VAF5 Application queries

[LAROCCAMOM]

Hello there...again
I am finally applying for the FP, but I have 1-question though.
What should I enter under "Reason for your visit"?
I am planning on putting that I'll be there for 75 days, even though as soon as my EEA wife starts work or gets registered as a job seeker, I will be applying for the residency permit.
It's just that if I enter the reason for the visit as permanently relocating it might contradict the fact that I would be staying only for 75 days.

And what about the part where it asks if I would be working in the UK?
Same thing it would contradict the 75 days

Help

[fysicus]

Usually it is better to simply state the truth:

Reason for visit: to join spouse (or accompany spouse, if that is more appropriate)
Time to stay: indefinitely

This is very common for EEA FP applications, why should it raise suspicions?

[Confused!]

I did not want to start a new topic on VAF5 so I apologise if I am adding this question inappropriately.

I noticed that there are A LOT of questions on this form (the online version) that perhaps should not even be asked under the EU rules and no other EU country that I have registered in seems to ask, e.g. what countries one has visited in the last 10 years and when. While I have nothing to hide, if I am to list them all, I would be typing all day (put it this way - I go through my passport in 18 months as it gets quickly filled with stamps).

Does anyone have any experience of completing that box with 'various countries and various dates' or something to that effect and still having had the visa section properly consider your application? I would rather not spend all day typing up those things if I can help it.

Also, is it even appropriate that the form asks about my income? It even asks if I have worked for the media in the past - this seems to be a completely irrelevant question and if that is taken into account in making a decision, surely the British government would be breaching some kind of an EU directive?

Not answering them is not an option as it does not let you progress to the next page.

The EU requirement seems to be that the individual government is required to facilitate and prioritise EEA family applications, but this is not exactly what the British government seems to be doing?

[fysicus]

Not answering them is not an option as it does not let you progress to the next page.

Is it possible to enter answers like n/a (not applicable)?

You are completely right that the form is too long and asks many irrelevant questions!

[86ti]

Not answering them is not an option as it does not let you progress to the next page.

My understanding is that the applicant has to print the form after the final step. Is that not so? Even if the ECO will see how you have answered the online questions, so what? Eventually the consulate will have to accept and process the signed application form you have handed in. Besides, some questions simply do not make sense in the circumstances of a particular application. There must be a way to indicate that these answers cannot be answered.

[Confused!]

Not answering them is not an option as it does not let you progress to the next page.

My understanding is that the applicant has to print the form after the final step. Is that not so? Even if the ECO will see how you have answered the online questions, so what? Eventually the consulate will have to accept and process the signed application form you have handed in. Besides, some questions simply do not make sense in the circumstances of a particular application. There must be a way to indicate that these answers cannot be answered.

Some of them are yes/no questions (radio buttons, one of which must be selected) and therefore entering "N/A" etc is not an option.

I assume the form will need to be printed after the final step but since the form is so long, I have not even reached the end yet. The Polish form took about 2 minutes to complete, and that is how it should be under the EU regulations, I believe, not like the UK form where they almost seem to want to know what I had for breakfast 843 days ago.

You are right that some of the questions do not make sense in the circumstances of my application. I suspect that they just use the generic 'one size fits all' form without appropriate adjustment according to the category of application. For instance, "intended date of leaving the UK" - if you are applying to live with your EEA spouse permanently in the UK, how can you enter this date? Yet not completing this box is not an option as you cannot move to the next page without doing so.

I guess completing the VAF5 printed form (the PDF file available from the Borders Agency website) is not an option as the website states that it must be completed online. Again, surely this must be against the spirit of the EU treaty rights regs and the requirement to facilitate and prioritise the application?

[smalldog]

Does anyone have any experience of completing that box with 'various countries and various dates' or something to that effect and still having had the visa section properly consider your application? I would rather not spend all day typing up those things if I can help it.

My wife applied last month and received the EEA family permit within a week. To the previous travel history question she had something like "frequent visits to China and Malaysia since 2006."

The form is a bit long but doesn't actually take too much time to complete.

[LAROCCAMOM]

For instance, "intended date of leaving the UK" - if you are applying to live with your EEA spouse permanently in the UK, how can you enter this date? Yet not completing this box is not an option as you cannot move to the next page without doing so.

The way I see it is: A person must apply for a family permit from outside the UK, once in the UK, with legal permission to be there, you can simple "adjust" your status, which has to be done from withing the UK.
Now, since the family permit is only temporary simply because it is also based on the EEA first 3-months rights, it must have an "end date".

Once the EEA starts exercising his/her treaty rights or I call it getting settled (ie., becoming employed, seeking employment, etc), then you change your status from a family permit to residency card (EEA2) while the EEA applies for the registration certificate.
Therefore in theory, since the EEA has the right to be in the UK for 3 months, then so do you. But after such time if the EEA wants to stay in the UK, he/she must show that they are qualified to do so (ie., employment for instance). Then, yes, you must enter a departure date, but that does not mean that you have to leave on that date.

