Forum Immigration UK

by **siatpat** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 9:44 am

I there,
Lot of us are faced with the increasing delay in processing EEA2 residence card. It is a shame for this country (and ultimatly Europe) to give the impression to its citizen that their rights are flout. I never felt so humiliate in my entire life, having the impression that there is almost nothing you can do against the UK home office. As many as pointed out, letter of complaints, writing to Solvit and so on have not prove to be very successfull in many cases, mine included.
The only ressort I see fit will be to pressurize the European commission complaint unit. And I hope If we can as a group launch a joint complaint there maybe we stand a chance of moving something. Remember we are living in Europe in 2009, we have rights and the UK home office should not feel as they can just "humiliate" us as needed

In fact in Article 10 of the Directive
2004/38/EC of the European Parliament, It is stipulated that:

“The right of residence of family members of a Union citizen who are not
nationals of a Member State shall be evidenced by the issuing of a
document called “Residence card of a family member of a Union citizen”
no later than six months from the date on which they submit the
application. A certificate of application for the residence card shall
be issued immediately.”

My case: my wife not an EEA national has applied for over 14 months and still we dont know when it will be over, no possibility to quickly go in europe with my wife, this has been horrendous and still is.

Together we can do what is very difficult alone. It is for the sake of our rights and for other people coming after us. Lets do something

cheers

by **fred123** » Thu May 28, 2009 1:36 pm

Hi,

We are exactly in the same situation. It's been now more than one year we applied for the residence card. 15 months.

We contacted our MP, few times. We sent letters to try to speed up the process. We contacted SOLVIT.

As we are going to meet the solvit delay of 70 days. We have to write to the European commission.

We would like to get in touch with a Lawer to help us.

As you say we can maybe find a way together to raise a common complaint.

In theory that should be the purpose of solvit but obviously that doesn't work. (at least for us.)

by **ThomasDO** » Thu May 28, 2009 5:18 pm

We called yesterday to get our passports back. I was told that they are processing the requests of May 2008...

If you call they say that you can travel, but how to come back, they will not tell you. It does feel like, we are not welcome!

--Thomas

by **fred123** » Thu May 28, 2009 5:51 pm

Thomas,

We applied on April 14 08 and no update no letter nothing. So I am not sure they are currently processing May 08. But you know what I will give them a call and let you know.

They say you can travel. Well ... how? if you know I would pleased to know how you can apply for a european visa without having a british visa.
If it was the case all the illegal guy would do so to sort their situation out.

What you can do though is to go back to your home country, and come back to UK with a EEA family permit of 6 months then with this EEA family permit you can travel with your partner at least in Europ. You need to prove that you are married (wedding certificate.)

The problem: this permit is valid for 6 months only.

And to deliver this type of permit my wife has been asked 152 questions.
In short the UK home office knows everything about our life. You have to give finger print too. They don't take you blood though.

Frederic

by **ThomasDO** » Thu May 28, 2009 9:15 pm

Hi Frederick,

this is exactly my problem. You can travel, but how to get back to UK?

We already got a family permit, so we can do it again, but depending on place, the processing time is up to 30 days (in some places). I have to go to Germany for 5 days...

So we are thinking to travel, and come back - without visa. If the border agent doesn't let my wife in, we thought about applying for a tourist visum - we will need to travel to Brazil anyhow in August/September and will have a flight booked. There we got the family permit in three days last time...

What do you think? Would this be legal to apply for a tourist visa?

--Thomas

by **fred123** » Fri May 29, 2009 8:04 am

My understanding is if you have a family permit as long as this permit is valid you are fine because you can use it to get back.

Once your family permit as expired you need to go back to your home country to get a new one otherwise without this permit you can't travel as you rely on the residence card the Home office is supposed to give you.

This is my understanding. The problem is the home office and the ambassady don't really provide any clear information on this.

I am still wondering if it is possible to travel just with a passport and a wedding certificate. ... if it s the case no need to have this EEA family permit.

