Registering took about 10 minutes where I was interviewed by an immigration officer. The interview was informal and I was asked questions such as
- who is my spouse
- where does my spouse live
- when were we married
- how long have we been together
- why I did not apply for the EEA FP when intially enterting the UK (I am a non-visa national)
- have i resided in the UK prior to applying for my residence card
- what does my spouse do for a living
- where does my spouse work
- why has my residence card been issued as a separate document to my passport.
My residence card has been issued as a separate immigration status document and the stamp was not endorsed on my passport. When asked by the immigration officer why this was done, I pointed out the inconvience of this such as not being able to apply for a schengen visa in london and at some point, I will have to re-submit an EEA 2 application to get the stamp transferred which could take up to 7 months by current timeframes. He agreed.
The registration involved pictures of my eyes being taken and one photo of my face for their database and I was issued with a paper with confirmation of my registration and my registration number. My registration on the scheme is valid for the same length of time as my residence card.
The benefits of registration was that when re-entering the UK, I walked straight up to the Iris Recognition booth (there was no queues) and within 2 seconds I was on my way to collect my baggage. It was very quick and I did not need my passport, residence card, marriage certificate..seems that my eyes were enough
I was very pleased as the queues for 'ALL other passports' and 'British and EU Passport holders' were snaking around. Another benefit for me was not having to deal with the immigration officers who I have found can be a law onto themselves, stamping your passports and residence cards which is contrary to the Directive. The last thing I wanted to do it have a debate abotu why they issued my residnece card separate to my passport after a 10 hour flight.
The only disadvantage is the long wait for luggage once you are pass immigration but that is an issue of travelling lighter next time
