Options to Change Employer After Marrying an EAA National

[sunil_kumar]

Hi Everyone ,
This is my first post and I am fairly new to this discussion board which seems really useful.

I have submitted my appplication for Certificate of Approval for Marriage , with my French Girlfriend last week . I currently have a Work Permit untill Mar 07 and I have been living in UK since Sep 03 .

I would like to know if it is preferrable to change my Work Permit to a Spouse Visa so that I can change my Employer ? Also if I need to change my employer after marriage, is there any other Visa I could apply for with success (except HSMP as it takes months to get one) ?

Thanks in Anticipation ,
Sunny

[John]

Hi, if your wife (as she will be) is French, and doesn't actually hold a British ILR visa, you would not be entitled to a spouse visa. However all is not lost.

Once the two of you are married you will be entitled to an EEA Family Permit. The good news is that it will cost you nothing to get such an EEA Family Permit.

What does an EEA Family Permit do? It basically confirms that you have the same rights as an EEA national, at least as the UK is concerned. That is, your wife is French and therefore has the right to live and work anywhere in the EEA, including the UK. You will have the same rights.

That is, a UK-issued EEA Family Permit will give you the right to live and work in the UK. Your work permit becomes redundant.

[sunil_kumar]

Hi John ,
Thanks a lot for your information .This Message board is absolutely stunning in service requests .

Also there are 3 more questions coming out of your suggestion then .

1. Do you have any idea on the work-around times (also best time to apply - like just after marriage or a bit later) for applying and getting the EAA Family Permit and name of the Forms (couldn't spot one on the IND website) ?

2. When browsing through the IND site I had seen the some sections where contents under EAA Family Permit were deleted . So can I assume that they are still being issued by the Home Office ?

3. Does it allow me to change my employer (it might sound daft but just want to be sure before I apply for one ) and if yes , do I need to notify that to my current employer and Home Office too ?

Thanks a lot for your immediate response earlier .

Regards,
Sunny

[John]

Hi, using your numbering :-

1. Go to Application Forms and then download a form EEC1. On looking at that form you will see that your wife (as she will be) is effectively the applicant but your details are entered as well. Both of you will end up with a British Residence Permit in your passports. Current response times? Sorry, unaware.
2. Sorry, I have not spotted that.
3. Yes! Think of it this way. A French citizen has the right to live and work in the UK. They can work for anyone and do not need a work permit in order to work for anyone. On marrying a French citizen you will acquire the same rights ... under community law ..... but you just need an EEA Family Permit in your passport to prove it.

Just to emphasise, the application needs to be made after the marriage.

Your wife getting a British Residence Permit in her passport? At a minimum it cannot do any harm. At best, four years later form EEC2 could be used to get ILR. And the same applies to you. A year after getting ILR the two of you (or either of you) could apply for British Citizenship.

Hope this helps.

[sunil_kumar]

Thanks again John ,
You are a star . I have been waiting anxiously for your reply .

Well ... My wife does not have a British Residence Permit in her Passport.

-So my understanding is that EEC1 Application is the Resident Document for me and a Residence Permit for her . Is that right ?

- They seem to ask no information my employment which seems very strange .

- I think we both can apply for one once we get married ? What is your opinion on the same ?

- Also on the COA (Marriage) there seems to be no queries on the site ? Do you have any information as to what do they really look for when approving the COA application . (My WP is untill Mar 07 , living in UK since 03' and am a Project Manager in an IT Firm since 03')

Thanks John . Your information does help .

[John]

Hi, firstly the COA (Marriage) ..... do appreciate that this is very new. The legislation only took effect on 1st February. To my recollection you are the first person on this Board to say you have applied. No doubt you will receive the Home Office permission soon, and will then proceed to give the Notice of Intention to Marry. Criteria to issue the permission? That you are not just in the UK on a visitor's visa, and that more than three months is left on your current visa, or you are in the country on a fiancé(e) visa or "Marriage Visitor's" visa. So from what you have posted you should get your permission.

When to apply for the EEA Family Permit? No problem in you doing that straight after the marriage. Community law gives you your rights as soon as the marriage happens, but you need the EEA Family Permit in order to prove that.

So my understanding is that EEC1 Application is the Resident Document for me and a Residence Permit for her . Is that right ?

Both will be stickers in your respective passports. The design of both will be as now dictated by EU regulation.

Information about your employment? In a sense, not relevant. It is from your wife that you gain your rights. She has the right to work and live in the UK, so they are asking the basis of her living in the UK. You might never have been to the UK. Many EEA Family Permits are issued abroad. For example, Irish citizen living in the UK marries a Thai citizen in Thailand, after which he/she is issued with an EEA Family Permit in Bangkok. The Thai citizen may never have previously been to the UK.

Of course you have, and can apply for your EEA Family Permit in the UK.

[sunil_kumar]

Thanks John ,

I would post the details on the COA (hopefully when I get my COA approved ) on the site and maybe it might help a few later .

Thanks for your information . This site is helpful .... I mean it .

Thanks all ,
Would keep everyone posted on the details once through...

Thanks again John ...

Cheers,
Sunny

When to apply for the EEA Family Permit? No problem in you doing that straight after the marriage. Community law gives you your rights as soon as the marriage happens, but you need the EEA Family Permit in order to prove that.

Also I hope you mean 'Marriage Certificate' rather than EEA Family Permit in your statement above (After Marriage)

[John]

Quote:

When to apply for the EEA Family Permit? No problem in you doing that straight after the marriage. Community law gives you your rights as soon as the marriage happens, but you need the EEA Family Permit in order to prove that.

Also I hope you mean 'Marriage Certificate' rather than EEA Family Permit in your statement above (After Marriage)

Just to clarify .... at the end of the marriage ceremony you and your wife will be handed the Marriage Certificate. Under community law you then gain your rights immediately. That is, you have the right to live and work in the UK, as a third-country family member of an EEA citizen.

However, how do you prove you have those rights? By getting an EEA Family Permit put into your passport.

[Kayalami]

sunil_kumar,

To add to John's comments:

1. None of the treaty laws apply to you until you are married. Note that treaty laws exclude applicants who are party to a marriage of convenience to circumvent national immigration laws from the definition of 'family member' of an EEA national.

2. To be eligible for the EEA family permit your spouse must be exercising treaty rights i.e employed, self employed.

3. Your current visa and any status linked to it (e.g as you are on a WP you must remain employed at the sponsor's) remain in place until the Home Office issue you an EEA family permit.

5. My interpretation of why the relevant sections in the immigration rules were deleted - ambiguity as to the treatment of non EEA family vis a vis EAA family members and practices contrary to treaty law such as police registration. Hoever there are EEA regulations in place to deal with entry/ remaining under treaty laws - seems like the Home Office hasn't put them up.