Family Permit expiring! No residence card yet. Concerns?

[davelebon]

Hi, I'm an American citizen in the UK with my EEA wife.
It took us a long time to get all the documents in order to submit our EEA QP (self sufficient) and EEA FM applications just recently. Now I've got about 1.5 months left on my Family Permit which is probably not even enough time to get my residence card if all goes well.

If there are any difficulties with getting the residence card, will I be ok to continue to reside in the UK assuming the residence card gets sorted out within some reasonable time?

And if it's ok to reside in the country during this process once the family permit is expired, is it too risky to leave and re-enter the country once the family permit expires?

Thanks for any advice/similar experiences.

[davelebon]

I guess if i get a COA -- I'll be fine to travel.

If I find myself without COA after the Family Permit expires:
-is there any concern about re-entering the UK as a tourist since as an American I can enter for 6 months visa free (or will my time in the UK under the family permit count against that?)
-Or is the better strategy to simply bring my pile of papers-- marriage cert, lease, copy of wife's passport (assuming I travel alone).
-I won't travel if I absolutely don't need to, but it still has me concerned that I could be considered as overstaying my visa.

[GMB]

-is there any concern about re-entering the UK as a tourist since as an American I can enter for 6 months visa free (or will my time in the UK under the family permit count against that?)

Never re-enter as a tourist because you're not one. That could end up causing you other problems. Present yourself to the Border Force officer and state that you are entering under EU law due to your status as an EU family member. As long as you can prove that relationship, and that your EU sponsor is exercising treaty rights, you cannot be denied entry.

-Or is the better strategy to simply bring my pile of papers-- marriage cert, lease, copy of wife's passport (assuming I travel alone).

All that, plus proof your wife is exercising treaty rights in the UK.

[davelebon]

Brilliant -- that makes perfect sense. Thanks a million.

[GMB]

Forgot to add that you can't 'overstay' a family permit. It's not a visa, and the expiration date of the FP doesn't mean the same thing. For a visa, it means that's when the visa is no longer valid and you have to reapply or be out of the country. For the FP, that date merely defines the 'window' during which you must use it to enter the UK for the very first time with the intention of residing. You could then legally live in the UK the rest of your life with the expired FP (Brexit notwithstanding) because your right to reside derives directly from your spouse, not from that piece of paper.