allowed to work with EEA Family Permit?

[robsters]

can anyone tell me if the EEA Family permit gives my wife the allowance to work in the uk? she got her NI number and we sent off her EEA2 Residence application least 3 weeks ago but not got any COA as of yet she been offered a job for christmas in a card shop but they want to see her passport even though we given a photo copy of the visa and passport, can anyone tell me if she allowed to work or is it best to wait for the COA from the UK Home office

[secret.simon]

I am not entirely certain, but I believe that the Family Permit is the equivalent of a visit visa that does not permit work, while the Residence Card does permit work.

However, EEA law is complex in that certain rights exist in spite of a lack of paperwork. I would wait for others to comment before taking it further.

[robsters]

thank you, and yeah i wait for more comments, we sent eea2 application off 2 weeks ago does anyone know how long until we get COA back?

[capetonian101]

You can request you passports back from them.
She is able to work with the family permit.She have the same rights as you here.

[adedayoh]

She has the same right as you but proving those rights will be difficult. No one will employ her without a valid work visa. My husband has the family permit too but he can't work.

Family permit doesn't confer a right to work. You have to wait for the COA then she can work. You should recieve that shortly.

[capetonian101]

My employer did the check on the HO website to see if im entitle work and it showed that I can.Im in the middle of my EEA2 permit app.MY EEA1 has expired the 18th of last month and didn't had any issues.
Iv only received my COA saterday(31/10/1015) and have been working the whole time.
It depends on you employer i would say.
On the family permit(or the one in my passport) there is nothing written about not being able to start employment.

[robsters]

yeah job want the COA said they let her do the 2 week trail but after that they need COA, how quickly do they come through it was 2 weeks since we sent the application off

[kunfayakun]

Yeah she has the same right as you have and she can work with the family permit if she already have the NI number

[adedayoh]

Am not being funny but good luck with getting NI on family permit. No employer is going to risk getting 10k fine for employing a person without validating their documents. The conservatives have made things so hard. A lot of big employers don't even accept COA, they are too lazy to check with HO so they will rather give the job to someone who has complete documents.

Coa usually takes about 4 weeks but I won't hold my breath either. Hopefully they will send it out before the end of her 2 week trial.

[Nina Roche]

She has the same right as you but proving those rights will be difficult.

Overall, I'd agree the statement.

Here is the guidance issued by Home Office: <An employer’s guide to right to work checks> and check Page 24 of Lists of acceptable documents for right to work checks https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... _final.pdf

In Page 24, before an non-EEA of EEA family member receives RC or PR or other sort of .., we basically fall into Group 2.
EEA Family Permit is not listed here. So according to Home Office, it does not directly confirm one's right to work. So in practice, as I see many cases in this forum, it indeed depends on your prospective employer.
In the meantime, check Group2,point 3. If prospective employer uses Home Office Employer Checking Service and get a Positive Verification Notice issued by HO, it confirms one's right to work. Often if one holds or held an EEA FP, and is in the process of RC application, before being issued a COA, employer's check is likely to get positive result. And thus , it helps to fill in the time gap.
As shown in capetonian case, he/she applied RC 1/10/2015, then his/her EEA FP expired 18/10/2015 but he/she is already in the process of RC application. His/her employer did the check and gets the positive result.

[adedayoh]

Thanks for the clarification Nina

[robsters]

thank you so the employer can just check with HO then? thing is this lady is quite keen to employ my wife as i went to speak to her today as job only temp she giving birth soon anyway, she said if i did not get COA soon then she said can i bring a copy of application form, i did make a scan copy of this , do u think that is ok? we got our biometric letter yesterday and sorted that out as well at the post office, how soon after biometric do they send the COA? i hope to god my wife gets it, she gives birth in december and EEA FP expires in February next year