EEA permit in UK for my asylum-seeker husband without passport

[LauraN29]

Hi all

I have a very complicated situation: I met my husband to be in 2016 in Greece. I am Italian and he is an Iraqi who arrived to Europe to claim asylum.

He was relocated to Spain through the European relocation programme, and was rejected last October. He is currently in the appeals process. He does not have a passport, as it was stolen in Turkey prior to his arrival in Greece. He was relocated to Spain by IOM and as such, didn't need a passport.

I am Italian, and have settled status in the UK. My husband and I got married last year in Spain. We have lived together in Greece and then Spain, and now that I'm working in the UK, I visit every two weeks.

I would like to bring my husband to the UK to live with me. We have no problem dropping the asylum claim if it means we can be together here. The problem with the EEA route is that he does not have a valid ID/passport. He is legally residing in Spain (as he's in the appeals process) but unfortunately Spain doesn't issue IDs to those appealing. He cannot get a passport from the Iraqi embassy as they don't offer this service in Spain. He would need to travel to another European country, which he can't legally do. He has an Iraqi ID but I don't think this is good enough

We therefore have no way of solving this problem of a valid ID or passport. We went ahead and applied for a EEA permit 3 weeks ago, but I think we have little chance of this working. Any advice would be so appreciated, as we are desperate to be together after all of these years!

Thanks so much

[Zerubbabel]

Hello

It's not possible to bring someone to the UK without passport. Your best bet would be to wait for the outcome of the case in Spain. If successful, he can then get a refugee travel document.

Otherwise, he can also elect to go back home, get a passport there then apply from there to come to the UK on the basis that he is married to you.

Having some experience with that, many asylum seekers destroy their passports on purpose. It's either to prevent or make difficult any deportation or, often, to claim coming from a war torn country while in fact they are not. Someone from my family claimed asylum in multiple countries each time with a name, DOB and different claimed origin / story. I am even surprised they let you marry in Spain without him presenting his valid passport. It wouldn't have been possible in the UK.

[LauraN29]

I wanted to update this in case it's useful for anyone .

Legally, a person doesn't need a passport to apply for an EEA permit. I was advised by a lawyer that it's possible to apply without a passport if the person can prove they have no way of getting one. This is according to Regulation 42: " the Secretary of State may accept alternative evidence of identity and nationality where the person is unable to obtain or produce the required document due to circumstances beyond the person’s control". This was quoted to me by the Home Office itself.

My husband cannot return to Iraq, hence the reason he fled. This is not an option. Of course we would like to wait for Spain's decision, but it has already been 2.5 years and no end in sight. We can't possibly wait even longer for a possible negative decision. Also, without asylum support, housing or the right to work, it's impossible to carry on like this long term. I have a right to be reunited with my husband, and I'll push as hard as I can.

All this being said, we applied for a family permit on 10 September, and were rejected on 25 September (the day after my first post actually) due to a lack of evidence that my husband tried everything to get a passport. We now have all of those documents proving he did, two lawyers letters and every single form of ID he has confirming his ID. We reapplied on 10 October and are waiting. It's been almost 6 weeks and the waiting is a killer.

I hope this is helpful to someone.

[yusufHasan]

Hi Lauran,

I am in the same situation like you. What has happened, did you receive any reply?

I will be glad to talk with you that If you can share your knowledge with me. My email is: email address removed by moderator

Thanks.

[LauraN29]

They rejected our application for a second time. Our lawyer says that their decision is a breach of EU law and there's no way this can stand in court, so we are now doing a judicial review of the decision. They did not give us the right to appeal, so we had no other choice.

It's ridiculous, because it is impossible for him to get a passport. They should not have rejected us. Have you applied yet?

[askmeplz82]

Another possibility you can RELOCATE to Spain until he get his travel document. Then you can come back. With settled status you can stay outside the country for 5 years

[NatCam]

Would Italy, your home country, accept him as your spouse?
It is not clear how you managed to get married without a valid passport.