EEA FAMILY PERMIT - Questions

[dutchgirl]

Hello,

I am a Netherlands passport holder and have been living in the UK for 3 years. I met my fiance here he was on a two year working Visa and has recently returned to New Zealand. I am soon to follow him there to get married and he will be applying for the EEA Family Permit there before we return to UK together.

I have a few general questions about the EEA Family Permit:

Can you work on the EEA Family Permit?

Can this permit be renewed after the 6 month period? I know we can apply for a residence permit but we're unsure how long we are planning to stay in the UK.

Can you re-enter on this Visa if we holiday anywhere?

I would be greatful for any information you can provide

Thanks

[yankeegirl]

You can work freely with the Family Permit, and can leave and return to the uk with no problems. It states right on the endorsement in the passport that it is multiple entry. During that six month period, your soon to be husband would apply for residence which is good for 5 years. If you decide to leave before the 5 years, that's totally fine. You can't renew the family permit itself once in the UK; the family permit is the entry clearance that gets the non-EU family member into the UK. All EU applications are free.

[thsths]

You can work freely with the Family Permit, and can leave and return to the uk with no problems. It states right on the endorsement in the passport that it is multiple entry. During that six month period, your soon to be husband would apply for residence which is good for 5 years. If you decide to leave before the 5 years, that's totally fine. You can't renew the family permit itself once in the UK; the family permit is the entry clearance that gets the non-EU family member into the UK. All EU applications are free.

There are two additional things worth mentioning: you want to apply for the Residence Card as soon as possible, because it can take 6 months to process the application (rumour has it that the process is faster if you both apply together, but I am not sure you can do that). You can get your passports back in the mean time. Reentering Britain once your EEA Family Permit has run out, but before you get the Residence Card, can be a bit of problem. You should complain to your MP about this, because the law definitely is f*cked up in this area.

And in theory you can work on the EEA Family Permit, but it is probably hard to convince any employer of that. Once you apply for the Residence Card, you will receive a confirmation letter stating your preliminary right to work.

[dutchgirl]

Thanks everyone! Fery very helpful!

[John]

(rumour has it that the process is faster if you both apply together, but I am not sure you can do that)

My argument goes like this. In order for the non-EEA person to get their Residence Card it is necessary for the EEA citizen to prove that they are exercising their EU/EEA Treaty Rights. That is they need to supply information to prove that.

Accordingly, whilst absolutely not compulsory for the EEA Citizen, I think that person should apply on form EEA1, at the same time as the non-EEA person applies on form EEA2.

Logically BIA will deal with the EEA1 application first, but having granted that can immediately move on to deal with the EE2 application, knowing that they have already proved to their satisfaction that the EEA person is indeed exercising Treaty Rights.

[Docterror]

Logically BIA will deal with the EEA1 application first, but having granted that can immediately move on to deal with the EE2 application, knowing that they have already proved to their satisfaction that the EEA person is indeed exercising Treaty Rights.

If that line of logic is true, shouldn't they issue the Residence Card for the non-EEA family member immediately if someone was to successfully use the PEO for their EEA1 application?

[John]

Logically, yes that is so, but there is really not a lot of logic in immigration law and practice.