French and American to live in the UK? How?

[PaulineSa]

Hi all!

This is probably a very frequent question.

I am french and my boyfriend is american. We have been dating for over a year and living together for 8 months. We would like to move in the UK.

I already read this in the forum:

"3. I am an EU national and want to sponsor my girlfriend to remain in the UK with me under EU law - is this possible?

Dependents/ family members of EU nationals exercising treaty rights in the UK have the right to remain in the UK even where they are themselves not EU nationals e.g the US citizen wife of a French national working in the UK. EU law defines dependents/ family members as your legal spouse, natural/ legally adopted children under 21 and relatives in the ascending line i.e. father, grandfather etc who are financially dependent on you. It also exlcudes as a family member any person who is party to a marriage of convenience to circumvent national immigration controls. Subsequently boyfriends, girlfriends, unmarried partners, fiances/ees etc are exluded from any benefits pertaining to EU law as they are not dependents/ family members. "

So what do i do?
Getting married? Where? UK or somewhere else?
And then is it better to apply for a Marriage visa or to use the law for the EEA family members??? What are my solutions here?

I am at the beginning of my research.
Thanks for your help!

[Wanderer]

Looks like marriage is ur only option. Partners (Extended Family Members) need to have a provable 'durable' relationship, I don't think you've been together long enough for that. It will be judged under UK rules, which is two years documented proof of living as man and wife.

So marriage, EEA rules as a Family Member of yours is the way forward as I see it.

Where are you living now and what's ur partners visa status if ur are both in EU?

[PaulineSa]

Thanks for your answer!

Yes sounds like marriage is the easiest.

We are currently both in the US. So would it be easier to get married in the US?
Then EEA2?
I was reading postings about the wait to get the EEA2 approval!! Pffff, more than 6 months!
Does a EEA2 give the right to work in the UK?

[Wanderer]

Thanks for your answer! :)

Yes sounds like marriage is the easiest.

We are currently both in the US. So would it be easier to get married in the US?
Then EEA2?
I was reading postings about the wait to get the EEA2 approval!! Pffff, more than 6 months! :(
Does a EEA2 give the right to work in the UK?

Easy to marry in US - do u have legal residency in US - if not I think u'll have to apply to a British embassy in France. EEA FP gives right to work yes, I'm not sure of the form numbers others will advise but the six months plus waits I'm sure are for the extension of the initial EEA FP in the UK. The initial EEA FP is for six months, then AIUI it's automatically extended to five years without a vignette being required if u r still together. Trouble is it's difficult in the UK now without visible proof of right to remain, ie employers won't employ for fear of a fine. Hence the need for a vignette showing the extended visa in passport, hence lots of applicants, hence a long wait....

I've explained that really badly.....

[PaulineSa]

Lol I think i have pretty much understood you!
It would be difficult for my boyfriend to get a job...

I do not have US residency. Are you talking about the marriage or the EEA procedure that i would have to apply in a British embassy in France?
I have the EEA form here and they say to send it to Liverpool.
I am surprised because in this form they ask the UK address of the non-EEA member... So he needs to be on the UK territory to apply?! as a visitor?

Do you have any idea of the chance of success of this procedure?

[Wanderer]

Lol I think i have pretty much understood you!
It would be difficult for my boyfriend to get a job...

I do not have US residency. Are you talking about the marriage or the EEA procedure that i would have to apply in a British embassy in France?
I have the EEA form here and they say to send it to Liverpool.
I am surprised because in this form they ask the UK address of the non-EEA member... So he needs to be on the UK territory to apply?! as a visitor?

Do you have any idea of the chance of success of this procedure?

I think the Liverpool address is for the extension but I could be wrong - hoping for someone else to jump in...

To be honest I'm a bit out of my depth here so I'd wait for others rather than get ur hopes up. It shouldn't be an ordeal tho - I'm sure you won't have any problems based on what u've told us.

[86ti]

Thanks for your answer!

Yes sounds like marriage is the easiest.

We are currently both in the US. So would it be easier to get married in the US?
Then EEA2?
I was reading postings about the wait to get the EEA2 approval!! Pffff, more than 6 months!
Does a EEA2 give the right to work in the UK?

What you need to enter the UK is a EEA family permit (form VAF5) which is similar to a visa and you can obtain one at the UK embassy in your country of residence. But US citizens don't need visa for short term visits. Some people here say that it shouldn't be a problem to enter the UK without one in this case.

What some here call EEA2 is actually the residence card for the non-EEA national. You apply for this residence permit after you've arrived. The waiting times at the moment seem to be well beyond 6 months at the moment.

Here a link detailling your rights.

[PaulineSa]

Thanks very much, this is very helpful!

[Richard66]

Why apply for a document you do not need, viz., an EEA FP? The document's only purpose is to allow entry for visa nationals who are family members of EEA citizens. There is no rule that to apply for a residence card you need an EEA FP. Am I mistaken?

[yankeegirl]

No Richard you're not mistaken. However, while a family permit is not *needed* to enter the UK, it does make day to day life MUCH easier. You can be armed to the teeth with all the relevant legislation, but it would be near impossible to do things like register with a GP or apply for an NI number or open a bank account without some sort of endorsement in your passport. And, most people prefer to get these things out of the way before sending off their passport for the residence card, since you could be without it for 6 months. Also, the application is free, so you're saving yourself a lot of hassle and it's really not costing anything to do so.

I can't remember the name, but there was a poster on here a few months ago, I think the poster was also from the US, and came to Northern Ireland without the family permit and the poor thing encountered one hassle after another trying to do things like getting a bank account and a job. Nobody would do anything for her since there was nothing endorsed in her passport.

[Richard66]

On what basis does the UK hold your passport back? I am not aware such a practice is legal. In Italy, where I live, and in France and Germany, where I lived before, they legally could ask for no more than photocopies, to be checked against the originals.

About it costing nothing... You are right, as long as you live next door to the visa application centre. If my wife were to apply for example, we would be set back at least £200 for this "free" document and this is not an extreme case either.

[PaulineSa]

So as i understood it would be first a EEA FP to enter the UK (which is optional) and then the residence card while we are in the UK.

So can the non-EEA family member work while waiting for the residence card approval with a EEA FP?
Is this the goal of the EEA FP?

Thanks very much for your help!

[Richard66]

As I mentioned before, the EEA FP's aim is to allow you entry into the UK.

As a rule, in any EEA country, you can work without the residence card, as your right of residence derives not from the possession of a document, but from your family ties alone. The problem, as you will read in the forum, is to convince employers this is indeed the case. Most will want to see a residence card before risking giving you even a glass of water.

[86ti]

You should receive a CoA (=Certificate of Application) soon after your application which also has a HO telephone number offering information for prospective employers. For some the CoA alone worked out (sometimes only after some convincing), for some it didn't.