Pre-settled EU citizen, married to non EU international student in UK

[Lferrao]

Hi ,

I’m an EU citizen on pre-settled status. I have been in relationships with a non-EU international student in UK and recently married her in UK. She’s in her last semester and her student visa is due to expire in 4 months. Now I want to have her visa changed to partner of EU citizen (family).

Please help me find what category we need to apply her visa extension and what is the list of documents required.

Best Regards

[kamoe]

She needs to apply for the Settlement Scheme, just as you did, including your application number to link her application to yours when requested. She'll likely get Pre-Settled Status, and for this, she will probably only need to upload a scan of your marriage certificate, and if she does not have a National Insurance Number or has not used it for work during her studies, she might also be asked a student certificate from her University.

If she has a biometric card, she can do this via the app; otherwise, she might need to post her passport (Select the appropriate choice for her application method when prompted).

[lisa1933]

She needs to apply for the Settlement Scheme, just as you did, including your application number to link her application to yours when requested. She'll likely get Pre-Settled Status, and for this, she will probably only need to upload a scan of your marriage certificate, and if she does not have a National Insurance Number or has not used it for work during her studies, she might also be asked a student certificate from her University.

If she has a biometric card, she can do this via the app; otherwise, she might need to post her passport (Select the appropriate choice for her application method when prompted).

Students cannot verify identity via the app as you need a BRC (and not a BRP) to do that. However, I was in exact same situation and did not need to post my passport - the biometric appointment counted as an ID check.

[lisa1933]

She needs to apply for the Settlement Scheme, just as you did, including your application number to link her application to yours when requested. She'll likely get Pre-Settled Status, and for this, she will probably only need to upload a scan of your marriage certificate, and if she does not have a National Insurance Number or has not used it for work during her studies, she might also be asked a student certificate from her University.

If she has a biometric card, she can do this via the app; otherwise, she might need to post her passport (Select the appropriate choice for her application method when prompted).

Also, a migration lawyer I spoke to indicated that a marriage certificate alone might be far from enough. So I would go with uploading 10 documents (as it’s the limit) and choose them wisely.

[kamoe]

Students cannot verify identity via the app as you need a BRC (and not a BRP) to do that.

Not what the EUSS page says:

Proof of identity
You need a valid passport or national identity card. You also need to provide a digital photo of your face.

If you’re not an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen, you can use any of the following:

valid passport
biometric residence card
biometric residence permit

[lisa193]

Students cannot verify identity via the app as you need a BRC (and not a BRP) to do that.

Not what the EU Settlement Scheme page says:

Proof of identity
You need a valid passport or national identity card. You also need to provide a digital photo of your face.

If you’re not an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen, you can use any of the following:

valid passport
biometric residence card
biometric residence permit

I apologize for the wording. I meant students cannot use a BRP to verify their identity through the app.

[kamoe]

I apologize for the wording. I meant students cannot use a BRP to verify their identity through the app.

Thanks.

Can you please elaborate on your comment? Why do you say this? Did you try being a student yourself, with a BRP, and it did not let you go ahead with it? If so, what was the error message? Or was this information you got from the EUSS Resolution Centre?

Do you think this applies to all students, or only students without a NINO, or active contributions to NI, for example?

I find it misleading, but unsurprising, that this is not specified anywhere and would seem that as long as you have either a BRC or a BRP, you could apply using the app.

[lisa1933]

I apologize for the wording. I meant students cannot use a BRP to verify their identity through the app.

Thanks.

Can you please elaborate on your comment? Why do you say this? Did you try being a student yourself, with a BRP, and it did not let you go ahead with it? If so, what was the error message? Or was this information you got from the EU Settlement Scheme Resolution Centre?

Do you think this applies to all students, or only students without a NINO, or active contributions to NI, for example?

I find it misleading, but unsurprising, that this is not specified anywhere and would seem that as long as you have either a BRC or a BRP, you could apply using the app.

I am on Tier 4, applied for the Settlement scheme as my husband is an EU citizen.

