Forum Immigration UK

[ametisto]

Hi,

here's the problem:
i am daniel, german citizen married to a chilean. We are living in the uk where i am doing a phd. My wife is working part-time (around 25hrs/week) at a bakery.

Her eea2 (residence card) application was returned stating that she needs to submit fully comprehensive medical insurance held for all family members included in the application. I know that some people have experienced issues with that before so i called them up to get the latest information. The lady on the phone told me that i (sponsor) need to have comprehensive medical insurance, my wife doesn't. The thing is, i have comprehensive medical insurance (covering virtually everything, even dental treatment) and included a letter from the insurance company in the application. It was still returned. I find this quite upsetting. I asked the lady on the phone about this and she seemed somewhat surprised, too. Then she said that they cannot accept a letter from the insurance company and that i have to send the original insurance documents. What the hell is that supposed to mean? I have been with the insurance company for over 25 years and don't have any other documents. Since it's a german company i even called them up and asked if the can write the letter in english. What more can i possibly do? Any tips on how to proceed? Should i still take out medical insurance for my wife? And if so which one? Thanks for your help. It's much appreciated.

[EasyExpat]

They should be able to send you again an extract of your original contract explaining the garantee you subscribed to and it should be enough for the EEA2.

[ikerpotenza]

Hi

i have the same exact problem. My wife is chinese, i'm spanish, phd student. We have the european health card, and i have an insurance, covering pretty much everything. Still, they returned my application.

The problem is also that they don't seem to want to specify what the problem is exactly.

Anyway, please report it if you solve your problem. I'll do likewise.

Regards
iker

[ikerpotenza]

Hi

It seems that this discussion is in a bit of a standstill, but never mind. Just want to say that my wife just received her passport back, with the residence card in it. We had the problem described above and, in the end, we decided to buy some insurance and try again. We bought the WPA XS plan, which has a 1,500 GBP excess per year. It is a lot cheaper than others I was able to find, although arguably useless, due to the excess. Anyway, for people like us, who do not intend to use it, it's a way to save money. More importantly, it was accepted by the UKBA.

The insurance was bought for me, the EEA citizen and husband of the applicant. I also enclosed bank statements for the last 12 months, proving that I had more than 1,500 GBP at all times, just in case they rejected due to the excess mentioned above.

[nikhil123]

Hi Daniel,
I completely agree with you that as you have a comprehensive medical insurance policy which I am sure would also provide coverage to your wife, buying a separate medical insurance policy for her makes no sense. However, I am assuming that your healthcare policy provides cover to your wife as well since I believe every individual should be covered under a comprehensive and affordable medical insurance policy.
In case you are left with no option but to purchase a separate medical insurance policy for your wife, you may buy an affordable online health insurance.

[makiko]

Hello Iker,

My EU national husband is a student too. Does it mean he just need to have comprehensive private insurance for himself, and not for me?

It's been a while since you were on this forum but I hope to hear from you. Thankyou.