Working on a spouse visa without BRC

[Cranes123]

I am a British national. My wife was issued with a spouse visa for 33 months in December 2014 and came here to the UK from Uganda in January 2015, before biometric residence cards were phased in for these applicants later in 2015. Her spouse visa was contained in her Ugandan passport. Last year her passport was running out, as they do every 10 years, so she renewed it with the Ugandan authorities. Therefore the spouse visa is contained in her old passport, not her new one. I understand that is not a problem when travelling to/from the UK as she can keep the old and new passports together and show both as necessary.

However, she has just applied for work with an agency and they are saying they cannot take her on because she does not have a biometric residence card, and that HMRC say she must get one before being allowed to work, that her spouse visa in her old passport is not sufficient any more to allow her to work because it's not contained in her new passport.

Does anyone know if this is correct and will she have to apply for a Transfer Of Conditions (TOC), costing another £233 + £19.20? Or should a spouse visa issued in December 2014 and contained in an old passport that has had to be renewed since still be sufficient to enable employers to allow her to work?

Her current visa runs out in September 2017 and so we will be applying for further leave to remain before then. Would she have to get a BRC then anyway?

Thank you for any advice.

MF

[vinny]

Does anyone know if this is correct and will she have to apply for a Transfer Of Conditions (TOC), costing another £233 + £19.20?

Unfortunately, they are correct.

[seagul]

Show your agency the following quote and link:

You don’t have to transfer your visa - you can carry both your old and new passports when travelling to or from the UK instead.


https://www.gov.uk/transfer-visa

[vinny]

That's only for travelling and border controls.

[Casa]

Show your agency the following quote and link:

You don’t have to transfer your visa - you can carry both your old and new passports when travelling to or from the UK instead.


https://www.gov.uk/transfer-visa

@seagul If you had clicked on Vinny's links you would have read:
2. A current biometric immigration document issued by the Home Office to the holder which indicates that the person named in it is allowed to stay in the United Kingdom and is allowed to do the work in question.

Please avoid giving advice if you are unsure of it's validity.

[Cranes123]

Many thanks. I looked at that link of Vinny's and it suggests employers would accept a residence card as evidence of ability to work.

So if I can ask another question please....Can my wife get a residence card instead as a family member of an EEA national (i.e. me) and she could then work in the UK as well use it to travel on holiday to, for example, France or Spain? Currently we can't really go on holiday outside the UK because she needs a visa due to her Ugandan passport nearly everywhere we would want to go. Basically could we kill 2 birds with one stone i.e. use the residence card to be able to go on holiday as well as for employers to accept as evidence of ability to work? Therefore not having to pay about £250 to transfer her spouse visa into a new passport?

[noajthan]

In this context you are not an EEA national except in special circumstances.
If you have not exercised treaty rights in EU then no.

[Casa]

Your wife doesn't qualify for a RC. For immigration purposes you are only considered to be a British national when residing in your own country and therefore you are unable to sponsor your spouse under EEA Regulations.

Edit: Beaten by noajthan with a speeder response