You inherit the rights automatically after your marriage and have every Right same as a British Citizen (with the exception of voting Rights). Technically you don't even need a Permit to start working.

 

I am in the same situation as you, and I have asked my solicitor about that is he has told me that "YOU CANT START WORKING" until you get the residence aproved. Remember that is not just a matter of getting married to get the residence, is a matter of your husband/wife exercising treaty rights, and this must be confirmed by the HO. I guess you will have to wait, and it's taking a loooong time to get the papers back (I have been waiting for 3.5 month). If I was you I would ask for my papers back, and apply from your home country. Than you will probably make it for your job in august.

Good Luck

 

Legally what the British authorities are saying is a violation of Treaty Rights. Because soon as you are married to an EU Partner you automatically gain EU rights from the marriage.

The problem with the British Authorities and IND is procedural. Their Administrative systems require that you wait for a formal approval from them. This is an obstacle. Their only requirement under EU Law is to ascertain the genuineness of the Marriage Certificate and relationship.

The Dutch have a away around this problem so as not to put obstacles in ones way. On verifying the authenticy of the Marriage Certificate they place a 6-months (maximum period under EU rules for the authorities to issue you with a Residence Card) Temporary Stamp in your Passport which entitles you to apply for an Insurance Number and work.
At the end of that 6 months your Card should be available as a proof of Legal Residence to an Employer or any requesting authority. This is done at the Local Government offices.

The problem with the UK is that it has a Postal system to a Centralised IND office for these applications so until the IND officially approves of your Permit (and sends you back your Passport with a physical stamp in it or a Physical Resident Crad) you have no choice but to wait because you wouldn't have any available evidence of your legal status to apply for a National Insurance Number from the DHSS office and convince a potential employer to take you on.

The only alternative then if you can't wait is to withdraw the application and make it formally from your home country. The EU Stamp then given to you at the Embassy is enough proof to apply for an NI number and to also convince a potential employer whilst putting in for a formal Residence Card from the Home Office. The EU Stamp at the Embassy has a notice on it which says. 'No work permit needed' or something like that. Any potential employer will be convinced with that evidence.

A lot depends on a particular country's administratve procedures for issuing Permits since all EU countries have different administrative procedures. It was mainly because of some of these problems that the UK Home Office decided 3 yrs ago to establish an independent EU Office within the IND to deal with some of these problems. But they certainly have some more work to do.

Legally the non-EU spouse of an EU National does not need any Permission whatsoever to reestablish his or her Rights which is already existing under EU Law. The IND is wrong but as a result of their administrative system you have no choice but to fall on their mercies.

 

Yea Coyan, as you say the system is really not very "considerate" with the applicants, this is supposed to be a right not a privilige!. And waiting for 3-6month is a nightmare, I feel like if there is a big PAUSE on my life, stucked by the sistem.

This is really the whole point!, why dont they just call for an interview. How do you think they actually check this?

 

Bar someone taking legal action in Europe to force the IND to open up its offices so that an EU applicant can walk in and get the necessary documents the same day, the only alternative is to make the appliction from outside Britain at the UK Embassy in your Home country.

This should be granted within a day or two. You should be able to get a 6 Months EU Permit Stamp as proof of your status which also allows you to work. Mind you its not the Permit that gives you that Right. The Right is derived from your relationship with the EU Partner. The Stamp is Proof to the Entry Clearance Officer at the Port of Entry in the UK as regards your Immigration status.

Secondly the UK has no means of proofing the authenticity of foreign Marriage Certificates. Other European countries have an elaborate investigative procedure of certifying such documents involving their Embassies called a Verification process. Even so the Dutch Supreme Court last year ruled that such Investigative procedures by the Dutch authorities is unConstitutional and violates individual rights. So the Dutch authorities are now trying to find a way around the verification and authenticity of Foreign documents. I don't think the UK is in any better situation.

 

WHAT? So they never even know if your marriage certificates are real if you get married outside the UK? Wouldn't everyone just present fake marriage certificates to them then?

