EEA Family Permit Successfull. Do I need to apply for EEA1?

[devster]

Hi everyone,

My wife successfully received her EEA Family Permit and is actually already here from Japan. For those interested it took exactly 2 weeks going from Tokyo > Manila > Tokyo. We are now considering our next moves and despite the snail-like pace of the UKBA want to make the best decision we can to avoid further disruption to our lives.

I understand that she needs to apply for a Residence Card in order to continue working after her 6 month FP visa expires, this is fine. But the question is, do I need to apply for my registration certificate (Irish national)? Is it necessary? I ask because I will definitely need my passport within the next couple of months and I know that the UKBA will take forever processing these applications.

Another thing, say if I wanted to naturalise next year to become a British citizen, how would this affect our situation? We have applied for her under EEA rules, yet if I then become a citizen of this country would we need to reapply or anything?

Many thanks for your help and advice.

Dev.

[fysicus]

I suggest you apply for a Residence Card for your wife straightaway. No reason to wait until her EEA FP is (almost) expired. Once you receive the Certificate of Application (after a month or so) you can ask for your own passport to be returned to you, and they will not ask it back later.

It is almost no extra effort to apply for a Registration Certificate for yourself as well, but it is fully optional, up to you. Simply complete the EEA1 form and put it in the same envelope as your wife's EEA2 form. Again, once they have inspected your passport they will not need it again later in the process.

As an Irish citizen you have practically the same rights as a British citizen (even voting rights, unlike other EU nationals) so I see no benefit for you to become British at all, and it your situation it may even complicate things. I would not consider that at all.

[devster]

Hi fysicus,

Thanks for your reply. We were planning on applying for her RC asap, but we were unsure about my status. I think I will hold fire on applying for mine and start with hers.

I've heard that even asking for your passport back after the CoA takes ages. But hey, what can we do.

And thank you for answering my citizenship question, yes I agree it does seem complicated. I'll put that one off for now.

Thanks again.

[fysicus]

Well, when I asked my passport back via the dedicated email address, it arrived within a week without problems.

If you consider to eventually apply for a Registration Certificate, I think the best time is to do it now, simultaneously with your wife's RC. That way it doesn't cost you extra time or hassle and you have to send in your passport and other supporting evidence only once. You have to send in your passport with your wife's application anyway. You don't need this certificate in the UK but it may be handy if later you would move to another country and need to prove that you exercised treaty rights in the UK.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

If you start off as Irish, and then naturalize as British, it is hard to see how that will complicate any European law rights you have. You have a clear history of exercising your EU rights before you ever became British. Go ahead if that is something that interests you and you have been resident in the UK for long enough.

Note that all EEA citizens can vote in local elections in the member state in which they reside.

Note that any children you have in the Uk will automatically be British even if you are not.

You can also enclose a letter with your Residence Card application asking for the passport(s) to be immediately returned to you. If you do not get them back quickly, then definitely follow up with an email.

[bennyfak]

really, can someone apply for eea2 upon arrival in the uk with an eea family permit within two months ? not waitin fot at least three months or when the family permit expires

[fysicus]

Yes, in fact it is better to apply as soon as possible (even though there is not even a legal requirement to apply) because many employers wrongly think that expiry of an EEA FP changes something in your right to work.
From a practical point of view you may postpone the application until it is clear in which capacity the EEA citizen will be exercising treaty rights, but apart from that I see no reason why you should ever delay it unnecessarily.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

In general you can not be FORCED to apply for a Residence Card until 3 months in the host country. But if your EU spouse is exercising treaty rights, you are free to apply the day after you arrive. Or the next week. Or...

[Buzz]

Hi,
I don't know if it's ok to ask my question on this tread
My question is my wife is british and was exercising eu treaty right in ireland, i was issued a residence card in ireland, we now returned to the UK from ireland under singh surrinder ruling, eea family permit also issued in ireland.
My eea family permit expired in apirl because my wife has not found work.would the expiry of eea family affect my eea2 application once my wife finds work or can i apply for eea2 without my wife working.
Thanks

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

When did you arrive in the UK?

You wife should be actively looking for work and she needs to keep evidence of that - copies of all the application letters she sent, rejection letters, etc... Is she registered at the job centre? What she does can be important to your right to stay. She can be working part time at McDonalds (not that I would wish that on anyone) or can be self employed...

This seems to be a theme of a number of threads. It is interesting!

What are you doing right now?

[Buzz]

Thanks for you speedy response Directive /2004/38/EC,

We arrived the UK December 2010.

She is actively looking for work and she's got proof of application sent online.
She has not registered with the job centre as we think claiming job seeker allowance could affect application for a residence card.

My wife does a little buying and selling of items on ebay but the business is not registered could that be taken as self employed and what document would i need to submit if we have to go through self employed.

I have been looking for work with no luck, but right now my EEA family permit has expired since apirl as i mentioned, that's not helping matters at all as employers says they cant employ me with an expired permit.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

We arrived the UK December 2010.

She is actively looking for work and she's got proof of application sent online.
She has not registered with the job centre as we think claiming job seeker allowance could affect application for a residence card.

Can you not register for the JobCentre's help without claiming job seeker allowance? Interesting...

If you came from another EU country, and you were eligible for unemployment payments there, you can receive those in the UK while you are looking for a job in the UK.

I am also unclear that "job seeker allowance" is something you could not apply for with no problems. I just do not know. Best to get a definitive word on this.