EEA4 fast processing times or wishful thinking

[tinformatics]

Passport returned on request for the non-EEA spouse on 3 November 2012

Can I ask how you made the request - by email or letter? And if the latter, to which address? Also how long did the UKBA take to process your request?

We sent a letter with self addressed return envelope to the same address we sent the application, then we e-mailed the Return of Documents address they have on the website


" Return of Document Requests

If you will be travelling in the future (for example, in the next month or later) and need your documents back, please email your request to LiverpoolEuro.PassportReturns@UKBA.gsi.gov.uk. Please provide details of your travel plans and your Home Office reference if possible.

Please provide details of your travel plans and your Home Office reference and the postage reference number.

We will normally return your documents to you using Royal Mail 2nd class post but If you have provided a pre-paid Recorded or Special delivery envelope with your application then we will use this to return your documents securely.

In the case of an emergency please email us as soon as possible.

A request for the return of your documents will not result in your application being considered quicker than our standard processing times. In some circumstances we may need to request the return of your documents to make a decision on your application."

The COA states that they try to solve all cases within 6 months - is this 6 months from initial application or from COA being issued? It's confusing in the letter.

6 months from application receipt.

Thanks

[sissidiana]

EEA4 sent 01 Sep 12
EEA4 received at HO 3 Sep 12
COA for EEA4 received 18 Oct 12 (dated 12 Oct 12)
EEA4 PR waiting

Still no PR yet. Requested return of document a couple of weeks ago, I'm travelling this Sat. Called them but they said they can not check whether anything has been dispatched any more. Don't know what I'm supposed to do.

sissidiana - try speaking to your local MP's office. This is how we managed to get my husband's passport returned. We e-mail and wrote to them and no response for 2 weeks, then MP got involved and passport was with us within a couple of days ....

Thanks for your reply. How do I speak to the MP's office? Can I call them?

[tinformatics]

EEA4 sent 01 Sep 12
EEA4 received at HO 3 Sep 12
COA for EEA4 received 18 Oct 12 (dated 12 Oct 12)
EEA4 PR waiting

Still no PR yet. Requested return of document a couple of weeks ago, I'm travelling this Sat. Called them but they said they can not check whether anything has been dispatched any more. Don't know what I'm supposed to do.

sissidiana - try speaking to your local MP's office. This is how we managed to get my husband's passport returned. We e-mail and wrote to them and no response for 2 weeks, then MP got involved and passport was with us within a couple of days ....

Thanks for your reply. How do I speak to the MP's office? Can I call them?

Call (best) or e-mail (slower) or you can go in person to their local office. You can check your MP on http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/

[sissidiana]

Still no PR yet. Requested return of document a couple of weeks ago, I'm travelling this Sat. Called them but they said they can not check whether anything has been dispatched any more. Don't know what I'm supposed to do.

sissidiana - try speaking to your local MP's office. This is how we managed to get my husband's passport returned. We e-mail and wrote to them and no response for 2 weeks, then MP got involved and passport was with us within a couple of days ....

Thanks for your reply. How do I speak to the MP's office? Can I call them?

Call (best) or e-mail (slower) or you can go in person to their local office. You can check your MP on http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/

Thank you so much. I just called and they asked me to email my personal details over. How long is it likely to take for the MP's office to reply based your own experience?

[nata2406]

Good afternoon to all of you!

Finally the post man came this morning with SD envelope! We have got our PR and our timeline as follows:

EEA3/EEA4 sent 24 July 2012
Received by HO 25th July
COA for EEA4 received mid October
PR for EEA3 & EEA4 received 04th December 2012 (issued 20th Nov)

Good luck to all of you, who is still waiting! and thanks for such helpful advices!

[ElenaDi]

Hi all,

below is the timeline for my partner who is required to travel to US at the start of January on business. Since it's less than a month away I was hoping someone can provide advice on whether he can travel either by himself or with me accompanying him under the European laws of joining a partner when returning to the UK before his PR is decided on.
_______________________________________________
Family Member (Indian) of an EEA National (Bulgarian)
Applied for EEA4 on 11 Aug
CoA received 10 Oct
PR still waiting

Other possible relevant information on his status changes this year is as follows:

5 years - Dependent on an EEA National expired 27/03/2012

March 2012 - Submitted EEA3 and EEA4 applications to UKBA

6 months - EEA Family Member permit issued 19/03/2012 to 20/09/2012 For this we had to travel out of the country and get this issued in the UK Embassy in Bulgaria under advice from UKBA

23/04/2012 - EEA3 approved, my PR is issued. His documents are returned with request to resubmit with more proof of 5 years continuous residency

06/06/2012 - EEA4 resubmitted without his passport as he needs this for travel. We wrote a wrote a very explicit cover letter saying we'll provide this as soon as they get to our case.
Beginning of August we received the pack of documents back saying they need the passport.

A few days later we resubmitted the same pack of documents but with passport this time.