As long as one of person is EU citizen in therory the second one by law inherit the same rights.

if anybody can shed some light on this?

f

by **ThomasDO** » Fri May 29, 2009 8:18 am

fred123 wrote:I am still wondering if it is possible to travel just with a passport and a wedding certificate. ... if it s the case no need to have this EEA family permit.

As long as one of person is EU citizen in therory the second one by law inherit the same rights.

if anybody can shed some light on this?

Indeed, this would be pretty helpful. Maybe also a link to the law.
I read in this forum of two persons that did it this way. They were first treated as illegals, but after some talking they let them in. But this depends on the border officer, does it?

I called the UK Border agency, and they just repeated that you need a visa to enter.

Calling the "EEA telefone number" a lady told me that I can try it, but there is no guarantee to reenter. At least she showed this option. The next officer told me nothing, but a telefon number!

--Thomas

by **martind** » Fri May 29, 2009 3:36 pm

It seems that they are changing their processes - the home office homepage now states the following. Let's hope they are really speed up.

Processing times
The time taken to process your application will depend on the type of application you make and how you submit it. There is currently a backlog of applications, and we are taking steps to address this situation as soon as possible. We aim to be operating back within our service standards from the beginning of December 2009.

If you make your application in person at the Croydon public enquiry office, we will usually process your application on the same day.

See here http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/eucitizens/applyingundereuropeanlaw/making-your-application/

by **yerbamate** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 1:41 pm

are applications really processed on the same day if the application is made in person? Do you have any experiences?

by **claustrophon** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 1:15 pm

I am having the same issues. I wonder how your cases have come out since your last post in August 2009.

I applied for a residence card with the EEA2 form on December 1, 2009. The home office has since returned both our passports since then (so we can travel), but still no residence card. My EEA Family Visa (inside my passport) expires in May, and I have been able to travel but what should I do when my visa expiration approaches, and I don't yet have a residence permit?

Thanks,

-GF

by **wellingtonkiwi** » Wed Mar 17, 2010 5:08 pm

claustrophon wrote:I am having the same issues. I wonder how your cases have come out since your last post in August 2009.

I applied for a residence card with the EEA2 form on December 1, 2009. The home office has since returned both our passports since then (so we can travel), but still no residence card. My EEA Family Visa (inside my passport) expires in May, and I have been able to travel but what should I do when my visa expiration approaches, and I don't yet have a residence permit?

Thanks,

-GF

Hi there, even if your EEA Family Permit expires, you still retain the rights from it (ie to live/work int he UK) as long as your EEA2 application is still being considered. However, unfortunately, if you want to travel in and out of the UK you'll have to apply for another EEA Family Permit from outside of the UK. But you never know, it might come before then - I applied in November 2009 and it only took 5 weeks....
Good luck!

by **janachl** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 4:55 pm

Hi everyone
Just want to share some good news and give hope and encouragement to those who still wait. Today after 4 months and 1 day my husband (non-EEA) received his 5 years RC.

We did write to them twice. First time when 3 months time was approaching and got response that application is under active consideration and second time last week when 4 months time was approaching. I was never lucky to get to speak to someone from the HO on the phone, however emails, letters or fax seem to work.

Good luck to everyone who is still waiting!

by **claustrophon** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 6:12 pm

janachl wrote:[...]4 months and 1 day my husband (non-eea) received his 5 years rc.[...]

congratulations janachi! I am standing at 4 months and 22 days, and they have not yet asked for my passport back. Hopefully they'll get to mine soon.

by **janachl** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 4:38 pm

Good luck claustrophon!
We never requested our passports back, we just sent it all at once in November and all came back yesterday.

by **claustrophon** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 4:44 pm

janachl wrote:we never requested our passports back,

yeah, i had to ask for mine back after the initial processing phase (a new service of theirs), so that i could go to an interview at job centre plus, also i've had to travel outside the uk twice, and have a weekend in amsterdam coming up in april! Once they ask for my passport back, i'll have to stay put for a little while i guess!

by **claustrophon** » Mon May 24, 2010 9:35 pm

Just an update:

The home office requested in early APRIL for me to send my passport back to them, and also some additional documents that prove my wife (a British Citizen) is exercising her treaty rights. A strange request, as I had already provided everything necessary to be awarded the EEA Family Permit. I sent them the documents and my passport on April 15 (5 months and 10 days after my initial appication).

