I am clear from the many posts on the subject (in particular Coyan's responses) that an EEA family permit should not be issued to an unmarried partner, although no doubt this will change when UK Civil Partnership legislation starts operating on December 5th 2005.

An unmarried partner seeking to enter the UK at the same time as their EEA sponsor, therefore, has to apply on the settlement form VAF2 (and should get a 2 yr visa), although it is quite probable that the EEA sponsor will not, at that stage, have a residence permit in the UK.

If this is correct, there is a clear inconsistency between the situation for unmarried partners of EEA citizens applying from inside the UK ( when a joint application is made on the form EEC1) and those applying from outside the UK on the form VAF2

Within the UK, the EEA citizen needs a residence permit in order to sponsor their unmarried partner (as that is the basis of form EEC1) whereas if they are entering the UK together, the EEA citizen needs only to be an EEA citizen about to exercise his or her EU treaty rights in the UK (i.e about to go to live and work there).

Does anyone know if the EEA sponsor of the couple who entered the UK together has any practical or legal need to apply for a residence permit in the UK before the time comes to extend the non EU partners initial 2 year unmarried partners visa ?

 

Thank you Coyan, for this.

I have since yesterday been corrected re.my suggestion that Non EU legal partners of EU citizens will be treated like spouses for the purpose of UK immigration after December 5th, because (as you confirm) such relationships are not yet recognised under EU law- at least not EUwide.

Much appreciate your clear comments. I have heard that there is inconsistency in the treatment of such partners in British Diplomatic Posts around the world, but given the grey areas, this is perhaps not surprising.

As for my original question, I think I can assume that the only necessity for an EU citizen and their non EU partner to have a UK residence permit is:
1) that the most usual way to extend a non-EU partner's leave to remain in UK is via the form EEC1 - with its dual role of residency for the EU citizen and the dependant partner.
2) As a step towards Indefinite Leave to Remain after 4 years living and working in the UK. - ?

On the other hand the non-EU partner of a couple who do not intend to stay in UK long term might decide purely to extend the EU family permit as it would not seem to restrict them from the working point of view at all.

It may be that there would be little point in going that route, but I would be interested in your thoughts.

 

Please ignore the last two paragraphs of my post above. Clearly if the EEA family permit is not technically available to unmarried partners or legal/married partners (from Dec 5th.), then
there will not be an EEA family permit to renew.

I should have taken 2 steps back from my screeen before writing this !

 

It is perfectly OK to stay with friends or family for a few months (2 or 3 ?) while you find suitable accommodation - and, possibly jobs. You should make it clear that this is a temporary solution and show that you can afford to pay for a place of your own as soon as you find it. This may involve giving evidence of savings or CVs to show that you are employable.

 

Yes, a letter from your friends, possibly saying whether they own the house etc should be quite sufficient.