travelling while waiting for EEA4 result

[toni999]

We urgently need to travel to italy as we need to sign property deeds in both names in Italy, the passports are with the home office at the moment.

I am Italian, she is Japanese and we are married, been here for 6 years on previous EEA Spouse visa which lasted 5 years and now expired.

Application was received and acknowledged by the HOME OFFICE.

I have phoned them and one the of monkeys who answered the phone tried to talking me into not doing it.

1) application will take longer, I answered it is fine
(should should it take longer anyway? they have seen the passport, why they need it anyway?)

2) when your wife is travelling back will be refused entry becuase she has no visa.

As far I am concerned Japanese are non visa national and they can enter the UK as tourists. On top of that she has the letter from the home office that they are considering the application and they have 6 months to answer the letter also state that she can work in UK, assuming that she has some rights here while the application is being processes..


So what are our rights? can we travel or not? On which grounds can they refuse entry when we return?

[86ti]

As far I am concerned Japanese are non visa national and they can enter the UK as tourists. On top of that she has the letter from the home office that they are considering the application and they have 6 months to answer the letter also state that she can work in UK, assuming that she has some rights here while the application is being processes.

Exactly that, except that she would not enter as a tourist but regularly as a family member. The CoA should be proof enough.

The passport is obviously needed to endorse it with the residence card.

Refusals on grounds of public security, policy or health.

[toni999]

sorry what is the CoA ?

[86ti]

The letter you have received.

[toni999]

the monkey who answered did not event want to listed about "the letter" in her opinion the letter has no value.

The problem she did not even listen to my point!

[fysicus]

Just ask your passports back via the email address given on the UKBA website (when I did the same in November they arrived after about a week), and travel to Italy.
If you come back, travelling together and armed with the CoA letter, there should be no problem at all.
If you happen to get stopped by an Immigration Officer who doesn't know the law, stay calm and ask for the Chief Immigration Officer. A copy of your marriage certificate may be helpful as well.

[toni999]

to me it seems strange that people are not allowed to leave the country while there is an application pending, what about people who had to travel due to emergency like bereavement, signing important papers or anything else that it is of importance, I am not talking about HOLIDAYS.

It it is the sheer scale of the waiting time that it is absurd , on the previous application they took 3 months just to write back to tell me that some documents were missing.

Italy that is a messy country, can deliver permesso di soggiorno (temporary) on the same day of application, no documents are retained!
After 30 days you get the proper papers. AND IT IS DEALT IN PERSON not with bored monkeys on the phone.

I cannot count the times I have been harrassed by illiterate idiots on country borders.

Waiting 6 months and not to be in the position to have your documents and not be able to travel is infringment of personal liberties!

Any experience in travelling while waiting the answer from the HO?