I guess completing the VAF5 printed form (the PDF file available from the Borders Agency website) is not an option as the website states that it must be completed online. Again, surely this must be against the spirit of the EU treaty rights regs and the requirement to facilitate and prioritise the application?

You can also write them a cover letter if you have something that you would like to add or explain. You have nothing to loose by doing that. Just peace of mind.

[86ti]

For instance, "intended date of leaving the UK" - if you are applying to live with your EEA spouse permanently in the UK, how can you enter this date?

An invalid date? The answer is irrelevant and cannot have any impact on the decision.

I guess completing the VAF5 printed form (the PDF file available from the Borders Agency website) is not an option as the website states that it must be completed online.

And what sanctions could the UKBA impose if you don't? The only practical reason to go through all that is that at the end you will come to the page for appointment making. Eventually they will need a hand-signed form.

Again, surely this must be against the spirit of the EU treaty rights regs and the requirement to facilitate and prioritise the application?

Yes it is. And actually also no supported by the EEA regulations. Obviously a case where policy tries to override the law.

[Confused!]

Does anyone have any experience of completing that box with 'various countries and various dates' or something to that effect and still having had the visa section properly consider your application? I would rather not spend all day typing up those things if I can help it.

My wife applied last month and received the EEA family permit within a week. To the previous travel history question she had something like "frequent visits to China and Malaysia since 2006."

Thanks, that's exactly the kind of thing I needed to know. I was really keen on avoiding having to make a list of around 200 trips (mostly repeated visits to some countries within Europe but still a tedious process to list everything) because it is time-consuming and generally an inappropriate question for EEA FP applicant to have to answer.

[Confused!]

For instance, "intended date of leaving the UK" - if you are applying to live with your EEA spouse permanently in the UK, how can you enter this date?

An invalid date? The answer is irrelevant and cannot have any impact on the decision.

I tend to keep thinking that I must get everything 100% right or they will reject my application for technical reasons. I think I'll enter the date 6 months after my proposed date of entry as I assume that is when the initial EEA FP expires (and by then hopefully the Residence Card will have come through).

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

I tend to keep thinking that I must get everything 100% right or they will reject my application for technical reasons. I think I'll enter the date 6 months after my proposed date of entry as I assume that is when the initial EEA FP expires (and by then hopefully the Residence Card will have come through).

That is the reason to answer only the relevant questions on the form.

If you have a specific date when you plan to leave, feel free to put that down. But it is also fine to say that you do not know when you are leaving the UK.

[Confused!]

I tend to keep thinking that I must get everything 100% right or they will reject my application for technical reasons. I think I'll enter the date 6 months after my proposed date of entry as I assume that is when the initial EEA FP expires (and by then hopefully the Residence Card will have come through).

That is the reason to answer only the relevant questions on the form.

If you have a specific date when you plan to leave, feel free to put that down. But it is also fine to say that you do not know when you are leaving the UK.

I would have left it blank if I could, but it will not let me move onto the next page of the application without putting a leaving date in. Without moving to the end of the application form, it does not let you make an appointment.

I will cross it out on the printout before signing it, if I decide to go for the EEA FP route though.

I strongly suspect that the form is largely a generic one applicable to everyone, and there are many questions that EEA FP applicants should not need to answer. The form compared to EEA2 is complex and asks many more questions.

[toabetterchange]

Hello there,

Can someone please advise how many days/months we should write online for the day of departure from the UK in the application form? I am scared already.

Confused! could you tell us what happened in your apllication.... what day did you put of departure? less than 3 months, 3 months or 6 months?

Thanks

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

Can someone please advise how many days/months we should write online for the day of departure from the UK in the application form? I am scared already.

Confused! could you tell us what happened in your apllication.... what day did you put of departure? less than 3 months, 3 months or 6 months?

There is nothing to be scared of, other than that this is a big badly organized form.

If you have a date of departure, you can put what it is.

In general if you answer a question, you should answer it truthfully. If you do not need to answer a question, then leave it blank.

Golden rule: Never lie!

[cj21holbrook]

hi i had two questions regarding the eea fp.

1: once i have completed the VAF5 form. where do i send it.

2: will it let me live and work in the uk.

thanks

PS. will it work if my wife has a european passport and i am from south africa

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

Vaf5 is a UK form. If you are accompanying your wife to the UK, then you can use that form. Once in the UK, you and she can live and work.

[cj21holbrook]

where do i send off the vaf5 form.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

I would suggest you send it to your nearest British diplomatic office!

[cj21holbrook]

sorry i seem to be asking so many questions it just seems so hard when i dont even know where ro begin. this might me a long shot but do you think there is a british diplomatic office in south africa or would it be called something other that that.

thank tou once again for your help and your rapid response.

[Jambo]

sorry i seem to be asking so many questions it just seems so hard when i dont even know where ro begin. this might me a long shot but do you think there is a british diplomatic office in south africa or would it be called something other that that.

thank tou once again for your help and your rapid response.

I suggest you start reading this - UK Border Agency in South Africa.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

best to use Google to find out. Once you have read through all the material you find, then come back with any substantial outstanding questions.