Personally I think the Home Office requested the extra documents so they can get around the 6 month processing time required by EU law.

I am still waiting for them to process my EEA2 residence card application, and send me back my passport with the new residence card enclosed. It has now been 6 months and 19 days since I filed my EEA2 application. If I understand the EU regulations correctly, the UK Home Office is violating the law by taking longer than 6 months to process my EEA2 application. Does anyone have any information to the contrary?

Because they still have my passport, I have had to cancel a planned trip out of the country, and because EasyJet flights are non-refundable, I rescheduled a flight to happen in mid-June (not far off). Perhaps too optimistic of me, but I don't understand why they are taking so long! What am I supposed to do if I am asked to travel for my work?

by **Christi85** » Wed May 26, 2010 3:00 pm

Hi claustrophon.
Am i right that your wife is a british citizen and you two live in the uk?
If so, are you sure you are eligible to apply under the eea2 category?
I'm saying that 'cause normally british people residing in the uk are not considered to be exercising treaty rights in their own country, and therefore are not eligible to apply under eu law for an eea residence card. If you were in some other eu country (france, spain, wherever - but not the uk), then you would be applying under eu law, as your wife would be exercising treaty rights in an eu country other than her own. I know it's as ridiculous as it sounds, and more than that, the ho should have made it clear to you from the very beginning.
I believe in your case you'd have to apply for a marriage visa for the spouse of a uk citizen (yourself). That's no more under eu law, but rather under uk law. And it costs a few hundred ££s, which sucks, but it must take much less time to be processed.
On the other hand, i'm very confused, as you were issued an eea family permit and were not directed to do the uk equivalent. So they may clear your application anyway. I'm just confused because i know of british people who were not allowed by the ho to apply under eu law for their spouses with the above justification ( a british person in the uk isn't exercising treaty rights because it's their own country), and were instead told to apply for a uk marriage visa.

If i were you i'd seek to clarify with the ho immediately so as not to waste any more time with the eea, and so that you can apply under a different scheme if required.

by **claustrophon** » Wed May 26, 2010 5:46 pm

Christi85 wrote:(...)are you sure you are eligible to apply under the eea2 category?

Yes @Christi85, we applied under EEA and EEA2 because both of us lived and worked in Spain prior to coming to the UK, and the only supporting documentation (proof of employment etc) was from Spain. These documents supported the claim that she is "exercising her treaty rights under EU law" so we applied in that manner.

Maybe our unusual situation is causing the delay, but I think it is straightforward. The fact that I got the EEA family visa should clear me in that respect for issuance of the residence card.

by **Christi85** » Wed May 26, 2010 6:41 pm

Ok, i see now. Then you should be fine

best of luck and fingers crossed that you'll have it back and cleared soon

by **Rickshawala** » Thu Dec 23, 2010 11:09 am

Hi all,

I wanted to share my good news story about EEA2 processing times in UK.

I sent my application 17th Aug 2010
I received my certificate of application 1st Sept
I received my passport, documents and RESIDENCE stamp today - 23rd December

NB: The stamp is dated 2nd Dec so it has obviously been held up in the snow with the rest of our mail. So if mail hadn't been disrupted I would have expected it mid Dec.

Total wait time 4 months

Just for note - I applied as an unmarried partner of an Irish citizen. We don't have a long documented history together but we do have two 1 year old children which I guess helped convince them of our family status.

Good luck everyone