Mortgage application - EEA national / non EEA spouse

[ajentha82]

Hello all,
Not sure if this is the right place to post this question....
We are in the progress of buying a new house (first time buyers). The mortgage broker asked for our passports; and according to him there is only one lender who'll be able to lend us money (Abbey) based on the "immigration status" of my husband.
I told them that I'm an EU national, and in April, my husband would have been in the country for a continuous period of 5 years and he'll have the same rights as me. However they are adamant that; because his RC has an expiry date (march 2014) on it; he is subject to immigration control.
Challenge we have at the moment is; we are stuck with only one lender (not the cheapest); I was planning to submit EEA4 (however don't want to loose the docs/passport for 6 months).
I understand each lender does have their own criteria these days; but is it correct what they are saying? Can we proof them otherwise?
Looking forward to your advise.

[skandans]

The banker do not understand about EEA3 and EEA4. They want to see at least couple of years residence permit on your passport (Non EU national). Its worth to try with Halifax. The better option is to get mortgage on the name of EU national.

[WebMonkey]

Your best would be to see an independant mortgage broker, that is what we did and we got a mortgage with Halifax without any problems.

[ajentha82]

Thanks Webmonkey. We are using an independent broker; however he doesn't seem to understand/accept it. So the only option we have at the moment is abbey national.....