Long travel while waiting for residence card

[algons]

Hi,

I know short travel with CoA (certificate of application) while waiting for the residence card is discussed here before (http://www.immigrationboards.com/eea-ro ... 86715.html) but I'm curious about the validity of the application if we were to travel a long time. Here is our situation:

• 1) I am a Turkish national (non-EEA). My partner, who I'm getting married this month, is an EEA national (non-British).
  
  2) We are based in London and I am currently on Tier 2 work visa, sponsored by my current employer. I would like to quit my job this spring.
  
  3) We want to go outside UK and travel for more than 3 months. Our question is; what would be the best course of action if we want to come back to London after this period, and I want to be eligible to work without requiring sponsorship?

Since we are getting married soon; one option we thought was getting a Certificate of Application (CoA) on a residence card as the spouse of an EEA-national. I read that card itself usually takes 6 months to acquire but the CoA would permit entrance/work in UK.

However we're not sure if this application would still be valid if we left UK for more than 3 months after the application. I am afraid I might be denied entry or work in such case.

We'd appreciate anyone's help on this question/concern.

Thanks in advance!
Al

[giorgosa]

Go away and do your travel as you wish. Before coming back apply for EEA FP (as you are turkish you can apply for this only from Turkey or from your partners country I think). It would help if you are married.

Normally with EEA FP you can work but you may find difficult to convince someone to hire you.
So, once back in the UK, apply for EEA2, in 1 month you'll receive the COA which will prove your eligibility to work.

Another route for you would be Ankara agreement but I can't help with this.

[algons]

Go away and do your travel as you wish. Before coming back apply for EEA FP (as you are turkish you can apply for this only from Turkey or from your partners country I think). It would help if you are married.

Normally with EEA FP you can work but you may find difficult to convince someone to hire you.
So, once back in the UK, apply for EEA2, in 1 month you'll receive the COA which will prove your eligibility to work.

Thank you so much for the response giorgosa! The thing is; in this scenario she'll have to come to UK (potentially start working) and I would have to wait some period for the permit in Turkey, right? I guess if it comes down to this being the only option, we'd do it but we prefer directly going back to UK (together) after the travel. Do you think there's a way to do this? Or do you think our application would become invalid if we go for a long travel, if we would apply before travelling?

Many thanks in advance,
Al

[giorgosa]

EEA FP is free of charge and I would expect that you'll be able to get it within 1-2 weeks after applying from Turkey. At least this was the timeline when we applied 3-4 years ago. So if you apply 4-6 weeks before coming back then you'll be able to travel together to the UK.

[algons]

EEA FP is free of charge and I would expect that you'll be able to get it within 1-2 weeks after applying from Turkey. At least this was the timeline when we applied 3-4 years ago. So if you apply 4-6 weeks before coming back then you'll be able to travel together to the UK.

My understanding was that it's not possible to apply for EEA FP to enter the UK if your partner is not living in the UK at that moment. Am I incorrect?

[giorgosa]

The EEA citizen you’re joining must either:
-be in the UK already
-be travelling with you to the UK within 6 months of the date of your application

More information about EEA FP can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/family-permit/overview