exercise treaty rights to work legally in UK

[yk910]

i am a non-EU married to Swiss national, both of us are living in Switzerland. I possess a spouse dependent permit in Switzerland. I was approached for a very good job opportunity in the UK ( 5 month contract) and i would want to make the best of it. I wanted to know if its possible for me to legally work in the UK without the need to apply for a UK work visa, My spouse will stay/travel with me during those 5 months so can i exercise any treaty rights?

obviously I cannot live outside switzerland for more than 6 months else my switzerland permit would be cancelled. The contract job is for 5 months after which we both will return to Switzerland.

[Casa]

It's your husband who needs to be exercising treaty rights in the UK which he must do within 3 months of entry.

[yk910]

hi casa, thanks for your reply. Sorry i did not get what you meant, did you mean i cannot work in UK?

[flyboy]

Without the need to apply for a UK work visa, your spouse (swiss citizen) will have to exercise a treaty right in the UK for the 5 months you intend to be there. You'll derive your right from your spouse's.
In your case, the best way would be for your spouse to exercise treaty rights as a self sufficient person - meaning your spouse and you have some savings and comprehensive health insurance. Since you're only planning on being there temporary for 5 months, you and your spouse can use your Swiss European health insurance cards to fulfill the comprehensive health insurance requirement.
If you need a visa to enter the UK, you apply for an EEA (swiss) family permit for the UK, which is free of charge, valid for 6 months. If employers know anything about EU law, you should be entitled to work with this family permit. Otherwise once in the UK, apply using form EEA 2 for a residence card - for which you will provide the following documentation in support of your application; your passport, your spouse's swiss passport or id card, your original marriage certificate (english translation as well), bank account with sufficient funds showing your spouse is self sufficient and your Swiss health insurance cards with a letter of intent, stating that you will only be temporary resident in the UK and returning to Switzerland after your 5 months, include your work contract.
Once you send off the application and home office receives it , you'll receive a Confirmation of Application (COA) valid for 6 months, which will state you have to right to work while your application is being processed. It can take up to 6 months before they issue the residence card. I suggest you request your passports back as soon as possible.It might be that by the time your 5 months are over, you still haven't received a residence card. If the residence card is issued whilst you still in the UK, it will be issued on an A4 paper, since your passport will be in your possession.