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what kind of a home office letter it was? what did it say on it, and how did you manage to get that letter?eborras wrote:Hello! I just wanted to let people know that I managed to re enter the UK without the family permit, but with the Home Office letter. I found it very helpful that people came back to the forum to let everyone know what had happened, as reading people experiences gave me the courage to actually leave the country and come back without the family permit (I did go to the British consulate in Mexico, but they said I wouldn’t have the family permit on time and I decided not to apply for it). As someone else had mentioned, I just got my passport stamped for two months. The immigration officer told me to sort my situation before the two months expired, but it is not me who has to sort it out, I have already been waiting for almost 8 months! It's just ridiculous.
Anyway, thanks to everyone for the advice and hope this helps to other people.
elena
I got the letter two months after applying for my family permit. It acknowledges that my residence card is under consideration. If you check the posts above, many people have got it, but those who haven't got it yet, have tried to contact HO to get it. It's quite important because it also says that you hve the right to work.mrlookforward wrote: what kind of a home office letter it was? what did it say on it, and how did you manage to get that letter?
Shane2008 wrote:Hi,
We applied for the residence card in March 08 and it still hasn't been granted. My family permit expired in August.
I had booked a return trip to go back to Australia (my home country) in September, I got back into the country after a few questions from the immigration officer. I had the relevant docs with me, my spouse was not with me at the time. They stamped a right to enter stamp in my passport that expired 2 months after issue.
So if you're with your husband, have the relevant docs on hand I don't think you should have a problem.
Hi,gracec wrote:
shane2008, do you know what the conditions are of your stamp? Have you travelled in & out of the UK since being given this stamp? If yes, what happened?
I am an Australian citizen married to an EU national, I was given the Code 1a stamp when I arrived at Heathrow after a trip overseas, my EEA family permit had expired in Oct 08.
I'm having difficulty understanding what the Code 1a stamp is all about as there's not much info on the internet and everytime I call the Home Office they give me contradicting statements.
Finally, can an IO put on your passport record that I cannot travel? He didn't actually give me a notice/formal letter, just verbally warned me. So I'm having doubts as to whether his warning stands because under EU laws, I have right of residence and right to free movement in the EEA.
Shane - this is very useful for my situation:Shane2008 wrote:Hi,
We applied for the residence card in March 08 and it still hasn't been granted. My family permit expired in August.
I had booked a return trip to go back to Australia (my home country) in September, I got back into the country after a few questions from the immigration officer. I had the relevant docs with me, my spouse was not with me at the time. They stamped a right to enter stamp in my passport that expired 2 months after issue.
So if you're with your husband, have the relevant docs on hand I don't think you should have a problem.
You can apply for the Family Permit at UK embassys outside of the UK. I'm not sure if you have to do it from your country of citizenship (Bolivia?) but don't see why you couldn't do it from another country eg. Ireland or France would be much closer to travel to. The primary intention of the Family Permit (as I understand it) is for first entry to the UK, to provide evidence of right to work in the UK for 6 months and to give time to apply for the 5 year EEA2 Residence Card but there is no reason why you can't use the Family Permit for UK entry multiple times or to even get a second Family Permit if the Family Permit expires (see below though because if you have applied for EEA2 RC you should be able to enter again anyway).benbmxer wrote: Could anyone tell me in which precise situation should I get a family permit? is it only when I am entering for the first time to UK with my wife?
Assuming you already had a Family Permit you would have the right to work before receiving the CoA but if you did not get the Family Permit you would be subject to whatever work rights you had on your student visa. Either way, after you receive the CoA you would be eligible to work in the UK (employer guidance from the Home Office states that a CoA should be taken as sufficient evidence of the right to work in the UK until the application for an EEA2 Residence Card is decided).benbmxer wrote: I could see in the forum that it takes an average time of 2 to 3 months to get this COA (my future wife will be in UK). If yes, will I be entitled to work before receiving it?. And after receiving it?.
There is evidence from people on this website and from an immigration consultant I have been involved with that the following documentation "should" be sufficient to re-enter the UK:benbmxer wrote: In February 2010, we are planning to go on holidays in Bolivia, I know I won't have my RC in February, do I need a family permit for this travel or just the COA will be enough in order to enter to UK without problems?
http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/ecg/eunati ... t#13627112caseman wrote:You can apply for the Family Permit at UK embassys outside of the UK. I'm not sure if you have to do it from your country of citizenship (Bolivia?) but don't see why you couldn't do it from another country eg. Ireland or France would be much closer to travel to.
