Old EEA card is still good for traveling even after replaced by EUSS card

Happy to report my old EEA card still showed up my status at Heathrow even after having been replaced by a new EUSS card.

I was issued my new card while abroad, and therefore didn't have it with me when coming back. Presented old EEA card instead, and was valid without an issue.

Note that this mean I have not yet attached my status to the new card.

The policy has changed several months ago, and there EU Residence card is valid until its expiry, provided you are registered under the EU settlement scheme, there is not even a need to exchange.

Obie wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 17, 2021 11:36 am

The policy has changed several months ago, and there EU Residence card is valid until its expiry, provided you are registered under the EU settlement scheme, there is not even a need to exchange.

Thanks Obie.

There were concerns among some members triggered by the below wording on the official notification when a new EUSS card was issued:

"You are advised not to make any travel arrangements until you have received your replacement BRC.

You did not provide your previous BRC in support of your application. It has been cancelled and is no longer valid for use"

I would like to reassure people of the still standing validity of the card, even after replacement and before registering of the new card.

kamoe wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 17, 2021 11:31 am

Happy to report my old EEA card still showed up my status at Heathrow even after having been replaced by a new EUSS card.

I was issued my new card while abroad, and therefore didn't have it with me when coming back. Presented old EEA card instead, and was valid without an issue.

Note that this mean I have not yet attached my status to the new card.

What if using the new card but it’s not updated to your status

Ballackmo wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 11, 2021 11:34 am

What if using the new card but it’s not updated to your status

Can't say for sure as that's exactly the opposite of my case. My wild guess is that there will be no issue, since you will be presenting a physical valid card issued under the EU Settlement Scheme to start with. I believe the need to link documents to your status is when those documents don't tell you already that you have status, per se. But I might be wrong. I could... try and test this the next time I travel and see what happens (I'll have both cards with me in case it doesn't work).

But if anyone else has already done this, please spare us the suspense and share your experience!

Obviously the above applies if and only if your old EEA BRC has an expiration date in the future! (in other words, if it hasn't expired). If you card has expired then you might face issues as it is an invalid card from the perspective of airlines who cannot check the electronic status.

Thought I'd clarify!

Ballackmo wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 11, 2021 11:34 am

What if using the new card but it’s not updated to your status

Just did this. No issue whatsoever.

New development: My old EEA RC seems to just have been cancelled. I was trying to use the online status service to get a sharecode, and it indicated that my card was either expired or reported as lost/stolen. None of which has happened.

I then tried using my EUSS RC and it worked.

So it might be that the curtailment of the old EEA RC is triggered 6 months after issuing the EUSS card, which makes sense. Card was issued on 03/09/2021; old one starts to appear invalid on 02/03/2022.

FYI.

Aaand yet newer update:

I did try a couple of more times to generate share codes with my old EEA RC, and sometimes it worked, sometimes it did not. Not sure what to make of that other than the service might be unstable, or... I sometimes make mistakes when inputting the number??? (Which is odd, as my RC number is saved in the form and comes up for me, I don't really need to type it).

But, today I traveled back from abroad and my old EEA RC was accepted without issues at border control. Not sure what to make of that either. I think... the card might have never been invalidated at all.

Go figure.

Yesterday I travelled back again and on purpose I presented my old BRC again at border control at Amsterdam (Eurostar). Zero issues, my settled status showed up on screen alright.

Thanks so much for your updates. I was worried about same thing given the wording in the email that the exciting card is cancelled. Thanks!!