EEA2 Re-enter UK while EEA National not in UK

[cathlye]

I am a non-eea national with EEA2 and my husband is EEA national and a PhD student in UK at the moment. My husband has a chance to visit another country for three - six months as academic visitor.

Now the problem is that I am a frequent business traveller and sometimes need to re-enter UK three times a month. Will I face problem when try to re-enter UK while my husband is away?

We confirmed with the University that he will still registered as a student while he is abroad. I am considering use the EU queue at boarder control. But do they also ask you questions about your residence card?

[iamanalien]

According to the rules, the EEA National should either be accompanying the non EEA person or be present in the country.
I wonder if a family permit or a visitors visa may help.

[cdyz5]

I travel frequenlty in past. I am non EEA national as my parnter is EAA national. whenever i fly back to UK at immigration in EU queue they some time used to ring my partner and ask general questions how many kids we have and what are their ages what are their name, when we met first and than corss reference the question with the answres my partner gave them.

it use to happend in 2014, but did not happened in 2015 i was out 2015 in twice.

[cathlye]

According to the rules, the EEA National should either be accompanying the non EEA person or be present in the country.
I wonder if a family permit or a visitors visa may help.

iamanalien, thank you for your reply.

Sorry I was not clear in my original post. I am planning to stay and work in UK while my husband is away temporarily. I don't think staying in UK will be an issue as my husband can go back England earlier if any problem appears. I am a bit worried UKBA won't let me in if I come back from visiting other countries while my husband is away.

[cathlye]

I travel frequenlty in past. I am non EEA national as my parnter is EAA national. whenever i fly back to UK at immigration in EU queue they some time used to ring my partner and ask general questions how many kids we have and what are their ages what are their name, when we met first and than corss reference the question with the answres my partner gave them.

it use to happend in 2014, but did not happened in 2015 i was out 2015 in twice.

Thank you for your reply. I normally queue in the non-EU queue and frankly speaking, it has been quite loose this year. They normally let me go after one or go questions like what my husband is doing. I did manage to re-enter UK once while my husband was away in USA for one week. But I am not sure what will happen if my husband is away for three months. I hope they won't ask in EU queue, otherwise I might need to apply spouse visa for PR holder. That's going to cost me a fortune

[noajthan]

I am a bit worried UKBA won't let me in if I come back from visiting other countries while my husband is away.

There is no UKBA anymore, its UKVI.

And at the border its UK Border FORCE.

[iamanalien]

I travel frequenlty in past. I am non EEA national as my parnter is EAA national. whenever i fly back to UK at immigration in EU queue they some time used to ring my partner and ask general questions how many kids we have and what are their ages what are their name, when we met first and than corss reference the question with the answres my partner gave them.

it use to happend in 2014, but did not happened in 2015 i was out 2015 in twice.

Thank you for your reply. I normally queue in the non-EU queue and frankly speaking, it has been quite loose this year. They normally let me go after one or go questions like what my husband is doing. I did manage to re-enter UK once while my husband was away in USA for one week. But I am not sure what will happen if my husband is away for three months. I hope they won't ask in EU queue, otherwise I might need to apply spouse visa for PR holder. That's going to cost me a fortune

Wait a minute.
You actually have a 5 year EEA2 residence card in UK?
If you are a non visa national (for UK,) then you should not need any visa to reenter.
Your spouse only needs to accompany you or be present at the destination if you are travelling to a third country.

[cathlye]

I travel frequenlty in past. I am non EEA national as my parnter is EAA national. whenever i fly back to UK at immigration in EU queue they some time used to ring my partner and ask general questions how many kids we have and what are their ages what are their name, when we met first and than corss reference the question with the answres my partner gave them.

it use to happend in 2014, but did not happened in 2015 i was out 2015 in twice.

Thank you for your reply. I normally queue in the non-EU queue and frankly speaking, it has been quite loose this year. They normally let me go after one or go questions like what my husband is doing. I did manage to re-enter UK once while my husband was away in USA for one week. But I am not sure what will happen if my husband is away for three months. I hope they won't ask in EU queue, otherwise I might need to apply spouse visa for PR holder. That's going to cost me a fortune

Wait a minute.
You actually have a 5 year EEA2 residence card in UK?
If you are a non visa national (for UK,) then you should not need any visa to reenter.
Your spouse only needs to accompany you or be present at the destination if you are travelling to a third country.

