EEA Family Pass Post dated. May I travel early

Hello all,
Recently I was granted an EEA family pass for entry to the UK for 6 months. When filling in the application I figured it would take time for them to issue the visa so I stated I intended to travel to the UK in the begining of April. I was issued the visa in 3 hours.
I was previously refused entry to the UK on a spouse visa. I am wondering if I could go to the UK now as a visitor to be with my wife, obviously I will not be able to work and this is not a problem for me. My intention would be to go to the UK until 2 days before my EEA visa starts, go to visit a friend in Poland for a couple of days, then return to the UK to activate my new visa and begin working and getting the process started for the next step.
Would this be an issue? I am American and usually there is a visa waiver program. I just feel that the previous refusal and the new visa not valid yet may cause problems.
Thank you all in advance.

Family pass, visa? I guess what you mean is the EEA family permit. As an US citizen you shouldn't have any trouble getting on the plane. You will need to explain the immigration officer that you wish to enter as an EEA family member and show relevant proof. The EEA FP itself may be good enough but bring also marriage certificate and maybe some documents of your spouse's whereabouts and how s/he is exercising treaty rights in the UK. The EEA FP may be formally required but being a non-visa national you could just as well have skipped this step.

Right, here is how it is if anyone ever finds this thread in the future. I called the UK border agency in England at 011 44 8450105200. I was told that I can enter as a tourist with no problems.
I sent an email to the person I had gotten a phone call from. This person was the one who issued my visa. I asked if I could travel to the UK as a tourist to be with my wife and the reply was.

If you choose to travel to the UK prior to the start date of your visa, the officer at port will only grant your entry to the UK if he/she is satisfied that you are entering the UK as a genuine visitor on that occasion. However, please note that if you do, you MUST depart the UK prior to your visa start date and re-enter only ON or AFTER that date in order for your visa to be activated & considered valid.

I understand all of this. Easy enough. I am going to travel with all documents in my carry on luggage including a booking for a flight somewhere in Europe on the 30th of March returning on the 4th of April.
when my visa is good.

Hope this helps someone in the future and I will post what happened in a few days when it does actually happen.

Zebedey wrote:If you choose to travel to the UK prior to the start date of your visa, the officer at port will only grant your entry to the UK if he/she is satisfied that you are entering the UK as a genuine visitor on that occasion. However, please note that if you do, you MUST depart the UK prior to your visa start date and re-enter only ON or AFTER that date in order for your visa to be activated & considered valid.

The text in bold is utter nonsense and you can just ignore it. As soon as you are in the UK (even if you would have entered the country illegally!) nothing stops you to submit the application for a Residence Card. In your case, I would follow the advice to claim that you enter as a tourist if it is before the validity of your EEA FP (if you travel alone on that occasion).

Since the turnaround for your Family Permit was so quick, have you considered contacting the diplomatic post and asking for it to be reissued with an immediate date?

As you have already been refused for a spouse visa, you may have problems entering the UK under the visa waiver (and in persuading the Immigration Officer that you do intend to leave).

Zebedey wrote:Hope this helps someone in the future [...]

Sorry but it doesn't because it's nonsense as explained by the responders here. Not everything the UKBA says is right. This forum is testament to that.

fysicus wrote:

Zebedey wrote:If you choose to travel to the UK prior to the start date of your visa, the officer at port will only grant your entry to the UK if he/she is satisfied that you are entering the UK as a genuine visitor on that occasion. However, please note that if you do, you MUST depart the UK prior to your visa start date and re-enter only ON or AFTER that date in order for your visa to be activated & considered valid.

The text in bold is utter nonsense and you can just ignore it. As soon as you are in the UK (even if you would have entered the country illegally!) nothing stops you to submit the application for a Residence Card. In your case, I would follow the advice to claim that you enter as a tourist if it is before the validity of your EEA FP (if you travel alone on that occasion).

Why does he need to claim to be a visitor when in fact he is not and can enter on a much stronger basis? As Kitty has pointed out the previous refusal of the spouse visa may lead to problems and the EEA FP in the passport makes the visitor story not very believable (the OP is a non-visa national after all). The text in bold is indeed utter nonsense and there is no "visa" to be "activated".

Well, I have changed my flight to this Tuesday. I am bringing basically all of my documents in carry on luggage including the email from the ECO who issued my visa. I am hoping with that and a bit of personality this will be enough. I have also booked a flight for the last day of March out of the country to return on the 4th when my visa technically starts. I understand that the whole activate thing may indeed be rubbish but, given the history I may as well do as I am told. I will let you all know how it all turns out later in the week.
Thank you for all of the advice.

Good luck Zebedey. I would make sure your wife is at the airport to meet you and has her mobile on her so she can be contacted in an emergency.

Frankly the original Faily Permit you were issued should be enough evidence that you qualify for entry as an EEA family member: presumably your wife is an Irish national working in the UK already, and these are not things that will only come into being on the FP start date!

Okay,
I was let in barely and granted an EEA family permit until I fly out on the 1st of April. I was told that If I didn't have that email and flight details for my trip in April I would not have been let in the country. I was told that for my visa to be valid I would indeed need to fly out and return on the 4th of April or after to "activate" my issued visa. I was also told that technically I was not a visitor as my wife is residing in the UK. I was further told that had I just tried to enter as a visitor without showing my family permit first I would also not have been let in the country.
Basically I told them all of the info up front and got lucky.
Thank you all for your support over the last 3 plus months.
Time to search these boards for the next step!

Sorry - duplicate post

Now you are in the UK, you can just apply for a residence card (form EEA2). Why would you want to leave the UK and "activate your Family Permit" (which is rubbish)?

I am amazed that you said you were a visitor if your wife was in the UK.

You need to understand that you have a very strong legal right to be with and travel with your EU family members. As long as your EU citizens partner is working (or self sufficient), you can pretty much enter the UK without your passport or without the EEA family permit in order to be with them.

There is no need to leave the UK (if you are married and your EU wife is working). Just apply for a Residence Card.

Just to add: the usefulness of being a non-visa national in these cases is that you can normally hop on the plane without a visa. The carrier will not be concerned that you have no right to enter the UK.

Once you arrive however, it is actually your Family Member status that should get you in, as Directive 2004/38/EC says.

Zebedey,

I would like to just confirm. Your wife is an EU citizen who is working and living in the UK?

In this thread Zebedey confirms that his wife is Irish, living in London.

I can't actually find where it says that she is working, maybe he can confirm

Sorry it took so long to get back onto these boards. We moved and I have been without internet for a while. I did indeed travel on the first of April and returned on the 4th. I was held up at immigration (again). I was basically told that I will have to deal with this basically every time I travel into the UK for a while as I have had 2 applications refused recently. That does not seem to be a big deal to me.
During the time We sent the application my wife was job seeking which we were able to prove with emails from her and various Nanny agencies applying for jobs. She is now currently working.
I have created a new thread in the EEA route asking for more advice. Nothing major but I got so much help with this site that I will continue to use it as long as I have these issues.
Thank you all once again for all of your help!