Standard Visitor visa or EEA Family Permit?

[Odai]

Hello

Myself and my mother are looking to invite my maternal grandmother (national of and resident in Amman, Jordan) to stay with us here in the UK this summer.

Looking through the visa requirements online, it seems I can either apply for a Standard Visitor visa or an EEA Family Permit (free!).

The requirements for the Permit seem a lot more lenient. Me and my mother are both British nationals.

However, it seems that to qualify for a Family Permit, my grandmother needs to be financially dependent on either myself or my mother. Have I understood correctly?

My grandmother is financially independent (retired, living off of savings).

Unfortunately we have had issues with the standard visa application before. The fact that she is living off of savings as opposed to having a job in Jordan seemed to indicate to the person processing her application that my grandmother did not have sufficient reason to return to Jordan. Therefore, we are really keen to give the Family Permit application a go if there is any way she could qualify.

Any tips would be appreciated!

Thanks

Odai.

[CR001]

You cannot apply for an EEA Family Permit if you are in the UK and British. It is only relevant to family of EU citizens (non British EU).

You will need to apply for a standard visitor visa and meet the more difficult requirements.

[Odai]

Thanks for the quick reply!

I'll have to give the visitor visa process another shot then. Is there any particular reason why the Permit can't be issued to the family of British citizens, given the UK is part of the EEA?

[CR001]

For the purpose of the EU rules, you are not considered an EU citizen exercising treaty rights in the country of which you hold nationality. You are only considered to be British not EU.

British citizen cannot sponsor their family to the UK under the EU route unless they have lived in another EU state (non UK) exercising treaty rights.