Enter UK with Article 10 - Should I email Immigration first?

[gillacious_505]

Hi Mattk1,

Still waiting anxiously to hear your story.

Thanks

The 2 pages of this topic tell the long-running saga from the beginning...

The saga does not entails the experience with the IO at the airport which is why i am interested to hear from mattk1.

[mattk1]

Hi gallacious_505,

Really sorry for the slow reply here, it's been a bit hectic since we got back as you can imagine.

The immigration officer at the airport was initially pretty angry that we had travelled without Visa, however, I showed her the Gov print out about travelling with Article 10 card only and she went to talk with her boss. We waited for a few minutes and she came back out totally different and quite friendly, telling us we need to research the Surinder Singh route to see if I'm eligible for it. She wrote it down on some paper and said she will stamp my wife's passport with three months. I thanks her and off we went. I believe the three months stamp doesn't really mean anything as I know I do qualify under SS as I was living and working in Spain etc. I will give it a couple of weeks to settle in to the UK and then I will begin the UKRC process.

A lot of people say I need to try and get proof of address for my wife but there is a section in the guidance notes for UKRC that says if we don't have any proof and are living with friends or relatives (which we are) we can get them to write a letter confirming this. My wife won't be working for a while as we have two young children and she will be looking after them.

The whole process was incredibly stressful and had I know doing SS in Spain was going to be like this I would not have gone through it all. It's not for the faint hearted and you really do need to be prepared for a rollercoaster ride

Best of luck for you whatever stage you are at.

Cheers

[gillacious_505]

That is superb Mattk1,

It is interesting that she didn't ask you anything relating to regulations 9 which includes exercising treaty rights and centre of life.

You have really given me the confidence to exercise the visa free route. However I plan to use the Calais route. My situation would be different as in my case it would be a dependent direct descendant and it would be about 4 months of residence in the EEA state.

With regards to your question regarding proof of address, you are okay having a letter from friend /relative where you staying. You wont be able to do much anyway with the handwritten EEA dependent stamp.

You could probably apply for RC as soon as possible.

[mattk1]

Hi gillacious_505,

You're welcome and I hope my story can help you and others out in some way.

The IO didn't ask anything other than have I been working in Spain, to which I said yes but she didn't request to see any documents or proof. I did hand her over my Spanish residence cards along with my kids too.

Regarding proof of address for my wife, you are right and I think it would be pretty difficult to try and convince anyone not in the know that a three month handwritten stamp in my wife's passport is any proof that she is allowed to work here. That being said, I have read other stories of people entering the UK with Article 10 and getting the same stamp (but for six months) and successfully opening bank accounts and obtaining NI numbers etc.

I was wondering, since the UKRC is not mandatory (have I got that right?), what will happen if we apply after the three months?

Also, what happens in the event of a refusal? I mean I did exercise my treaty rights and collected a lot of COL evidence but there's always little doubt in my mind

Cheers

[gillacious_505]

Hi gillacious_505,

You're welcome and I hope my story can help you and others out in some way.

The IO didn't ask anything other than have I been working in Spain, to which I said yes but she didn't request to see any documents or proof. I did hand her over my Spanish residence cards along with my kids too.

Regarding proof of address for my wife, you are right and I think it would be pretty difficult to try and convince anyone not in the know that a three month handwritten stamp in my wife's passport is any proof that she is allowed to work here. That being said, I have read other stories of people entering the UK with Article 10 and getting the same stamp (but for six months) and successfully opening bank accounts and obtaining NI numbers etc.

I was wondering, since the UKRC is not mandatory (have I got that right?), what will happen if we apply after the three months?

Also, what happens in the event of a refusal? I mean I did exercise my treaty rights and collected a lot of COL evidence but there's always little doubt in my mind

Cheers

Hi Mattk1,

Thanks for sharing your story.

Yes even I have seen people applying for bank account and NI but I guess 3 months is relatively short. So your efforts should be to apply for RC as soon as possible really and then the COA obtained would be used everywhere. You can try opening a bank account as it is quicker but NI would take some time.

UKRC might not be mandatory. But you should definitely get it as it is a post brexit era now. It is recommended to apply asap really as you don't have to be a qualified person in the UK but in the EEA where you exercised your treaty rights.

whats your reason to apply after 3 months? Apply it before Article 50 is triggered. Relatively it would be a safer option.

If your RC is refused, you have many tiers of appeal to get it right. Having said that you should be okay as you seem to have a lot of docs regarding COL.
If your case is refused due to COL you can argue that the IO acknowledged that you do satisfy Regulations 9 (which includes COL and exercising treaty rights) and hence why you were given the 3 months stamp. HO would be fool to contradict the decision of their officer. So you have a very strong case .
The most difficult part of your SS route is achieved. So sit back and relax

[noajthan]

Don't take anything for granted, there have been examples of RCs refused after entry on a FP.
And in this case the scrutiny at border appears to have been lightweight. The evidence has hardly been tested.

HO is a many-headed hydra; why would it 'care' for the sensibilities and rotten feelings of one of its operatives on a remote border post.

Evidence is the key and needs to be good if not unimpeachable.

[gillacious_505]

Don't take anything for granted, there have been examples of RCs refused after entry on a FP.
And in this case the scrutiny at border appears to have been lightweight. The evidence has hardly been tested.

HO is a many-headed hydra; why would it 'care' for the sensibilities and rotten feelings of one of its operatives on a remote border post.

Evidence is the key and needs to be good if not unimpeachable.

Can't disagree with above.

[mattk1]

Hi gallicious_505 and noajthan,

Thanks for your replies here

Re the bank account for my wife, I phoned them up and asked how I go about adding her to my account so it becomes a joint account. They sent me the form to fill in and it arrived yesterday so I filled it in and will send it back tomorrow. The form didn't really ask for any in depth details, just name and address details and tax status. I just put 'awaiting NI number'. We'll see how it goes.

We will definitely be applying for the UKRC. Actually it was never my intention to wait the three months, I was just curious. This week I will get all our paperwork together and begin the application. My understanding is that it will take six months or longer to be processed but that's ok since we don't plan on travelling in the time anyway (at least not abroad anyway).

In regards to noajthan's comment, he is absolutely right, I guess we can't take anything for granted. I initially thought because we have two kids who are now in school here in the UK, that refusal would be unlikely as that would mean separating them from their mother, however, I have read about such cold-hearted cases Truth is we can't really relax until the UKRC is done.

** in case you are interested to hear what is happening with easyjet and us being denied boarding, they have still yet to reply to me. I am waiting to see what they reply with and if unsatisfactory I will be seeking legal assistance.**

Cheers