EEA Family Permit refusal

Hello there,

I've been recently refused an EEA FP to join my Polish husband in UK. The decision:

You have failed to provide evidence that your EEA national family member is a qualified person in accordance with Regulaiton 6 of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006. I am, therefore, not satisfied that your EEA national family member is residing in the UK in accordance with the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006.

You have provided no evidence that your EEA national family member has been residing in the UK for the last three months. Bank statements provided by him show cash withdrawals starting on 19/05/10 up to 22/06/10. The EEA national family member has provided a contract agreement dated 20th April 2010. This alone does not verify his contract with them; he has provided no business accounts or bank statements showing incoming monies to verify his employment. A letter dated 29/06/10 states that your EEA national family member has resided at ... since 16/05/10. Your EEA national family member has provided an email from HMRC National Insurance Contribution Office which states that he applied to register himself as self employed on 23/06/10.

I therefore refuse your EEA family permit application because I am not satisfied that your meet all the requirements of Regulation 12 of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006.


Does this mean that I cannot apply for EEA FP before he stays there for 3 months? Or they want to see the statement for 3 months?
My husband arrived in UK on 15th of May. Before that he stayed in my country (non EU) for 1,5 months and before that he stayed in UK for about a year, but was not working. Right now he works as self-employed for 15 hours a week. He applied for registration with HMRC, but they haven't confirmed it yet. He had no incoming monies on his bank account because he was paid a few times in cash. After this refusal he will be paid by a bank stransfer though. So, should I wait for 3 months from now to allow the payments to appear on the bank statement? Or wait for 1 month (he will be in UK for 3 months by that time), submit statements showing payments for the last month and confirm cash in hand payments by the letter from the company he works for?
Also, he is staying at our friend's rented place - will this be accepted as accommodation? In the current refusal it is not said anything about this.

thanks for any help on this

Have your husband write them a letter that during the first 3 months he doesn't have to be a qualified person ( it is called initial right of residence) and you have the right to accompany him.

petkanov wrote:Have your husband write them a letter that during the first 3 months he doesn't have to be a qualified person ( it is called initial right of residence) and you have the right to accompany him.

hi petkanov,
do you think you can include this first 3 months(initial right of risidence) on your application for eea3 even you didn't work at that time.


thanks.

petkanov wrote:Have your husband write them a letter that during the first 3 months he doesn't have to be a qualified person ( it is called initial right of residence) and you have the right to accompany him.

You may want to pointe them to Regulation 13 in the EEA regulations.

petkanov wrote:Have your husband write them a letter that during the first 3 months he doesn't have to be a qualified person ( it is called initial right of residence) and you have the right to accompany him.

In his letter he didn't mention this, because he IS a quialified person, as he is working as self employed. I understand that they want to see additional proof of this, such as incoming monies. But it still doesn't make sence to me what they meant by this:

You have provided no evidence that your EEA national family member has been residing in the UK for the last three months.

Why did you not travel together to the UK?

After the first 3 months, he either needs to be working or actively looking for work. Either is fine.

Directive/2004/38/EC wrote:Why did you not travel together to the UK?

After the first 3 months, he either needs to be working or actively looking for work. Either is fine.

I read on Home Office website that even if we will travel together I need to apply for EEA FP and at that time we didn't have the documents ready to apply. Especially that my husband has resided in UK for 1 year before our marriage and was not working during that time, so 3 months rule cound not be applied I think. And he didn't have enough money to qualify as self sufficient, unfortunately.

Can your husband get a letter from his employer stating that he is working and how much and how much he is getting paid?

You could then resubmit the application for the family permit and see what the embassy says.

Directive/2004/38/EC wrote:Can your husband get a letter from his employer stating that he is working and how much and how much he is getting paid?

You could then resubmit the application for the family permit and see what the embassy says.

In fact, I submitted the original work contract AND a letter from his employer(he is rather the buyer of the services, because my husband is self employed). But for the ECO it didn't prove that he is working In the refusal decision (I cited it in the first message), they say that he did not provide business accounts or bank statements, showing incoming monies. On home office website it says that the confirmation of self emloyment is self assessment forms, confirmaiton of national insurance contributions etc.
My husband is now getting paid by a bank transfer, so he will have a bank statement with incoming monies.
So, should I reapply as soon as he sends me the new bank statements? Do you think it will be sufficient, based on their current refusal justification? Or should i wait before he can get his NI contributions confirmation? He applied to register as self employed recently and hasn't received any confirmation yet I am scared that for this NI contribution confirmation I will have to wait for another 2 months and I haven't seen my hubby since 15.05

I personally would not wait for anything.

