Best time to send the EEA4 & EEA3 Applications for PR

[princedante]

Hello guys,

is it ok to send these applications prior to the expiry of the Residence Permits. My partner who is a Non EEA Memeber has his visa expiring in Nov 2011.

We weren't too certain as to when should we send these applications. We sent them early taking into account that the processing time for these applications could take up to 6 months resulting in my partner not having a valid visa to allow him to continue with his job.

We are also concerned that the application may be rejected if sent too early before the completion of 5 years.

Any advice is greatly appreciated

Many Thanks in Advance

[princedante]

Anybody

[Jambo]

Anybody

You expect an answer within 13 minutes after posting? It's a free forum and people are allowed to enjoy a sunny Saturday!

As for your questions:

- You need to apply for PR after completing 5 years of exercising treaty rights.
- There is no "visa" or "valid visa" for applications under EU regulations. As long as the EEA national is exercising treaty rights in the UK, your non-EEA partner is legal here and is allowed to work. It doesn't matter that his Residence Card has a date on it. After 5 years you both gain Permanent Residence automatically. The HO will just confirm that when you apply using EEA3/EEA4 forms.

[princedante]

Anybody

You expect an answer within 13 minutes after posting? It's a free forum and people are allowed to enjoy a sunny Saturday!

As for your questions:

- You need to apply for PR after completing 5 years of exercising treaty rights.
- There is no "visa" or "valid visa" for applications under EU regulations. As long as the EEA national is exercising treaty rights in the UK, your non-EEA partner is legal here and is allowed to work. It doesn't matter that his Residence Card has a date on it. After 5 years you both gain Permanent Residence automatically. The HO will just confirm that when you apply using EEA3/EEA4 forms.

Apologies Jambo, You are right regarding people enjoying a sunny Saturday, Apologies for that.

The unfortunate thing is that we sent everything today and its 4 months early, would that be an issue?

In relation to the automatic Permanent Residence , would'nt one need paperwork to confirm PR in order to apply for a British Passport after 1 year ?

Thank You again for your response

[Jambo]

Regarding your application, then it depends when the application will dealt with. If they will look at it this month, it will probably get rejected. If they look at it in 4 months, it will probably be OK. Just wait and see.
There is no need to apply for PR in order to apply for BC. You can apply for British Citizenship (and later for a British passport if the application is approved) 1 year after automatically gaining PR (so 5 year + 1 year). There is no need for the PR confirmation. The application for British citizenship has a specific section for EEA national and their families for such cases (you need to provide evidence of exercising treaty rights for 5 years). In case you have a PR confirmation, you don't need to provide such evidence (if you wait for 1 year after obtaining the PR confirmation).

[princedante]

Thanks for getting back Jambo, I am slightly confused as the non EEA passport holder has an expiry date of Nov 2011 for the Residence Permit? why give this when they can take stay here as long as the EEA member is exercising their treaty right ?

[Jambo]

Also the non EEA passport holder had an expiry date of Nov 2011 ? why give this when they can take stay here as long as the EEA member is exercising their treaty right ?

Because after 5 years, they can stay even if the EEA national is not exercising treaty rights as they have obtained PR status.
It makes sense to limit an immigration document by the number of years until the status might change.

[Jambo]

In the past the Family Permit was granted for 1 year and now it is 6 months.
You can ask the same question here. This is how the UK have implemented the EU directive and if they would have handled the application within a reasonable time frame (not like they do today), this seems logical.

[alekos]

why give this when they can take stay here as long as the EEA member is exercising their treaty right ?

Because if EEA sponsor has exercised treaty rights for 5 years, non-EEA national automatically has Permanent Residence, therefore the Residence Card is obsolete.

[princedante]

Thank you Jambo and Alekas for your quick responses, however we found this video , what do you guys take of this :

http://www.videojug.com/interview/how-t ... -residency

[Jambo]

Nice video but irrelevant for EEA nationals and their family members. Although he uses the more common term "Permanent Residency" he actually refers to ILR - "Indefinite Leave to Remain" which is under UK immigration laws (British citizens and/or work permit holder). EEA regulations are different.

[princedante]

Fair enough, but then in this video he clearly states that for an EEA National, they will have to have completed 5 years Residency , then get a ILR for 12 months and then apply for a British Citizenship

http://www.videojug.com/interview/becom ... -citizen-2

[Jambo]

he clearly states that for an EEA National, they will have to have completed 5 years Residency , then get a ILR for 12 months and then apply for a British Citizenship

He - An immigration lawyer Vs. the Home Office

You choose who to believe to.

[reda]

Hello guys,

is it ok to send these applications prior to the expiry of the Residence Permits. My partner who is a Non EEA Memeber has his visa expiring in Nov 2011.

We weren't too certain as to when should we send these applications. We sent them early taking into account that the processing time for these applications could take up to 6 months resulting in my partner not having a valid visa to allow him to continue with his job.

We are also concerned that the application may be rejected if sent too early before the completion of 5 years.

Any advice is greatly appreciated

Many Thanks in Advance

hi princedate,
we were in the same boat,i wondering how long earlier you can apply for PR?and if possible would you give us your timetable,thanks in advance.

[fysicus]

You can apply as soon as you are entitled to PR. That means after five consecutive years living in the UK in accordance with the EEA Regulations.

It depends on your personal history of course, but in many cases that is a few months before the expiry date mentioned on the Residence Card.

[princedante]

Hello guys,

is it ok to send these applications prior to the expiry of the Residence Permits. My partner who is a Non EEA Memeber has his visa expiring in Nov 2011.

