Applying for EEA family permit while holding visitor Visa

[passerby]

Let me summarise my situation

- I am french and I married my wife who in non EU citizen in Mar 2017 in Morocco while I was working in Germany
- We had our marriage recognised by french authorities and we have both a french and Moroccan wedding certificate
- She applied for a 2y UK visitor Visa and got one in July 2017
- I found a job in London and started in October2017
- We were happy to be in a Long distance relationship and she happily visited me very often for almost a year.
- She got pregnant recently and we decided she would move to the UK to be with me. her visitor visa is still valid

I understand she can apply for an EEA resident permit while on a visitor visa
- Would she be entitled to NHS care while applying for resident permit?
- does she enter the UK as tourist or she does have to inform the immigration officer at port of entry that she wants to apply for an EEA permit?

We are thinking of going for a EEA family visa first in a UK consulate but we are worried she might be refused one and that they might cancel her visitor visa which would be the worst thing that could happen to us.

Appreciate your thoughts.

[DerickChu]

Hi,
I had the same situation early this year.
I had 5 years valid visitor visa in my passport since 2016, then early this year i decided to move to UK with my partner.
A friend told me to apply for family permit, so in February 2018, i applied for family permit in Brussels.
After waiting for 5weeks, i called uk immigration, lawyers and so many people, then i found out that applying for family permit in Brussels was just a waste of time, i should have just travel to Uk with my visitors visa and apply for Residence card.
The next morning i looked at the HOME OFFICE Guidelines, and found out my partner and I meets all the requirement and we have all the documents.

So i went to Visa Application centre in Brussels and withdraw my family permit application, gathered all my documents, then bought our flight ticket to Uk and travel to UK

We got a place to stay, sent my FM Residence card application to home office, in 10 days i got BM and COA OF NO WORK and in about 2months 2weeks, i received my card.
Goodluck

[passerby]

Thank you so much!

did you enter as a tourist or you told the immigration officer that you planned to apply for EEA residence card?

can you clarify "BM and COA OF NO WORK "?

[DerickChu]

Hi,
I entered alone as a tourist, just like the way i have been visiting uk alone in the last 10years.

You don't have to create more questions for yourself telling immigration officer about residence card application and bla bla bla, just answer questions as a tourist which is your visa type, so you can tell how many days or weeks you staying in uk.. its up to as it has nothing to do with your intended residence card applications to HOME OFFICE.

I arrived alone, met my partner, who was here already 3weeks in Uk, found an apartment and then simply send your Fm residence card application to Home Office.

I didn't even submit any document for prove of address in Uk, probably because i was just arriving, all prof of address and all documents were from our address in BELGIUM.

My Biometric letter came together with COA of no work.
They wrote ( we could not confirm your right to work because you did not provide documentation evidence of relationship).

THATS TRUE!! I forgot to submit photos and communications, so the next day, i packed loads of pic and chat and banks history and official address history in Belgium and sent to Home office Liverpool, with a cover letter explaining the missing documents.

And gladly, two months 2weeks plus everything got sorted out, received my residence card.


Three things matter more, YOUR EEA PARTNER ELIGIBILITY TO LIVE IN UK AND THE GENUINENESS OF YOUR RELATIONSHIP AND PROVISION OF REQUIRED DOCUMENTS TO HOME OFFICE.

GOODLUCK

[passerby]

Hello again,

I understand my wife can not work until she get the COA which is fine, but will she be allowed NHS care? she is pregnant.

Shall Inform the home office that she is pregnant?

Thanks again.

[Richard W]

I understand my wife can not work until she get the COA which is fine, but will she be allowed NHS care? she is pregnant.

As she is a direct family member, I believe NHS care cannot legally be made dependent on her having a residence card. She gains her right to free* NHS care by being ordinarily resident in the UK and being the family member of an EU citizen genuinely and effectively working in the UK. If you are now planning to live together indefinitely, she will be ordinarily resident in the UK as soon as she is admitted to the UK.

*As near 'free' as it gets. Most if not all charges will vanish because she is pregnant.

[staring_elf]

Hi,
I entered alone as a tourist, just like the way i have been visiting uk alone in the last 10years.

You don't have to create more questions for yourself telling immigration officer about residence card application and bla bla bla, just answer questions as a tourist which is your visa type, so you can tell how many days or weeks you staying in uk.. its up to as it has nothing to do with your intended residence card applications to HOME OFFICE.

I arrived alone, met my partner, who was here already 3weeks in Uk, found an apartment and then simply send your Fm residence card application to Home Office.

I didn't even submit any document for prove of address in Uk, probably because i was just arriving, all prof of address and all documents were from our address in BELGIUM.

My Biometric letter came together with COA of no work.
They wrote ( we could not confirm your right to work because you did not provide documentation evidence of relationship).

THATS TRUE!! I forgot to submit photos and communications, so the next day, i packed loads of pic and chat and banks history and official address history in Belgium and sent to Home office Liverpool, with a cover letter explaining the missing documents.

And gladly, two months 2weeks plus everything got sorted out, received my residence card.


Three things matter more, YOUR EEA PARTNER ELIGIBILITY TO LIVE IN UK AND THE GENUINENESS OF YOUR RELATIONSHIP AND PROVISION OF REQUIRED DOCUMENTS TO HOME OFFICE.

GOODLUCK

Hi Derrick,

I understand that we need to provide 6 items(water/gas/phone bills) to show that my partner and I are living together. Did you do that?

I'm planning to withdraw the EEA FP application and go straigh to the UK to join my partner because there's still no news after a month of my appplication.

My concern is that if I arrive without an EEA FP, I won't be able to get the the bills under my name to show that my husband and I live together. These are the documents that are definitely needed by the HO right? What did you submit?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks

[DerickChu]

Firstly, It seems you ain’t paying attention to my reply, or probably you don’t understand my detailed explanation.
I mentioned that I didn’t submit any documents with UK adress, as i just moved to Uk with my Partner. All documents i submitted were from our joint home address in Belgium.

Secondly,
I advice you to travel without wasting weeks applying for family permit, just like i did.
Anyways it’s good you went ahead doing it your own ways, but sadly you came back making the same mistake i made, which you could have avoided with smart decisions.

Finally, all of us here are private individuals just like you, so I personally use my precious time to to share my experience honestly just to help others.

Good luck