Visa national travelling with CoA and passport only

[evil_iri]

I am Ukrainian, applied for EEA2 residence card as a married spouse of a German national. At the moment of application I was on Tier 2 but I am quitting my job end of August. I requested my passport and Tier-2 card back to be able to travel and I have already received the Cerificate of Application (CoA). I need to travel in September (I dont know anyone in the modern world who can just sit in UK for 6 months and be ok with it) but my tier-2 visa wont be valid anymore. Hence the question, in your experience, will I be able to come back to UK with my passport, CoA and marriage certificate ONLY?

I will show my Tier-2 card to board the plane (airlines wont know it is expired) but once I get to the border, will they let me in?

I called UKBA and they told me it is at the discretion of the officer but there is no reason why they should not. What is your experience??

Thanks guys!!

[captcha]

Hi, I'm a non-visa national, but just in case my experience is useful to you:

I will show my Tier-2 card to board the plane (airlines wont know it is expired)

I've done this some times. Rather than wasting time explaining that I don't need a visa I just show the airlines my tier-2 which I no longer use.

I never had problems travelling with my COA. I entered the UK 4 times while I was waiting for my RC, through Heathrow, Liverpool and Manchester. The first time (Heathrow) I was with my EU wife, they made us wait for a little while while they checked it, and then issued a Code 1a. Some of the other times I was alone, they just looked at the previous Code 1a stamps and issued a new one. The last time I even forgot my COA back at home (in the UK), so I got a Code 1a stamp by showing just my passport and smile (and wife ).

Again, I'm non-visa so not sure if it would be the same for you.

And although I never needed to use it, every single time I was carrying enough documentation to prove that I'm married to an EU citizen and that she is exercising treaty rights, as well as printouts of the relevant regulations.

[evil_iri]

Thanks captcha. I hope it is similar for visa nationals because I plan to travel all the time..!!

[EUsmileWEallsmile]

I don't know what a tier 2 card looks like and whether it has an expiry date? Is it perhaps a biometric residence permit?

To answer your question, if you get to a border, you can enter under article 5.4 of directive 2004/38/ec.

[evil_iri]

EUsmileWEallsmile, thank you!!

Tier 2 card is biometric residence permit, but the expiry date on mine is 2015. it will stop being valid though because I will no longer be working for the company that sponsored me.