We weren't too certain as to when should we send these applications. We sent them early taking into account that the processing time for these applications could take up to 6 months resulting in my partner not having a valid visa to allow him to continue with his job.

We are also concerned that the application may be rejected if sent too early before the completion of 5 years.

Any advice is greatly appreciated

Many Thanks in Advance

hi princedate,
we were in the same boat,i wondering how long earlier you can apply for PR?and if possible would you give us your timetable,thanks in advance.

Hiya, we sent our application in July , our 5 year was ending in November 2011, We received our PR 1st week of November, my wife got hers on the same day they issued my COA letter .

[reda]

we sent our aplication in July , our 5 year was ending in November 2011

,

hi,it's means i can apply 3 months before the 5 years ending,
we were living together one year before marriage date and i got some Prof of that,which make my case more solid,at least i pass the first check and they won't send my file back the second week,what do you think about that,i really appreciate your help.

[princedante]

Reda, the sooner you send it the better, we sent ours in July which is 4 months in advance , in case they refuse your application, you have time to appeal. Also provide as many documents as possible , we had over 85 documents including : holiday bookings, wage slips, tenancy agreement, p60's , college letters for courses we undertook during the 5 year period, bank statements, letters from work including new contracts, performance letters etc , Tv License, CRB check for my wife as she works in NHS etc.

Good Luck

[Jambo]

Reda, the sooner you send it the better

If you send it too soon, they will just refuse the application. No much point in appealing in that case, just re-submit. In princedante case, I presume the caseworker used some judgement and issued the PR confirmation as it was just a few weeks earlier than the 5 year anniversary.

... we had over 85 documents including...

Sounds like 84 documents too much but that depends on your case. If I were a case worker and would get a 85 documents file, I would be very tempted to move it to to bottom of the pile so I could read it sometime later when I have more time...

[reda]

Reda, the sooner you send it the better

If you send it too soon, they will just refuse the application.

thank you for your reply,my 5 years end in 10 march next year,I'm going to send the application in 5 Jan(2 months earlier) is it too early!

[Jambo]

thank you for your reply,my 5 years end in 10 march next year,I'm going to send the application in 5 Jan(2 months earlier) is it too early!

Should be OK I think. Worst case, they will send it back to you and you apply again in March.

BTW - What's the rush to get the PR confirmation early? It's just a confirmation. It will not change the date you acquire PR status (for the purpose of British citizenship for example).

[fysicus]

Reda, the sooner you send it the better

If you send it too soon, they will just refuse the application. No much point in appealing in that case, just re-submit. In princedante case, I presume the caseworker used some judgement and issued the PR confirmation as it was just a few weeks earlier than the 5 year anniversary.

I don't think so; it is more likely that princedante was actually entitled to PR well before november. The expiry date on the Residence Card is not really relevant; that is usually five years after the RC was issued. Relevant is when you have completed five years residency in the UK under the EEA regulations, which in many cases is five years after you submitted the EEA2 application or first entered the UK on an EEA Family Permit, and thus can be many months earlier.

... we had over 85 documents including...

Sounds like 84 documents too much but that depends on your case. If I were a case worker and would get a 85 documents file, I would be very tempted to move it to to bottom of the pile so I could read it sometime later when I have more time...

It would probably be a sign of unprofessionalism on the side of the caseworker if he really did so, but I fully agree with Jambo that sending in too many redundant and/or irrelevant documents doesn't give a good impression and doesn't strenghten your case.
As I wrote in a different thread on 15 June:

To give you an idea of the amount of paperwork that can be sufficient: the EEA4 application of my wife was 181 grams (as weighed at the postoffice to calculate the postage). We sent it in early October and we received her Permanent Residence Card end of January.

[Jambo]

I don't think so; it is more likely that princedante was actually entitled to PR well before november. The expiry date on the Residence Card is not really relevant; that is usually five years after the RC was issued. Relevant is when you have completed five years residency in the UK under the EEA regulations, which in many cases is five years after you submitted the EEA2 application or first entered the UK on an EEA Family Permit, and thus can be many months earlier.

You are probably right. Reading again the first post

...is it ok to send these applications prior to the expiry of the Residence Permits. My partner who is a Non EEA Memeber has his visa expiring in Nov 2011...

So assuming the non-EEA was on a Family Permit for several months before, the 5th anniversary of exercising treaty rights was before RC expiry in November.

[pinkpanter]

It depends on your personal history of course, but in many cases that is a few months before the expiry date mentioned on the Residence Card.

i.e. the date of your marriage certificate (providing your eea also exersicing continues 5 yrs treaty right.)

[Punjab]

Reda, the sooner you send it the better, we sent ours in July which is 4 months in advance , in case they refuse your application, you have time to appeal. Also provide as many documents as possible , we had over 85 documents including : holiday bookings, wage slips, tenancy agreement, p60's , college letters for courses we undertook during the 5 year period, bank statements, letters from work including new contracts, performance letters etc , Tv License, CRB check for my wife as she works in NHS etc.

Good Luck

whats the point of sending the things before the right time. its like cuttiong the branch of the tree on which you are sitting. why do you want to waste time of govt and other people if you know that you cant have pr before 5 yrs and why do you wanna spend or waste your money and then have mental pressure for 4 months thinking of the decision. if you had been married for 5 years and you have everything to proove the treaty rights etc then u can send them on the day you completed your 5 yrs and live without worry.

ta