You have a couple of options that I see:

(1) You can immediately appeal the current decision.
(2) You can submit a new application along with a strongly worded letter that points out that your husband has only been in the UK since May and that he has an UNCONDITIONAL right to be there for up to 90 days and that so does his family (i.e. YOU)

Directive/2004/38/EC wrote:I personally would not wait for anything.

You have a couple of options that I see:

(1) You can immediately appeal the current decision.
(2) You can submit a new application along with a strongly worded letter that points out that your husband has only been in the UK since May and that he has an UNCONDITIONAL right to be there for up to 90 days and that so does his family (i.e. YOU)

But in 3 weeks he will already be there for 3 months since he left my country. Besides, he FIRST entered UK in March 2009 and was not working there for 1 year. Although I did not state that in the application - I put the date of his fist entry as May 15 2010, - I am scared that they can look him up and then I can be accused of deception or something.

Why I don't want to appeal: I provided his work contract and a letter from the buyer of his services only. The ECO stated that it's not enough as a confirmation of his work.

From Home office website:

......proof that you are a 'qualified person'. This could include:

Worker: your contract of employment, wage slips, letter from your employer.

Self-employed person: evidence of your National Insurance contributions, Construction Industry Scheme card (if applicable), lease on business premises, contracts, invoices, audited accounts, bank statements.


My husband started to get paid by bank transfer last week. So, If I wait untill he gets a couple of payments and sends me his updated bank statement and invoices, they might be satisfied. Maybe by that time his registration as self employed will be complete as well.

At the moment I don't have additional confirmations of his work, unfortunately, to submit a new application.

Hi there

I would take Directive's advice and immediately apply again with a very direct statement that there is NO requirement for him to be a qualified person and that both he and you have the right of entry that is unconditional. The fact that he was in the UK previously is irrelevent as he left and returned, effectively resetting the clock.

I wouldn't bother with an appeal - we tried that and it took several weeks to get a response and was long after we had lodged a new, successful application. Chances are, if you make it clear that you understand your rights, this will be sorted very quickly and could be inside a week.

Good luck!

Basically, you could tell UKBA something like: "Directive 2004/38/EC is clear that there are NO preconditions on residence for the first 90 days in the UK, for either the EU citizen or their non-EU family. Work is not relevant to a decision when the EU citizen has been in the UK for under 90 days."

You might also add (I would) that you "expect the visa to be issued as soon as possible and on the basis of an accelerated timetable, and further delay by UKBA is not acceptable and will result in a formal complaint to the European Commission".

Directive/2004/38/EC wrote:Basically, you could tell UKBA something like: "Directive 2004/38/EC is clear that there are NO preconditions on residence for the first 90 days in the UK, for either the EU citizen or their non-EU family. Work is not relevant to a decision when the EU citizen has been in the UK for under 90 days."

You might also add (I would) that you "expect the visa to be issued as soon as possible and on the basis of an accelerated timetable, and further delay by UKBA is not acceptable and will result in a formal complaint to the European Commission".

What documents I will have to submit in this case? Do I need to collect everything again? It will take 2 weeks and then it will be 1 week before my husband will be there for 3 months. Obviously I will intend to stay there longer... R u sure it will be OK to apply like that?

abraCadabra wrote:What documents I will have to submit in this case? Do I need to collect everything again? It will take 2 weeks and then it will be 1 week before my husband will be there for 3 months. Obviously I will intend to stay there longer... R u sure it will be OK to apply like that?

You could submit the same documents as last time.

What will take 2 weeks? Can you not just resubmit your existing package?

I suggest you read some of the documents at https://eumovement.wordpress.com/directive-200438ec/

I am English and my wife is non-EEA and we are resident in Bulgaria. She has a residence card.
We have a right to apply for an EEA FP.

We applied for an EEA Family Permit and were refused.

They said we can appeal. Should we appeal or re-apply?

We gave them passports, marriage certificate, residence cards and proof of my job and income but they said our marriage is of convenience.