Requested return of passport on 01/09/2012. Got back passport 3 days later however without the attached expired passport which had the US visa he required to travel. They seem to have purposefully detached it before sending it back to us.
We called back immediately to get back the expired passport as well as this held the valid US visa required for my parter's trip. They said they've put a note on the case and a case worked may contact us. This was over 2 months ago. Meanwhile the 6 months EEA Family Member permit issued in Bulgaria to allow him to travel expired.

Now he's stuck with no US visa, no PR and no valid interim means to travel!

[Jambo]

Chase them on getting the old passport back (calls, emails). That might be enough for them to also issue the PR Confirmation.

Please note that without the PR, he will not be able to travel as he has no valid "visa" to show the airline. Travelling together with you won't matter as airlines don't really accept "partner travelling together" as a visa waiver.

[Aladin0987]

Just to let u guys know my little strange story

-My wife got PR after succesful EEA3 application
-I applied for EEA4 on 02 February 2012
-Made complaint several times since the begining of October by e-mail, fax and post but never got any reply from them.
-Been calling them few times a day they keep saying"your application is not being completed, we do not have further information and we can't requst for COA letter, u must wait"
-Requested Passport back first time on 05 October 2012 and again requested several times Via Email, application form, post, calling them but they never replyed and returned our doduments!
-Contacted Mp
-Opened case with Solvit
-Opened case with European Commition
-Opened case with European Ombudsman
-Opened case with European Parliament and made a petition

Still no COA letter
what ealse on earth am I suppose to do?

[ravii]

Just write a humble letter to 10 downing street,London.and explain the whole story.

[kbullet]

Yes finally i received my PR! Just intime for xmas

Here's my timeline

23/07/12 - EEA4 Sent
24/07/12 - HO Received
16/10/12 - COA Received Dated 10/10/12
06/12/12 - PR (dated 03/12/12)

[WebMonkey]

Congrats kbullet!

The postman is starting to depress me with his presence... still waiting for mine to come through!

[jotter]

Hi all,

My PR finally came today!! Took just over 5 months from when I submitted my application.

Points worthy of note:
1. As above, my PR vignette is dated mid-October, but it's taken the UKBA until December to send it back. Not illegal, but rather frustrating in hindsight. I did not submit my application with a special delivery return envelope and I have a theory that that may have had something to do with this. So, do send one with your EEA application.
2. We were exercising treaty rights as Self Sufficient for a full year while my wife was at home with our infant son. We took out a private health insurance policy for the family to cover CSI. It had large excess. Due to a discussion in this forum a few weeks ago I've been having kittens about this fact, so this may be of some comfort to anyone applying who is in a similar situation. I wouldn't, however, treat this as a recommendation to take out a similar policy if you are shopping for CSI now.

Thanks to everyone who has been offering support in this forum, especially the gurus, and everyone posting their times in this thread which helps to give a picture of what to expect. Best of luck to everyone still waiting!

[UKnow]

Hi all,

My PR finally came today!! Took just over 5 months from when I submitted my application.

Points worthy of note:
1. As above, my PR vignette is dated mid-October, but it's taken the UKBA until December to send it back. Not illegal, but rather frustrating in hindsight. I did not submit my application with a special delivery return envelope and I have a theory that that may have had something to do with this. So, do send one with your EEA application.
2. We were exercising treaty rights as Self Sufficient for a full year while my wife was at home with our infant son. We took out a private health insurance policy for the family to cover CSI. It had large excess. Due to a discussion in this forum a few weeks ago I've been having kittens about this fact, so this may be of some comfort to anyone applying who is in a similar situation. I wouldn't, however, treat this as a recommendation to take out a similar policy if you are shopping for CSI now.

Thanks to everyone who has been offering support in this forum, especially the gurus, and everyone posting their times in this thread which helps to give a picture of what to expect. Best of luck to everyone still waiting!

Congratulations Jotter good you got it finally...

[jotter]

Thanks UKnow,
Good of you to congratulate when you are going through hassle yourself with that marriage certificate. Hope they get their act together and send that out to you asap.

[Tyro]

Hello Everyone, I have been married to EU National for 5 years since Oct 2007, who has been exercising treaty rights for these 5 years. But due to lack of knowledge, I didn't apply for EEA Family member residence card until Nov 2008 and got it in March 2009. During this period I was on HSMP visa.

My EEA family member residence card expires march 2014, but I have been married to EU national last five years. I was just wondering if I stand a chance if I apply for PR using EEA4 now.

Please share if someone else has the same situation. All suggestion much appreciated.

Many Thanks

[Jambo]

Hello Everyone, I have been married to EU National for 5 years since Oct 2007, who has been exercising treaty rights for these 5 years. But due to lack of knowledge, I didn't apply for EEA Family member residence card until Nov 2008 and got it in March 2009. During this period I was on HSMP visa.

My EEA family member residence card expires march 2014, but I have been married to EU national last five years. I was just wondering if I stand a chance if I apply for PR using EEA4 now.

Please share if someone else has the same situation. All suggestion much appreciated.

Many Thanks

Under EEA regulations, after 5 continuous years of the EEA national exercising treaty rights, the EEA national (and family members living in the UK) automatically obtain Permanent Residence status. Whether you had a residence document or not is irrelevant. Whatever the dates on your RC is irrelevant. The HO just confirm your rights. They don't grant them. If you have been living in the UK for 5 years as married to a EEA national exercising treaty rights, it seems you have PR status already. If you wish (it's optional), you can apply for a confirmation of your PR status using form EEA4.

