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Hi hoping somebody can help me and my wife , I am UK/Irish passport holder living and working in Spain , but for a UK company . My wife is Moroccan and has now been living in Spain for over 6 months , we were planning to go to the UK for easter by road and ferry ( she has a Spanish ID card ) .
However having looked at the Surinder Singh ruling in a little more detail it appears that we might have to apply for an eea2 form before we go even for 2-3 weeks in the UK can some body clarify this for us ?

Anyone under EEA regulatons would have to apply for the EEA FP. The UKBA should actually accept your wife's residence card (I suppose she has one) but they don't. If you made it to the border control you could theoretically enter provided you can proof your the marriage (by certificate) and show your Irish passport. But that's probably a major hassle and may fail.

Hi could you tell me will we have to apply at the consulate for the eea and what is an FP ?
Also surely this is against the law ? she is resident in Spain and has her card ? We can go just about everywhere else except where I am from UK/Eire seems quite upside down anyway any more help would be great .

madmart132 wrote:Hi could you tell me will we have to apply at the consulate for the eea and what is an FP ?

EEA FP = EEA family permit which is the entry clearance that your wife should apply for, obviously at a British consulate.

madmart132 wrote:Also surely this is against the law ?

The EU Comission thinks so too...

madmart132 wrote:she is resident in Spain and has her card ?

I suppose that's a statement and not a question.

madmart132 wrote:We can go just about everywhere else...

A residence card functions within the Schengen area just like a Schengen residence title. But a residence card is supposed to allow visa free travel (if together with the EEA national or for the purpose of joining them) within all of the EEA...

Unfortunately, the UK requires the non EU Family Member to apply for an EEA FP to travel to the UK (with/to join EU spouse), even if the person already has a Family Member Residence Card from the one of the Schengen countries! (Spain, in your case.)
I have a Dutch Residence Card, but still need to apply for an EEA FP if I want to travel to UK with my husband, or a Visitor Visa without him! Can't be bothered with the inconvenience, so I now have a long term 'mult' visit visa so I can easily travel to UK with or without him!

I am Australian and married to an English man. We lived in Spain for two years before coming to live in England. I applied for an EEA FP twice in Madrid and was refused. They do not understand the Singh ruling there, or at least they didn't last year.

We came to the UK by ferry anyway last July without me having an EEA FP and after a lot of questioning at Portsmouth I was given leave to enter under EEA regulations. I submitted an EEA2 application and I received my RC last week.

However, you are only coming to the UK for a holiday right? A tourist visa would suffice.

Sorry to reopen this thread again , just to update anybody following these queries . We did not travel to the UK at Easter and are now planning on going in June or July .
Just some questions though !!!

1) can my wife travel to the UK just on her Spanish ID card ? We will be driving as she will be at least 7 1/2 months pregnant at this time , I just do not want any hassle at that stage of her pregnancy , and believe that it would be quicker to go through with a swipe ID card rather than a passport .

2) What other paperwork should we bring ? We will take our marriage certificate and also a copy of surinder Singh ruling ,and all of the Spanish paperwork , anything I have forgotten ?

3) I have dual nationality UK/ Irish would it be easier to go with Irish passport or UK passport ?

4) I was advised before to get an eea2 before we travelled but I see we can get 1 in the UK anyway and did not fancy 2 trips to Madrid ( 1000 KMS each trip)

Thanks again and any help is appreciated

[quote="madmart132"]Sorry to reopen this thread again , just to update anybody following these queries . We did not travel to the UK at Easter and are now planning on going in June or July .
Just some questions though !!!

1) can my wife travel to the UK just on her Spanish ID card ? We will be driving as she will be at least 7 1/2 months pregnant at this time , I just do not want any hassle at that stage of her pregnancy , and believe that it would be quicker to go through with a swipe ID card rather than a passport .

It depends on the ferry company if they let her board the ferry without a valid UK visa. In all probability, they wont. Applying for a EEA FP would be the best idea to avoid any hassle.

2) What other paperwork should we bring ? We will take our marriage certificate and also a copy of surinder Singh ruling ,and all of the Spanish paperwork , anything I have forgotten ?

You do not need any surinder sing ruling at all. Just think about it, you are an irish national visiting UK and you wife is accompanying you. The piece of information you need to carry is the actual eu directive, and there is some UKBA guidance to Border force regarding spouses of eea nationals. (and offcourse your marriage certificate in original) I will post the link if I can find. Or may be some other better clued up member will do that for you

3) I have dual nationality UK/ Irish would it be easier to go with Irish passport or UK passport ?

I would advice you to carry your Irish passport, and just forget about the UK passport.

4) I was advised before to get an eea2 before we travelled but I see we can get 1 in the UK anyway and did not fancy 2 trips to Madrid ( 1000 KMS each trip)
You cannot apply for eea2 outside the UK. The only way to apply for it is from inside UK. Takes about 6 months to process

It depends on the ferry company if they let her board the ferry without a valid UK visa. In all probability, they wont. Applying for a EEA FP would be the best idea to avoid any hassle.

You are overlooking an important fact. Simply, the immigration controls between the UK and France, at the Channel ports, are now juxtaposed, that is, you need to clear UK immigration before entering the port or boarding the ferry.

So it is not down to the ferry company. If you get that far the ferry company will definitely let you board.

Getting an EEA Family Permit is clearly advisable. The last thing you want is for your wife stuck in north-west France, unable to proceed to the UK, and being 7.5 months pregnant.

madmart132 wrote:1) can my wife travel to the UK just on her Spanish ID card ? .. and believe that it would be quicker to go through with a swipe ID card rather than a passport .

Under no circumstances may a non-EEA / Swiss national enter the UK unless in possession of at least a valid passport.

Possession of any document issued by the Spanish authorities does not exempt your wife from the requirement to carry a valid passport when entering the UK.

To echo what has already been advised, as the spouse of an Irish national, your wife need not reply upon or even mention the Singh ruling - or the fact that you are a UK national - in her applications for an EEA FP / RC. To do so would only confuse matters unnecessarily.

Hi again , I have noted and then tried to check the information that has been posted on the UKBA website thank you for the help .
But all of the information on the EEA Family permit from 258 to 262 has been deleted !!!
Anybody know why ? And again any help with a link to the EEU directive . we are in the position of possibly having to make 2 trips to madrid to obtain this EEA family permit which is a day a trip minimum . can it be done by post ?
Thanks again

UKBA is updating the websites, thats why many pages are unavailable. Refer to uk embassy website in spain to find out ways to apply for visa, post or otherwise.

But all of the information on the EEA Family permit from 258 to 262 has been deleted !!!

That is right, and nothing to do with the change of Government. Those paras. were deleted some time ago. I invite you to read para 5 of the Immigration Rules, which explains.

You ask for links to Regulations .... click here .... for links to the EU Directive, and also to the 2006 Regulations issued by the UK Government.