This is a very good question, but unfortunately there is no easy answer. Basically the Home Office "forgot" about this case when they were designing the rules.

You should apply for EEA2 as soon as possible. You will get a Certificate of Application within a few weeks, but this is not generally a replacement for a visa. You should also ask for you passport back, this does not affect your application. Then you have three options: you can apply for another EEA family permit while in France, you can ask for a tourist visa when you enter the UK, or you can cite the clause you mentioned.

I think the tourist visa is probably the easiest. You only need it to get into the country. Once you are on British ground, you are again covered by the EU right of free movement.

According to the Home Office, the proper way is get another EEA family permit in France. If you can fit this in, it may be worth it.

Relying on paragraph 5(5) is something I would only recommend if you travel together with your spouse. Of course you have the advantage of having a "western" citizenship, so I can hardly imagine that they would refuse you. But you never know.

Since this whole situation is obviously a f*ck up, I would recommend that you ask SOLVIT about (http://ec.europa.eu/solvit/site/index_en.htm), and you should write to your MP. You can also complain to the European Commission, but don't expect any fast response from them.

 

Mhm - this is interesting. But does it really work? The problem I see is the following (quoted from http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk):

How can an EEA-spouse apply for an EEA Family permit while his/her application for a residence card is being processed if s/he is *not* a legal resident in any other EEA Member State? After all, s/he can't prove that s/he is a legal resident in the UK as this is exactly what they are taking 6 months to consider??? But maybe I'm missing something here.

We are in a similar situation. The EEA family permit has expired, my wife's passport (Malaysian) is with the Home Office for the next five months and she is stuck inside the cage called Britain. If there was a way that she could get her passport back and travel abroad without having to worry that she may be refused re-entry, this would contribute greatly to everybody's sanity at the moment...

 

Well, this is what the Home Office recommends. I did not try it, and I am not saying that it is without problems. Concerning the legal residence, I would assume that the previous EEA family permit and the Certificate of Application should be proof of legal residence in the UK. This seems backwards, but as I said: this situation is really falling through the cracks of the legislation.

Go for it. As long as you travel together and have your marriage certificate and the certificate of application with you, they cannot legally refuse you. And just in case, have the number of your consulate ready...

 

Hi! I have a EEA family permit and i would like to know which contries in EU i can travel to whitout asking for a visa and if possible with no need of my partner to be with me.. thanks

 

If your partner is British and you both live in the UK, you need a visa for all EU countries if you normally would be a visa national.
This is not as bad as it sounds, as already 15 EU member states participate in the Schengen areas, and of 23 December 2007 most others will join. So one visa will do for those, as well as for Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Ireland and the UK remain the exception and require a separate visa.

All visa should be issued free of charge and will allow you to stay at least 3 months in each member state, if you join your wife.

If your partner is an EU citizen and you are living in another member state than your country of origin, your EU rp allows you visa free travel to all other member states.

Do present your wedding certificate, British rp's and her passport when applying and traveling.