It was impossible to verify identity through the app with the BRP (I do have NiNo and have been living in the uk/ working here for a couple of years). I had to choose “post” as an option when filling out my application. However, I never actually had to post my passport. I was very concerned about that - so I called the Resolution centre where they kindly explained this to me that going to the biometric appointment counted as an ID check and I don’t have to post anything. This was by far the most unclear part of the process which affected my travel plans quite a bit as I was first sure I didn’t have to send the passport as could use the app (as it doesn’t state anywhere that you cannot), then had to choose “post” as an option so I’ve assumed o wont be travel while my passport is being with the HO. However, it later turned out I didn’t have to sent it at all.

[kamoe]

It was impossible to verify identity through the app with the BRP (I do have NiNo and have been living in the uk/ working here for a couple of years).

Did you receive at any point an error message or warning telling you this was because you were using a Tier 4 BRP? From what you explain, this is one incidence of a personal experience, which is very different than substantial proof that that this is a general policy and that all students will have the same problem (I can say that it takes some time to get the phone app to scan passports or BRCs correctly, it comes down to finding "the knack of it", realizing that different documents store the chip in different regions of the card/page).

Again, my experience is only that, another experience, and a good way to shed some light would be to open a new thread asking Tier 4 students who have applied, about their experience. If and only if there is a consistent trend expressed by other posters, which is similar to yours, then we can conclude this is something that happens to students in general.

Nonetheless, this is of course useful to know, so thanks for sharing.

I had to choose “post” as an option when filling out my application. However, I never actually had to post my passport. I was very concerned about that - so I called the Resolution centre where they kindly explained this to me that going to the biometric appointment counted as an ID check and I don’t have to post anything. This was by far the most unclear part of the process which affected my travel plans quite a bit as I was first sure I didn’t have to send the passport as could use the app (as it doesn’t state anywhere that you cannot), then had to choose “post” as an option so I’ve assumed o wont be travel while my passport is being with the HO. However, it later turned out I didn’t have to sent it at all.

Yes, I can see how that would be annoying, and if you haven't done it, please feel the feedback form, or send a written complain to the Resolution Center using their contact form, asking them to please correct the wording on the page. This is having an impact on many people, and is not the only instance of misleading information siting on the EUSS website.

[lisa1933]

It was impossible to verify identity through the app with the BRP (I do have NiNo and have been living in the uk/ working here for a couple of years).

Did you receive at any point an error message or warning telling you this was because you were using a Tier 4 BRP? From what you explain, this is one incidence of a personal experience, which is very different than substantial proof that that this is a general policy and that all students will have the same problem (I can say that it takes some time to get the phone app to scan passports or BRCs correctly, it comes down to finding "the knack of it", realizing that different documents store the chip in different regions of the card/page).

Again, my experience is only that, another experience, and a good way to shed some light would be to open a new thread asking Tier 4 students who have applied, about their experience. If and only if there is a consistent trend expressed by other posters, which is similar to yours, then we can conclude this is something that happens to students in general.

Nonetheless, this is of course useful to know, so thanks for sharing.

I had to choose “post” as an option when filling out my application. However, I never actually had to post my passport. I was very concerned about that - so I called the Resolution centre where they kindly explained this to me that going to the biometric appointment counted as an ID check and I don’t have to post anything. This was by far the most unclear part of the process which affected my travel plans quite a bit as I was first sure I didn’t have to send the passport as could use the app (as it doesn’t state anywhere that you cannot), then had to choose “post” as an option so I’ve assumed o wont be travel while my passport is being with the HO. However, it later turned out I didn’t have to sent it at all.

Yes, I can see how that would be annoying, and if you haven't done it, please feel the feedback form, or send a written complain to the Resolution Center using their contact form, asking them to please correct the wording on the page. This is having an impact on many people, and is not the only instance of misleading information siting on the EU Settlement Scheme website.

It literally says that you can use a residence card or a biometric passport to verify your identity with the app. Here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/using-the-e ... -check-app
BRP is not a residence card..