Rejected for EEA Residence Card (already got UK Spouse visa)

[nbe]

lol?

Have they gone mad in the EEA processing center?

We only applied for it to make EU travel easier! We don't even "need" it...

They said my British passport was insufficient evidence of the right to work in a EEA member state. Good lord.

[Casa]

If you have British nationality how did you believe that you or your non-EEA national wife (currently on a UK spouse visa) would qualify for an EEA resident permit? Or have I misunderstood your post ?

[nbe]

Hi Casa. Everyone on this forum suggested that getting an EEA Residence Card was the best approach to ease EU travel for a non-EEA spouse. So we did that.

[Casa]

Your wife is here on a spouse settlement visa under UK Immigration Rules. She doesn't qualify for an EEA permit when she is married to someone with British nationality. Who is the 'everyone' who advised you to apply for an EEA permit? In this thread, CR001 advised you to apply for a Schengen visa to enable your wife to travel to other EU countries;
http://www.immigrationboards.com/immigr ... l#p1206850

[noajthan]

lol?

Have they gone mad in the EEA processing center?

We only applied for it to make EU travel easier! We don't even "need" it...

They said my British passport was insufficient evidence of the right to work in a EEA member state. Good lord.

Current UK law does not recognise a British citizen as an EEA national in the context of EU migration and related documents.

[nbe]

That thread was about the BRP card which they didn't give us in the end so it was irrelevant.

Plenty of other threads lead us to believe the EEA Residence Card was what we needed?

So wasted our time and money then?

[Casa]

Yes, I'm afraid so.
I think you may have been confusing threads on the Surinder Singh route, where a British national can exercise their Treaty rights by working or studying in another EU state and then return to the UK with their non-EU spouse under EEA Regulations.

[noajthan]

That thread was about the BRP card which they didn't give us in the end so it was irrelevant.

Plenty of other threads lead us to believe the EEA Residence Card was what we needed?

So wasted our time and money then?

You were clearly advised in your previous thread to get a Schengen visa for European travel.

"Plenty of other threads" are about EEA sponsors of non-EEA nationals applying for FPs, RCs.

You appear to have missed the vital point.
As a long-suffering British citizen (like me) you are not (normally) in that category.

That subject (BCs are not EEA nationals except in special circumstances) has been well-rehearsed in the posts in forums here.

[nbe]

So basically UK citizens are not EEA nationals when they reside in the UK?

[noajthan]

So basically UK citizens are not EEA nationals when they reside in the UK?

Exactly. Not for some purposes anyway.

Alice laughed. "There's no use trying," she said: "one can't believe impossible things."
"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There.

[nbe]

Looked at Schengen and doesn't seem appropriate. Need to submit a travel itinerary etc. Sort of defeats the purpose I feel.

So basically it turns out the only real option is to argue with airline check-in counter staff brandishing a marriage certificate and, if successful, be prepared to argue the same all over again at the immigration of the destination country. Great! What a lovely way to go on holiday somewhere.

The alternative is to get a "free" visa for that country ahead of time. Except that these days they've all outsourced visa processing to VFS so you still have to pay the administration charges for VFS even though the visa itself is "free".

It's alright this EU thing ain't it

[vinny]

See also British Citizenship/ EU Membership Card.

[Casa]

Why do you feel that a Schengen visa is inappropriate? Are you intending to spend a holiday in mainland Europe?

[vinny]

For the purposes of the Directive, a British citizen is normally considered as an EEA national everywhere except in the UK.

See also Travel to Schengen, without visa, for EEA-family members

Probably simplest to apply for a Schengen visa.

[nbe]

Why do you feel that a Schengen visa is inappropriate? Are you intending to spend a holiday in mainland Europe?

The principle is that she should have the right to accompany me on short breaks to Europe at short notice. Right now if we wanted to go for a long weekend in Paris we would need weeks maybe months of advanced notice to plan such a trip.

[noajthan]

The principle is that she should have the right to accompany me on short breaks to Europe at short notice. Right now if we wanted to go for a long weekend in Paris we would need weeks maybe months of advanced notice to plan such a trip.

The EU thing is alright. The 'trouble' is we in Uk are only half in it.

The point is the UK is not in the Schengen zone and doesn't subscribe that principle and such free borders!