Yeah...I do have a 5 year EEA2 residence card in UK.

My problem is that I will live in UK while my husband is abroad. And my husband won't accompany me or in UK while I re-enter UK...

[GMB]

Legally, you have no problems. The EEA citizen does not have to be present in the UK every minute of every day for you to be here. The EEA citizen merely has to continue to maintain his/her residency in the UK. Residency is only broken by being absent from the country for more than six months per year, and even then there are exceptions. In fact, in your specific case there's an exception that allows him to be gone twelve months without breaking residence.

From the UK Border Force Operations Manual, Chapter on EEA Nationals & Their Family Members:

5.4 No evidence that the EEA national is in the UK
When a person’s admission is based on the EEA national being in the UK the onus is on the passenger to provide this evidence. It’s reasonable to expect the family member to provide evidence on the day of arrival. If not, one further interview represents adequate opportunity. When considering the location of the EEA national ports must take account of the fact that an EEA national can be absent for up to 6 months per year without affecting the family members right of residence. Paragraph 6.5, below, explains.
6.5 Continuity of residence
Continuity of residence under the EEA Regulations for the family member of a qualified person is not affected by the EEA national being absent from the UK for periods which are under six months in any year, periods of absence on military service or any one absence not exceeding 12 months for an important reason such as pregnancy and childbirth, serious illness, study or vocational training or an overseas posting.

This is derived from the UK Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2006:

Continuity of residence
3.—(1) This regulation applies for the purpose of calculating periods of continuous residence in
the United Kingdom under regulation 5(1) and regulation 15.
(2) Continuity of residence is not affected by —
(a) periods of absence from the United Kingdom which do not exceed six months in total in
any year;
(b) periods of absence from the United Kingdom on military service; or
(c) any one absence from the United Kingdom not exceeding twelve months for an important
reason such as pregnancy and childbirth, serious illness, study or vocational training or an
overseas posting.

Therefore nothing changes for you. Continue to use the EEA citizens queue at passport control, continue to NOT fill out a landing card, etc. If asked if the EEA citizen is currently in the UK, answer truthfully - no, he is not; he is away for a few months for a study programme. But the point is his place of residence remains the UK, he is still in school in the UK, he is coming back to the UK, etc.

[cathlye]

Legally, you have no problems. The EEA citizen does not have to be present in the UK every minute of every day for you to be here. The EEA citizen merely has to continue to maintain his/her residency in the UK. Residency is only broken by being absent from the country for more than six months per year, and even then there are exceptions. In fact, in your specific case there's an exception that allows him to be gone twelve months without breaking residence.

From the UK Border Force Operations Manual, Chapter on EEA Nationals & Their Family Members:

5.4 No evidence that the EEA national is in the UK
When a person’s admission is based on the EEA national being in the UK the onus is on the passenger to provide this evidence. It’s reasonable to expect the family member to provide evidence on the day of arrival. If not, one further interview represents adequate opportunity. When considering the location of the EEA national ports must take account of the fact that an EEA national can be absent for up to 6 months per year without affecting the family members right of residence. Paragraph 6.5, below, explains.
6.5 Continuity of residence
Continuity of residence under the EEA Regulations for the family member of a qualified person is not affected by the EEA national being absent from the UK for periods which are under six months in any year, periods of absence on military service or any one absence not exceeding 12 months for an important reason such as pregnancy and childbirth, serious illness, study or vocational training or an overseas posting.

This is derived from the UK Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2006:

Continuity of residence
3.—(1) This regulation applies for the purpose of calculating periods of continuous residence in
the United Kingdom under regulation 5(1) and regulation 15.
(2) Continuity of residence is not affected by —
(a) periods of absence from the United Kingdom which do not exceed six months in total in
any year;
(b) periods of absence from the United Kingdom on military service; or
(c) any one absence from the United Kingdom not exceeding twelve months for an important
reason such as pregnancy and childbirth, serious illness, study or vocational training or an
overseas posting.

Therefore nothing changes for you. Continue to use the EEA citizens queue at passport control, continue to NOT fill out a landing card, etc. If asked if the EEA citizen is currently in the UK, answer truthfully - no, he is not; he is away for a few months for a study programme. But the point is his place of residence remains the UK, he is still in school in the UK, he is coming back to the UK, etc.

Thank you very much. That's very helpful.