What documents would be useful to submit?

They suggested utility bills etc but we don't have these as we are living with relatives.

thanks

englishman9 wrote:I am English and my wife is non-EEA and we are resident in Bulgaria. She has a residence card.
We have a right to apply for an EEA FP.

We applied for an EEA Family Permit and were refused.

They said we can appeal. Should we appeal or re-apply?

We gave them passports, marriage certificate, residence cards and proof of my job and income but they said our marriage is of convenience.

What documents would be useful to submit?

They suggested utility bills etc but we don't have these as we are living with relatives.

thanks

What country is she a citizen of? From which country does she have the Residence Card?
Have you been working in Bulgaria?

Why do you think they might think it is a marriage of convenience? How long have you been married?

It is a Bulgarian residence card as we live and work in Bulgaria.
We want to visit UK.

We've been married nearly 2 years.
How long do we need to be married?

It seems that they are very much in breach of EU Law requiring these utility bills regarding the following EU Law

“As your right of entry is derived from your family ties with a Union citizen, all the Member State consular officials can ask you to produce for the visa application is your passport and a document establishing the family ties with a Union citizen, such as marriage or birth certificate and proof of dependence, where applicable."

Two years is good, though there is no fixed time. If you married yesterday and knew your spouse only since last week it would raise issues.

When was her Residence Card issued?

Our residence card was issued in June

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_E ... ily_Permit

Article 11 of The Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006:

Right of admission to the United Kingdom 11. (...) (2) A person who is not an EEA national must be admitted to the United Kingdom if he is a family member of an EEA national, a family member who has retained the right of residence or a person with a permanent right of residence under regulation 15 and produces on arrival— (a) a valid passport; (...) ( 4) Before an immigration officer refuses admission to the United Kingdom to a person under this regulation because the person does not produce on arrival a document mentioned in paragraph (1) or (2), the immigration officer must give the person every reasonable opportunity to obtain the document or have it brought to him within a reasonable period of time or to prove by other means that he is— (...) (b) a family member of an EEA national with a right to accompany that national or join him in the United Kingdom; or (c) a family member who has retained the right of residence or a person with a permanent right of residence under regulation 15.

I think this means that they cannot refuse entry if we can prove she is 'family member' by our marriage certificate(which is translated and apostille into English) and passport / Residence Card
So if we turn up at the UK border (airport or border with France) getting on the plane may be diificult but if we drive up to the tunnel - UK Immigration is on the French side then they can't refuse us?

englishman9 wrote:I think this means that they cannot refuse entry if we can prove she is 'family member' by our marriage certificate(which is translated and apostille into English) and passport / Residence Card
So if we turn up at the UK border (airport or border with France) getting on the plane may be diificult but if we drive up to the tunnel - UK Immigration is on the French side then they can't refuse us?

In general they can refuse entry on the following grounds:
(1) Marriage (or family relationship) is for immigration purposes only and is not real
(2) National security
(3) Specific Serious public policy issues
(4) Serious public health issues

If they think your marriage is a sham, then (1) is a ground to refuse you admission.

Have you been living for all of the last two years with your wife in Romania?

We were in India, Indonesia and mainly living at her family's home, we've been in Bulgaria the last 6 months.

EU say the UK is wrong about it but that they can't really do anything - they said it's U.Ks decision - very prompt reply from EU Signpost though!

Has anyone just turned up at the UK border and enter WITHOUT the EEA Family Permit just with marriage certificate and passports?

englishman9 wrote:We were in India, Indonesia and mainly living at her family's home, we've been in Bulgaria the last 6 months.

Any evidence of having been together abroad?

englishman9 wrote:EU say the UK is wrong about it but that they can't really do anything - they said it's U.Ks decision - very prompt reply from EU Signpost though!

Signpost just gives advice. It is SOLVIT which should act on your behalf (but the truth is that they don't have any actual power).

englishman9 wrote:Has anyone just turned up at the UK border and enter WITHOUT the EEA Family Permit just with marriage certificate and passports?

Yes, some people seem to be succesful with that. But your problem may well be whether your refusal will be known to the border forces or not.

I would think that a refusal would not effect entry as entry is an EU right but EEA FP is just a UK Visa in disguise flounting EU Law.

Does this change anything?

http://eumovement.wordpress.com/2010/08 ... to-travel/