EEA Family Permit- Right to work

I currently live in UAE and have just been offered a job in the UK to work on a permanent basis. I am married to an EU citizen and we are both coming over to work. I currently have an EEA family permit that expires at the end of April. I was due to start on 13th February with my new employer, but they have said that I cannot start working there until I apply for a residence card extension and that they see the letter of acknowledgement for this.

Can you please advise if I am able to start working from next month or if I have to wait until I receive the acknowledgment letter from the residence card application?

Would my future employer be at risk if I start in February?

Your right to work is automatically derived from you being a family member of a qualified person or of someone who has acquired PR.

I think it's possible for employers to accept an EEA family permit as an excuse for you to work.

You should be applying for a residence card prior to your EEA family permit's expiry.

ally252 wrote:I currently live in UAE and have just been offered a job in the UK to work on a permanent basis. I am married to an EU citizen and we are both coming over to work. I currently have an EEA family permit that expires at the end of April. I was due to start on 13th February with my new employer, but they have said that I cannot start working there until I apply for a residence card extension and that they see the letter of acknowledgement for this.

Can you please advise if I am able to start working from next month or if I have to wait until I receive the acknowledgment letter from the residence card application?

Would my future employer be at risk if I start in February?

We are facing the same issue at the moment! firstly, you cannot start working without your residence card (RC) in Feb 2017, or your employer might be in trouble. You may apply for your RC immediately, but remember to send them your and your partners original passports (not copies) for the RC application, and the home office will send you a confirmation letter after receiving it which states your rights to work in UK!

Employer is misinformed or plain wrong
They can and should accept OP's FP.
And/or run ECS.

An EEA Family permit is proof of right to work.
Page 20, https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... nts_v5.pdf

Six months should be plenty of time to settle in and apply for a Residence card and receive certificate of application before the EEA Family permit expires which will cover you for proof of right to work until residence card is actually issued.

Thanks for the reply guys.. is there any site or email address of UKBA wherein I can ask this question and they will reply. So that I can show that reply to the employer.
The employer is scared of the 20,000 pounds fine that comes in case of illegal working.
Is there any other way to inform the employer about FP right to work?
As my FP will expire in April, should I apply for the RC when I reach UK or wait till I get my first electricity bill?
Also,I have to apply for NI number once we come. Does it requires any proof of employment?

ally252 wrote:Thanks for the reply guys.. is there any site or email address of UKBA wherein I can ask this question and they will reply. So that I can show that reply to the employer.
The employer is scared of the 20,000 pounds fine that comes in case of illegal working.
Is there any other way to inform the employer about FP right to work?
As my FP will expire in April, should I apply for the RC when I reach UK or wait till I get my first electricity bill?
Also,I have to apply for NI number once we come. Does it requires any proof of employment?

You are dealing with UKVI. Any UKBA information will be 4 years out of date from when UKBA was abolished.

Any employer worth their salt should understand ECS. Tell employer to google ECS right to work checks (and then invoice them for the consultancy you just gave them).

You cannot work without NINO, get the NINO first (via JobCentre). No proof of employment.

Apply for RC when you have adequate evidence to back your case. Residence (both parties) and sponsor's treaty rights evidence.

Hello ally252, your situation is absolutely same as mine. I have also been offered a permanent job by a company in UK. I went through several documents provided by the Home Office to discover whether a non-EEA FM is permitted to work in UK through EEA FP. Well, the thing is that technically a person can't but theoretically can. what I mean is that on one hand the policy indirectly says that a person can work but on the other hand it doesn't permit the employer to higher anyone who doesn't have proof to work in UK in terms of unless the statement "permitted to work" is not mentioned by the Home Ministry in the passport/EEA family permit of a non-EEA FM. The options left for a non-EEA FM to be able to work in UK is that either his spouse does already possess the 'right to stay in UK' document or a resident card before the spouse accompanies her or else she lives in UK as a qualified person for a required period in order to be able to obtain the 'right to stay in UK' document. Now here things are again very complicated if the EEA Spouse doesn't already live in UK or even if willing to travel to UK with the aim to find a job. The last option for the EEA FM left is that the company that is offering the job provides a sponsorship certificate.

Anyway the point being made is that there is no legal document I could find that explicitly deal with this kind of topic that could clearly show a way out. One last thing, may I ask you if you could find a way out or any solutions that can help me deal with this situation as we both have the same circumstances. Thanks in advance.