EEA treaty rights / change of employment status

[Bayesian]

Hello all,

I have a question regarding leaving employment voluntarily and exercise of treaty rights. If one is an EU national and leaves a job voluntarily to look for other work (yes I am aware of the state of the economy), can one simply switch to "jobseeker" status without problem? In this case, is one safe from the infamous "comprehensive sickness insurance" requirement as long as one finds a job within six months (i.e. one would not count as "self sufficient")? Some of the policy documents on this issue are slightly vague, and seem to be written in reference to people who are entering the country, rather than those already in the UK. For instance, I have read that an EU national can remain in the UK for 3 months without additional conditions, but would such a period be available if one's situation changes once inside the UK? That is, could one stay in the UK for 3 months after leaving the job without conditions? Or is the safest thing simply to obtain sickness insurance before leaving?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Guerro]

As For me, this is another vague point of the directive which i don't understand

[bobobo]

It is safest to have Comprehensive sickness insurance this way the HO cannot catch you unguarded and you will be in a safer and stronger position.

[Bayesian]

It is safest to have Comprehensive sickness insurance this way the HO cannot catch you unguarded and you will be in a safer and stronger position.

Thanks bobobo. I agree that this is the safest thing to do, but it seems like a hassle. I know the issue has been discussed quite a lot on these forums in the past, but I can't quite tell how easy or difficult it is to obtain insurance that satisfies the requirements from them.

[bobobo]

If I was you I would just get insurance that covers majority of the ailments, you dont need somerthing very specific but something that can be used when you injur yourself or something that covers you rather than dependency on NHS. I would say get soemthing from money supermarket.

As long as you have insurance the HO never see what the policy is or what it covers.

It is safest to have Comprehensive sickness insurance this way the HO cannot catch you unguarded and you will be in a safer and stronger position.

Thanks bobobo. I agree that this is the safest thing to do, but it seems like a hassle. I know the issue has been discussed quite a lot on these forums in the past, but I can't quite tell how easy or difficult it is to obtain insurance that satisfies the requirements from them.

[hughie33]

you might want to check out:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... dlaw/ecis/
Annex a
page 6: qualified person

My reading of this is you cannot simply leave work, either you must be made unemployed or if you leave work you must take up training.

I am going through the former at the moment, the HO told me they would request documents to prove I am on Jobseekers though they have not done this yet and we are 5 months into the visa process.
they also said they wanted evidence that I have a chance of getting a job, in other words that there is work in my field other there.

[Bayesian]

hughie33,

If you are referring to paragraph (2) of section 6 in that document, then my reading of it is that if you are involuntarily unemployed (and register this) or leave a job to engage in (relevant) training then you will continue to be treated as a worker rather than a jobseeker if you fulfill the criteria listed in paragraph (2) (b) (i) - (iii). This includes proof that one has a genuine chance of employment. Paragraph (4) applies to jobseekers, and simply says:

"For the purpose of paragraph (1)(a), “jobseekerâ€