 

But then if you have a Partner with Legal Rights in the UK, of what sense does it make to present fake documents to the authorities when a genuine one can achieve the same purpose without the need to be watching your back everytime.

And in a system such as the UK with personal records in almost every government authority's database, sooner or later there will be a conflict somewhere and your sins would have caught up with you.

 

Hi Coyan,

My name is Jeff, I'm just using my wife's username in the forum as she made me post a question in another thread. My wife is an EEA National (from Poland), I'm the non-EEA spouse. We entered UK about 2 weeks ago from the United States where I've been at for the last 4 years, and where I met and married my wife. I was also given an entry clearance by the UK Embassy in New York, where we filed, the VISA EEA Family Permit: Family Member in my passport, which is what was shown at UK Immigration at the point of entry. The immigration official just stamped my passport with the date of entry and the airport of entry, and my wife's passport was just looked at (I guess for verification that she was an EEA National), and then we were allowed entry. The whole process didn't even take more than 5 minutes.

Given that background, and some information from our research on websites other threads here, my wife and I were led to understand that she needs to work first, then file for WRS (Worker Registration Scheme), and when she receives her WRS card, I was to file an EEC3 form (that includes her WRS Reference Number) for a residence permit, and only then can I seek/accept employment.

Based on the replies in this thread, it seems you say that I CAN work right away, as the right to work is inherited from the marriage and not from the visa the UK Embassy put in my passport, and the latter only serves as proof of the relation that I have to the EEA National to which I came here with.

If what you say is true and I can start working, are there any forms that I need to file with the Home Office or IND? What forms are they and what purpose do they serve? If the case is, I'm the only one who finds work at the moment and we decide that my wife doesn't work anymore, then I read somewhere that she can file for the residence permit on the basis that she is a "self sufficient person" because the non-EEA spouse is employed and the suppport is coming from that spouse's employment. What form does she need to file for this, is it the EEC1 form?

One thing I learned right away upon arriving here, there's a lot of red tape that's going on, specially at government offices, based on stories and some replies on the threads here!

Let's say as well that, I do get work already, and it turns out that I had to file for some forms prior to work, or IND or Home Office, for some reason, say that I cannot work right away, as opposed to what you're saying, then what could they do to me legally? Again, this boils back to your arguement that "The Right is derived from your relationship with the EU Partner". Can they deport me, considering that my wife is an EEA National? As for the marriage, I have sufficient documentation with me, so proving this is not a problem at all.

Anyway, your response will be greatly appreciated! Thanks buddy!

 

Coyan (and others)
I have read this post and still confused about how to prove one's right to work before getting the residence document. My husband (Swedish) and I (US) moved here two months ago from the US and my husband holds a permanent job here. I entered on the EEA Family Permit, but didn't get anything in my passport saying I can work. We just submitted the EEC1 application. I am job hunting and hope to find one soon. How can I prove to an employer that I have a right to work here. There is NO WAY I'm waiting 6 months before I start to work- that is just ridiculous. Was I supposed to get some kind of stamp in my passport from the US consulate where I applied for the EEA family passport or when I entered the country? Most of the jobs I am applying for state that I must prove my right to work in this country.

 

I am EU national and my husband is not. My husband was told on the phone by Home Office that he is allowed to work here as soon as we land in the UK. My husband has already been offered a couple of jobs and the only thing he did to prove he has the right to work here was to say "I am a spouse of the EU national which gives me the right to work" and show his family permit.

Also, my husband cleared everything on EU/non-EU spouse in one of his messages. Here's the link.

http://www.easyexpat.com/forums/ftopic_5958.htm

Hope that helps,
Cheers,
Aleksandra

 

The EEC1 application is for the residence permit and is in no way connected to you needing that for work or not. The above post mentions a link, and I suggest you read on that one, as it clearly explains the answer to your question. But in summary, since you have the EEA Family Permit in your passport, that is all you need to show your prospective employer that you have a right to work here,and that right is inherent from the fact that you are married to an EU citizen, not from some paper.

When you go to interviews or register with employment agencies, bring with you your passport because they will need to photocopy your EEA Family Permit as this is the proof of your employability in the UK.