Just keep in mind that visa nationals may find it very difficult to board an airplane if the check-in staff cannot see a "visa".caseman wrote:There is evidence from people on this website and from an immigration consultant I have been involved with that the following documentation "should" be sufficient to re-enter the UK
Who said the solicitors are good? My understanding is that to take this up legally with the Home Office would require some kind of European legal action (via European courts?). There appears to be little incentive for a client to spend money on a solicitor to do this unless they have incurred sufficient financial damages by not having the Residence Card in time (eg. by not being able to travel for work or something). Generally people are probably working in the UK and because the CoA alone allows work there is limited reason (damages) to go to the effort (and cost) of any legal undertaking (cost may be neutral if win and get awarded costs although I'm not even sure this could happen in practice and if it did, it's still a hassle). It might start to get interesting if processing times are dragging out to 12 months because this is (potentially) restricting travel for 6 months which may be of significant consequence for many people (even if just for fact that they may not be able to go on holiday abroad) and may bring about some legal proceedings (which would be welcome from my point of view).Glauco wrote:If the solicitors are so good, why they don't try to enforce the law and make Home Office play by the 6 month rules?
Very good point - I meant to mention this, forgot to because it doesn't apply in my case.86ti wrote:Just keep in mind that visa nationals may find it very difficult to board an airplane if the check-in staff cannot see a "visa".caseman wrote:There is evidence from people on this website and from an immigration consultant I have been involved with that the following documentation "should" be sufficient to re-enter the UK
Some people claim that they cannot find a job because employers basically do not trust the CoA (and if you are not even invited for an interview you probably won't find out about that). I remember at least one report stating that they may lose their job if they wouldn't be able to show the PR card in time. There is one case over at ukresident.com trying to claim money from them, see http://www.ukresident.com/forums/index. ... t&p=262163 (registration required!)caseman wrote:Generally people are probably working in the UK and because the CoA alone allows work there is limited reason (damages) to go to the effort (and cost) of any legal undertaking...
Not necessarily. Because the 6 months are codified in British law, you can use the British administrative court to challenge the long processing times. Of course this takes time, and even though you may get a verdict requiring the UKBA to issue a residence card, it will hardly speed up the process in normal cases.caseman wrote:My understanding is that to take this up legally with the Home Office would require some kind of European legal action (via European courts?).
I fail to see why creating resource issues by removing case workers from European application should be legitimate. I even question that it is legal. Of course it is politically wise to do so, because the case workers are now free to remove foreign prisoners. Which is of course a very important and urgent issue, as you can see in the fact that Labour did not pursue it since they came to power until 2008.The Home Office are probably aware of this general barrier to legal action although I'm sure they don't intend to be delaying the process unnecessarily (i.e. their resourcing issues are likely to be legitimate).
I have done this now but it is not for EEA2 applications (maybe a petition has been done previously for this).Eric-Poole wrote:May I suggest that you sign the petition on the Prime Minister website to speed-up EEA residency application. If we can get 200 signature the UK government will be force to make a formal response on the subject:
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/EEA4-Residency/
Thanks in advance for your support. Cheers.
Eric
Fair points although I note that I did not mean to suggest that the reasons for the resourcing issues were legitimate, only that the resourcing issues were real (rather than just an excuse). I have no idea of the reasons.thsths wrote:I fail to see why creating resource issues by removing case workers from European application should be legitimate. I even question that it is legal. Of course it is politically wise to do so, because the case workers are now free to remove foreign prisoners. Which is of course a very important and urgent issue, as you can see in the fact that Labour did not pursue it since they came to power until 2008.caseman wrote:The Home Office are probably aware of this general barrier to legal action although I'm sure they don't intend to be delaying the process unnecessarily (i.e. their resourcing issues are likely to be legitimate).
So questions should be asked, and heads will roll (one way or another). But it is a political issue first, and a legal issue second.
I agree totally but there are no fines or other consequences at the moment for them breaking the directive.Eric-Poole wrote:Let's not forget that by not processing EEA applications within the 6 months legal framework, the UK government is restricting people's freedom to travel which is one of the fundamental principle of the European Union.
What gives the right to the UK government to simply disregard EU directives? If they were receiving a fine every time they break the directive, they would quickly find the resources to process applications on-time. The issue is that everybody seems to be closing a blind eye and individuals have little options to act.
Cheers. Eric
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/EEA4-Residency/