EEA Family Permit...wife cannot get hired!

[soul.biz]

Please help us!

My wife and I are now in the UK. I am an EU National from Spain and am currently employed in the UK.

My wife (Canadian) who is experienced in the banking industry, had an interview today with Barclays and was sent home prior to the interview due to the fact that her spousal visa is valid only until march 2009, and they require her to have a visa for a minimum of one year!

Well, this is not possible for another 8-9 months, since it takes that long for her to receive her extension...according to the UK Border Agency.

I thought that she could exercise her rights as a spouse of an EU National and that it doesn't matter what her visa status is, but this is not true for the banking industry, as it is a risk...I guess they are not aware of the difference between a spousal visa and any other visa?

Please tell us what to do! We will not be able to afford to stay here with only one of us working, and my wife can always go for another position but it will be lesser salary...which we also cannot afford!

Cheers,

Arun

[86ti]

The EEA family permit is not a spousal visa and you do not apply for extension but for a residence card. Did you do that already? Soon after you do so you should receive a CoA (= certificate of application) which as far as I remember states that non-EEA spouses have the right to work. There should also be a telephone number to home office for prospective employers should they have doubts.

Yes, in principle your wife has the right to work immediatly but even with the CoA people find it difficult to find work. I would think, however, that Barclays' legal deparment would know immigration regulations.

I hope some other people here can give you more advise.

[thsths]

My wife (Canadian) who is experienced in the banking industry, had an interview today with Barclays and was sent home prior to the interview due to the fact that her spousal visa is valid only until march 2009, and they require her to have a visa for a minimum of one year!

Hmhm, that is a difficult situation. I assume that she has an EEA Family Permit, which states the right to work? Then You should ask them politely to reconsider. Since this is a visa leading to settlement, there should be no requirement on the validity.

If they still discriminate against your wife, she could sue them, but I do not think that is a good start for a career...

Of course she should also apply for a Residence Card. After a few months, she will get a Certificate of Application, and the employer takes that as evidence of her right to work.

[vinny]

See also Preventing illegal working > Guidance booklets for United Kingdom employers.

[republique]

The EEA family permit is not a spousal visa and you do not apply for extension but for a residence card. Did you do that already? Soon after you do so you should receive a CoA (= certificate of application) which as far as I remember states that non-EEA spouses have the right to work. There should also be a telephone number to home office for prospective employers should they have doubts.

Yes, in principle your wife has the right to work immediatly but even with the CoA people find it difficult to find work. I would think, however, that Barclays' legal deparment would know immigration regulations.

I hope some other people here can give you more advise.

It is really a sign of the times, that they are not being diligent in their understanding of how these visas work.
Very strange, because I once started a job with one month to go on my visa and they didn't even blink.

[Richard66]

Maybe this approach is exclusively Italian, but here, when they say things like that they really mean they are not interested but are too polite to say so.

[republique]

Maybe this approach is exclusively Italian, but here, when they say things like that they really mean they are not interested but are too polite to say so.

Yes I thought that that might be the case too.
So maybe you will have to call them on it and ask them is it really the visa or they looking for a polite excuse because you the visa is valid and will be renewed so there is no issue there.

[soul.biz]

Thanks to all of you for your immediate replies...this job board has really helped us in the last months!

My wife and I are in the process of applying for the residence card and will be submitting it by the end of this week. I am aware that we receive a COA letter within 2-3 weeks after submission of application, but we were wondering if there was a more immediate way of showing that she is legally entitled to work in the UK.

What my wife has done in the meantime is spoken with the HR department at Barclays and they have been really helpful and understanding about the situation. They have informed her that they will find out further the process, as they are not aware of what to do in the situation...I suppose they have not dealt with or hired an EEA national spouse?

Anyways, Barclays will get back to her within a few days letting her know what documents to provide...hopefully it will all go smoothly and either passports and the marriage certificate will be proof or if not, then the COA which we should receive in 2-3 weeks.

Either way, Barclays is holding a place for her until she brings in the valid documents, whatever they may be, which we found very nice of them as many employers don't really do that! So we don't want to sue them or anything! My wife just really wants to work with them as they have excellent opportunities to grow within.

[soul.biz]

sorry, I said "this job board" in the stress of everything and actually meant to say that this immigration forum has really helped us a lot. Thank you all again! I don't know what we would do without all of your replies!

[republique]

Thanks to all of you for your immediate replies...this job board has really helped us in the last months!

My wife and I are in the process of applying for the residence card and will be submitting it by the end of this week. I am aware that we receive a COA letter within 2-3 weeks after submission of application, but we were wondering if there was a more immediate way of showing that she is legally entitled to work in the UK.

What my wife has done in the meantime is spoken with the HR department at Barclays and they have been really helpful and understanding about the situation. They have informed her that they will find out further the process, as they are not aware of what to do in the situation...I suppose they have not dealt with or hired an EEA national spouse?

Anyways, Barclays will get back to her within a few days letting her know what documents to provide...hopefully it will all go smoothly and either passports and the marriage certificate will be proof or if not, then the COA which we should receive in 2-3 weeks.

Either way, Barclays is holding a place for her until she brings in the valid documents, whatever they may be, which we found very nice of them as many employers don't really do that! So we don't want to sue them or anything! My wife just really wants to work with them as they have excellent opportunities to grow within.

