Travel with EEA family permit for non-EEA citizen

[dreriksson]

Hi
I am a Turkish spouse of a Swedish citizen and my husband will start working in UK this month so I applied for an EEA family permit. While I was submitting my application I was told I could only travel with my husband to UK which I never read on any information page before. On the application I wrote he does not live in UK yet so we will move together but do we have to travel next to each other? Isn't it possible I fly separate from him? Because I will not move in with him now due to my studies in Turkey and planning to travel back and forth often. If it is true I can not travel without him it makes it almost impossible. Also after 6 months when the permit expires do I have to apply again or can I get a residence card?

Thank you very much

[86ti]

An EEA FP can also be issued if you join your spouse, i.e. the spouse is already in the UK. For a resident card you would need to be actually resident in the UK in principle but if you return frequently to the UK this may work out. You can also apply for another FP.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

Isn't it possible I fly separate from him? Because I will not move in with him now due to my studies in Turkey and planning to travel back and forth often. If it is true I can not travel without him it makes it almost impossible. Also after 6 months when the permit expires do I have to apply again or can I get a residence card?

You do not need to be moving to the UK right now. And you do not need to fly with him. You need to be traveling with or to join your husband in the UK.

It is 100% fine for him to be living and working in the UK, and you fly to the UK for a number of short visits and then fly home.

If you decide to, you can later move to the UK for a longer period of time or permanently as long as your husband remains there working. At that point it would make sense to get a Residence Card.

Your EEA FP will expire after 6 months. You will need to renew it when it expires, but that should be straight forward.