Travel during the EEA2 process

[pachano]

Hello everyone.
I have the following concern:
Our EEA2 is still in progress.
Main applicant: wife from Venezuela
EEA national: husband from France, employed

Here is the timeline:
Documents received in HO: 09/09/2014
COA received: 25/09/2014
(still in progress for receiving the RC)

We were trying to submit our passports back since we need to travel out from UK next December 12th 2014, returning to UK on January 7th 2015.

Just before submitting the request, appears a message that we didn't like to read.

"I understand that:
if I am the main applicant or another applicant and I am subject to immigration control (i.e. not settled or an EEA national or the family member of an EEA national) and I have requested my travel document for identity purposes I understand that if I use those documents to travel outside the UK, Republic of Ireland, Channel Islands and Isle of Man my application may be refused, voided or withdrawn and the fee will not be refunded. I may also be unable to re-enter the UK;"

The statement is very clear.................if we travel, all is lost.

What do you think about this statement?
Shall we travel?

The main reason of this travel is that the father's husband (the EEA Nationnal) is very sick and we wish to share with him during the end of the year. But of course, no human feelings are important for Home Office.

Please any advice.............

Thanks !

[GMB]

"I understand that:
if I am the main applicant or another applicant and I am subject to immigration control (i.e. not settled or an EEA national or the family member of an EEA national) and I have requested my travel document for identity purposes I understand that if I use those documents to travel outside the UK, Republic of Ireland, Channel Islands and Isle of Man my application may be refused, voided or withdrawn and the fee will not be refunded. I may also be unable to re-enter the UK;"

Your answer is right there -- the exceptions are settled, EEA national (you), or family member of an EEA national (her). You can absolutely request your passports back and it will have no effect on the application at all. I have done so for every single EEA application I've been involved with in my family (four so far), and have never had a subsequent problem with any application.

Keep in mind she MAY need to apply for a Family Permit to re-enter the UK, especially if she is a) a visa national and b) travelling by air. The COA would get her across the border, but may not be sufficient for the airline to allow her on the flight to begin with.

[pachano]

Thanks for your comments.
Actually for the time that we plan to return to UK, she will have still a valid family permit as you can see:
Family permit ends 19th January 2015
Planned return: 7th January 2015

So, there may not be any problem at all.
Regards

[zsolti]

Hello there.
I'd like to ask if there was any problem when leaving the UK or coming back? Was the application affected in any way, with regards to the declaration "...I understand that if I use those documents to travel outside the UK, Republic of Ireland, Channel Islands and Isle of Man my application may be refused, voided or withdrawn and the fee will not be refunded. I may also be unable to re-enter the UK;"
The reason i'm asking is that we are in a very similar situation. I'm an eea national, my wife is a non-eea national.
The only difference is that only my wife applied for her biometric residence card. She applied because her passport (with her valid permanent residence card) expired and it cannot be transferred to a new passport.
She would be travelling to Brazil alone (to visit her sick brother).
She's got her COA and asked for her passports back. So she has got a valid permanent residence card in her old, expired passport and got her new passport as well.
All in all it is absolutely fine to travel with her new passport as long as she carries the old, expired one with the valid permanent residence card in it but we don't know what to expect under these circumstances when there is an application (biometric residence card) in progress.

Any information, comments, advice is very much welcomed and appreciated.
Regards,