[Tyro]

Hi Jambo,

Thanks for your prompt reply, I also read something similar about acquiring PR automatically on completing 5 years. But I once called home office last year and was told that if you changed your Visa status, then all previous time spent is not counted towards your PR.

Is it not better to get a confirmation of PR, as I want to apply for British Nationality and I heard, it is lot easier if you do after acquiring PR. Please put some light on this matter.

Once again many thanks

[ElenaDi]

Hello Everyone, I have been married to EU National for 5 years since Oct 2007, who has been exercising treaty rights for these 5 years. But due to lack of knowledge, I didn't apply for EEA Family member residence card until Nov 2008 and got it in March 2009. During this period I was on HSMP visa.

My EEA family member residence card expires march 2014, but I have been married to EU national last five years. I was just wondering if I stand a chance if I apply for PR using EEA4 now.

Please share if someone else has the same situation. All suggestion much appreciated.

Many Thanks

Under EEA regulations, after 5 continuous years of the EEA national exercising treaty rights, the EEA national (and family members living in the UK) automatically obtain Permanent Residence status. Whether you had a residence document or not is irrelevant. Whatever the dates on your RC is irrelevant. The HO just confirm your rights. They don't grant them. If you have been living in the UK for 5 years as married to a EEA national exercising treaty rights, it seems you have PR status already. If you wish (it's optional), you can apply for a confirmation of your PR status using form EEA4.

Hi Jambo,

this is true, however difficult to prove to border control and airline personnel when travelling abroad. In most cases one will probably be denied boarding on a flight to UK without a valid residency document. Which pretty much makes the EEA4 application mandatory.
I stand to be corrected through as you have more experience in this area.

Elena

[Tyro]

Hi Elena,
Thanks for your input. I personally feel that I should apply for EEA4. The problem is that I have just sent EEA3 application for my wife, and now we have to wait for that until I can apply. Are EEA3 and EEA4 applications dealt by different departments, or could we make a joint application?

Any suggestions please..

[ElenaDi]

Hi Elena,
Thanks for your input. I personally feel that I should apply for EEA4. The problem is that I have just sent EEA3 application for my wife, and now we have to wait for that until I can apply. Are EEA3 and EEA4 applications dealt by different departments, or could we make a joint application?

Any suggestions please..

My partner and I applied together and so have many others so joint applications are acceptable. You can search the forums here to find many examples.
Having been looking at timelines on this forum for months now the commonality is that once the EEA3 is approved and sent out, the COA letter for EEA4 follows closely if not at the same time (i.e. many people receive the PR for EEA member and COA for non EEA member simultaneously).
However, since you have ALREADY sent the EEA3 form, you'll probably have to wait for that to be decided on. Unless the gurus here can confirm whether you can submit EEA4 quoting the EEA3 application reference number.

Elena

[Tyro]

However, since you have ALREADY sent the EEA3 form, you'll probably have to wait for that to be decided on. Unless the gurus here can confirm whether you can submit EEA4 quoting the EEA3 application reference number.

Someone please help, if I can send the EEA4 quoting EEA3 reference number.

Many Thanks

[Jambo]

But I once called home office last year and was told that if you changed your Visa status, then all previous time spent is not counted towards your PR.

This is not correct (for applications under EEA regulations).

Is it not better to get a confirmation of PR, as I want to apply for British Nationality and I heard, it is lot easier if you do after acquiring PR.

It is advisable to apply for PR Confirmation especially if you plan to travel or apply for British citizenship. As the application is free, you are not risking anything.

[Jambo]

Hi Jambo,

this is true, however difficult to prove to border control and airline personnel when travelling abroad. In most cases one will probably be denied boarding on a flight to UK without a valid residency document. Which pretty much makes the EEA4 application mandatory.
I stand to be corrected through as you have more experience in this area.

Elena

True. But in this case he has RC valid until 2014. He can either apply now or later (or never).

[Jambo]

However, since you have ALREADY sent the EEA3 form, you'll probably have to wait for that to be decided on. Unless the gurus here can confirm whether you can submit EEA4 quoting the EEA3 application reference number.

Someone please help, if I can send the EEA4 quoting EEA3 reference number.

Many Thanks

I would wait. EEA3 applications don't take long (1-2 months). Wait for your partner's confirmation and then apply based on that. Also as your wife has some gaps in her treaty rights, better to wait and see if the HO confirm her status before making your application as you status is based on hers.

[Tyro]

Thanks Jambo.. I will take your advise and wait. I have submitted most of the documents for EEA3... she self employed since April 2011.. but she has no business account for her business.. she receives money into her personal account. I have high lighted the transactions, and have included some of her latest invoices.. not sure how HO take EEA3 cases...

She is also a joint director in my limited company since August 2012, but we didn't show that to keep things simple.. I think I should have taken more advise before my applcation.. now we have no choice but to worry and wait.

Thanks for your help.