Good for you. There are so many people who come on here and when we tell them that isn't how it is supposed to work, they sulk in a corner and whine expecting us to pick them up. I am glad you spoke to them to get them to be more forthcoming. However like the previous poster said, get the phone number or email bia to confirm the situation

[soul.biz]

However like the previous poster said, get the phone number or email bia to confirm the situation

I'm sorry, I need a little clarification...I'm not sure what phone number or email you are referring to...could you please specify?

Thank You =)

[soul.biz]

However like the previous poster said, get the phone number or email bia to confirm the situation

I'm sorry, I need a little clarification...I'm not sure what phone number or email you are referring to...could you please specify?

Thank You =)

I've found this on the bia site: 'You can contact the employers' helpline on 0845 010 6677 for further advice or information on the immigration rules when employing an overseas national.'

I'm now just not sure of there is an email address?[/quote]

[thsths]

Anyways, Barclays will get back to her within a few days letting her know what documents to provide...hopefully it will all go smoothly and either passports and the marriage certificate will be proof or if not, then the COA which we should receive in 2-3 weeks.

That is excellent news. Since the CoA should be issued "immediately", it is probably overdue now (and it can take several months to arrive if you are unlucky). But you can send a mail to the complaints department NWCSU@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk, and they usually confirm receiving your application within a few days. That letter should then satisfy Barclays.

And good luck with the interview!

[soul.biz]

Hi there guys,

Thank you again for being here! Thanks for bearing with us!

I have a few questions about our possibilities but I need to give you a bit of info about what's been happening since I last wrote on this topic. First reminder: I'm the EU (Spain) citizen and my wife is Canadian.

Around the 2nd week of Dec, Barclays HR Dept said they would get back to us reg their research into my wife's employability (cuz she only had EEA FP valid till May 09), but we got no reply and assuming that it was X'mas and all, my wife wrote to them around Dec 28th and they replied saying she would be called for an interview again and everything was sorted out.

During the month of December we wanted to send in EEA2 App but didn't cuz I wasn't working. We didn't want to send in an Application with the Employment Section empty.

My wife gets called to an interview on Jan 5th for the second time with Barclays, who communicated that they spoke to UKBA and that my wife could go ahead with the interview process (we gave them the HO Contact line for Employers). She goes for her interview and once again the same story, but this time she fights her way through to the interviewing manager because she refuses to leave without being assesed after being called a second time for an interview (what can I say, Barclays really wants to hire her, but cannot without proof). It turned out, that HR forgot to mention in their email to my wife that she needed to provide the CoA to be able to get in the interview. So everyone apologised to my wife but she was sent home again, this time with the certainty that without the CoA she can't work there (she's considering other options even if she gets the CoA).

One of you answered in another topic that we could apply for EEA2 without being employed within the first 3 months of being in the UK. So that's what we did.

We sent in the application with both of our Passport Photocopies, the Original Marriage Certificate & the Join-Bank Account Statements (as proof of address and joint finances), the application filled out with the Employment section empty (cuz we aren't currently working - I'm searching for employment) and a Cover letter.

The cover letter explains the following:
a.)why we need the CoA urgently (for my wife to work),
b.)why we sent in photocopies of passports (we read here that we could do that, and send original when they process application. Did we do wrong? Will the CoA come later because of that?)
c.)why the employment section has not been filled (because neither of us are currenly working)

I hope to have been clear and concise in communicating our situation, so you guyz can give me some insight on what you think is going to happen after having sent in the application on Jan 8th 2009 (it's been 3 weeks and no CoA).

Thanks again!

[thsths]

The cover letter explains the following:
a.)why we need the CoA urgently (for my wife to work),
b.)why we sent in photocopies of passports (we read here that we could do that, and send original when they process application. Did we do wrong? Will the CoA come later because of that?)
c.)why the employment section has not been filled (because neither of us are currenly working)

I would just apply as job seeking. If you have been working in the UK before, that shows that you are employable. This should not matter for the CoA at all, and once the application is actually being considered (in 6 months or so), you will probably have another job.

[soul.biz]

Thank you for your helpful reply!

Do you know how long it would take to receive the COA?

Thanks again!

[soul.biz]

I've been reading cases of ppl for whom the CoA has taken over 2 months....can anyone suggest how to get it asap? My wife can't work without it....

Much appreciated, once again!

[fysicus]

the law states that the COA must be issued immediately, and the Residence Card within six months of the application. With the current actual processing times the HO/UKBA is in very clear breach of the law.
If this is preventing you from getting a job, I think there are ample grounds for a very serious complaint!

[LG]

Hallo,

I am writing to you and hoping that someone could give us a help. I am a lithuanian citizen studying in London, my husband is a non-EEA national who got an EEA family permit and apparently it is just for 6 months. He was told at the embassy that issued the EEA family permit to him that he would be able to extend in UK, therefore all I read is that I have to be registered in a working scheme, which is not possible because I am a student. So what happens now? where can it be extended as for students spouse?
Thank you in advance
L

[vinny]

Hallo,

I am writing to you and hoping that someone could give us a help. I am a lithuanian citizen studying in London, my husband is a non-EEA national who got an EEA family permit and apparently it is just for 6 months. He was told at the embassy that issued the EEA family permit to him that he would be able to extend in UK, therefore all I read is that I have to be registered in a working scheme, which is not possible because I am a student. So what happens now? where can it be extended as for students spouse?
Thank you in advance
L

I believe that non-working Accession State Nationals who are students may apply for a residence certificate (EEA1) and their family members may apply for a residence card (EEA2).