply from outside (EEA FP) or (near) inside the country (A1). Given that post entry you will be applying for a Registration Certificate, you should have commenced getting the portfolio of evidence and an application ready.

PS Do not go 'tourist route'. Search for more evidence of inapplicability of this route and implications it carries.

[parabellum]

These are two options BOTH open to you at this moment. The route you take is totally contingent on your time scale and personal propensity to apply from outside (EEA FP) or (near) inside the country (A1). Given that post entry you will be applying for a Registration Certificate, you should have commenced getting the portfolio of evidence and an application ready.

PS Do not go 'tourist route'. Search for more evidence of inapplicability of this route and implications it carries.

Thank you for the quick and informative reply.

I will look into the "tourist route" and why it is not applicable (this I do not doubt, in the usa doing something similar would be visa fraud, which does not sound like fun) but I brought it up because it is a seemingly plausible scenario. To me it dose seem a bit dodgy, but I have read various places online, including this forum where this route seems possible (see here: http://www.immigrationboards.com/eea-ro ... 56616.html) If possible, can you please link me to the implications of using the "Tourist route"?

I have read that the A1 is no longer used? Has something taken its place. I have also read on a couple occasions (link above, but there are others) where the border guard did not stamp A1 or said it didn't exist etc, I am afraid of this happening as it is not really something advertised by the Border Authority, and in not applying for EEA Family Permit, we would basically be circumventing what is the published norm.

[noajthan]

...

I have read that the A1 is no longer used? Has something taken its place. I have also read on a couple occasions (link above, but there are others) where the border guard did not stamp A1 or said it didn't exist etc, I am afraid of this happening as it is not really something advertised by the Border Authority, and in not applying for EEA Family Permit, we would basically be circumventing what is the published norm.

You would not be circumventing any norm you would be reinforcing it - and enjoying free movement ...

Ref: https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/eu-rights-clin ... pril-2015/

As a result of the changes, family members who hold a residence card explicitly identifying them as the family member of an EU citizen will be able to travel to the UK without the need for a visa in the form of an EEA Family Permit, when they accompany their EU relative or join them in the UK. The Home Office has now issued guidance that explains the new rules.

From HO:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... dence-card

[parabellum]

You would not be circumventing any norm you would be reinforcing it - and enjoying free movement ...

Ref: https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/eu-rights-clin ... pril-2015/

As a result of the changes, family members who hold a residence card explicitly identifying them as the family member of an EU citizen will be able to travel to the UK without the need for a visa in the form of an EEA Family Permit, when they accompany their EU relative or join them in the UK. The Home Office has now issued guidance that explains the new rules.

From HO:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... dence-card

Thank you for the reply. I know that it is the norm, freedom of movement, but A1 option is not clearly stated anywhere on any official website (that I can find). It was in that sense I was refering to the "norm".

About the Article 10 residency permits, I believe mine does not count, as it was issued in the "EEA relative’s Member State of nationality" and thereby was issued under Portuguese domestic law and not EU Law. The gov.uk link is actually pretty clear on this.

If you are a non-EEA national who holds a valid genuine residence card, issued to you as the family member of an EEA national who is exercising free movement rights in another EEA State (i.e. not your EEA relative’s Member State of nationality) under Article 10 of Directive 2004/38/EC (the ‘Free Movement Directive’), you may use this document for travel to the UK if you are accompanying your EEA national relative here, or joining your EEA national relative in the UK.

For example, the non-EEA spouse of a French national who is living and working in Italy may be issued with an Article 10 residence card by the Italian authorities.