EEA family permit via tourist visa

[Raj1719]

Hello All.
I am currently living in France( non EU with India passport) with my wife (french nationality) and we are planning to move UK.Could anyone help us on this situation.am I eligible to apply for EEA family permit from france or shall we proceed with tourist visa to UK initially and can we apply for EEA permit from Uk,If anyone comeacross same kind of sitauation, please help me on this and would be highly appreciated.

[kamoe]

If you intend to arrive in the UK before 29th March:

You can apply for a Family Permit in France, for which you are eligible as the spouse of a EU national intending to move to the UK.

Alternatively, if you have an Article 10 card issued in France, as the spouse of a French national, you can come to the UK without a Family Permit (https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa/y/india/family/yes). Have your marriage certificate with you to show at border control.

Then, once you are in the UK you can either apply for

a) a Residence Card (only eligible if you arrive in the UK before 29th March 2019) or

b) Pre-Settled status.

If you intend to arrive in the UK after 29th March, the situation is much more uncertain, as:

If The UK leaves the EU with a deal, you have until the 31st December 2020 to come to the UK, and until 30th June 2021 to apply for Pre-Settled Status only.

If the UK leaves the EU with no-deal, you you will not be eligible to apply for any of the above. You and your wife will need instead to apply for the proposed European Temporary Leave to Remain route, which will not entitle you to stay in the UK more than 3 years, after which you need to apply to stay through a new immigration system.

[Raj1719]

thanks for your reply.

I am planning to move UK intially with tourist visa before brexit , so that I can switch to EEA family permit.
Is it possible or please tell me right option to proceed. its been only two weeks have gone from arrival in france.not yet started my formalities like residence card , OFII as it will take minimum of 6 months.

[CR001]

What is your immigration status in France??

[kamoe]

I am planning to move UK intially with tourist visa before brexit , so that I can switch to EEA family permit. Is it possible or please tell me right option to proceed.

The right procedure is to apply for a Family Permit in France (step 1), then switch to a Residence Card in the UK (step 2).

A Family Permit is the entry clearance you will use to enter the UK in the first place. You can only apply for a Family Permit outside of the UK and it has a validity of only 6 moths. As I already responded in my first paragraph of my previous answer, you can, and should, apply for this in France.

You cannot "switch" to a Family Permit in the UK. What you mistake for Family Permit is what is called Residence Card (5 year validity). You can switch to this once you are in the UK.

So:

Step 1 (in France): All info for applying for a family Permit is here: https://www.gov.uk/family-permit
Step 2 (In UK): All info for applying for a Residence Card is here: https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-a-uk-residence-card

Again, keep in mind all of this is ending come March 29th.

its been only two weeks have gone from arrival in france.not yet started my formalities like residence card , OFII as it will take minimum of 6 months.

Then you are not living in France.

[Raj1719]

I am currently in france and holding spouse visa for one year which is renewable.

[kamoe]

I am currently in france and holding spouse visa for one year which is renewable.

then your route as I said, is:

Step 1: Family Permit in France
Step 2: Residence Card in UK

Applying for a tourist visa is not also much more expensive, it has little chance of success since you ordinarily need to prove you will come back to France or your contry of origine after your visit to the UK. If your intention is to stay in the UK, then what you are supposed to do is apply for a Family Permit IN FRANCE (this is free).