Applying for EEA RC after pre-settled status BRC for non-eu national as family member of eu national

Hello.
Does anyone applied for pre-settlement status then EEA RC?

My husband has pre-settlement status BRC. He is a non eu citizen and married to me(eu citizen). He came in to the UK initially with a family permit sticker on his passport.

We applied for the pre-settlement rather than EEA RC as we were advised to do this by many immigration advisors because of Brexit etc. However once he was granted pre-settlment status, we realised that travelling will be an issue as on his BRC it doesn't mention"family member of eu".
We are now considering to apply for EEA RC even though this latter may not longer be valid in Dec 2020 or June 2021 but we think that this willl be the best option to facilitate him to travel to eu countries without requiring a visa at least by the end of 2020. Of course we are aware he does require to travel with his passport along with the EEA RC.

Visa application seems to involve a lot paperwork and not to mention the long waiting based on my research. We are hoping to travel at least twice this year to eu countries for a short break.

Questions:

1. Would the home office request him to return his pre-settlement card on the basis of his application for EEA RC? Meaning that he can't have the two cards.
2. If he is granted EEA RC, would he loss his pre-settlement status?
3. Does the EEA RC application requires him to submit his pre-settlement card?
4. Does anyone applied for pre-settlement before EEA RC ?
Any advice or guidance or ideas will be much appreciated.

Hello

I haven't seen anyone doing it in this order. Most people do the opposite.

Still, as both scheme are "compatible" with each other, having one doesn't exclude you from the other. In that sense, I don't see why the Home Office would take away the EUSS card if you apply for an EEA card.

Provided the EEA application is successful (I don't see why it won't) your husband can then use it for EEA travels with you.

Zadith14 wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 13, 2020 1:14 pm

1. Would the home office request him to return his pre-settlement card on the basis of his application for EEA RC? Meaning that he can't have the two cards.

No. At no point in the application process of the EEA RC are you even asked if you have a EUSS card, hence having one is irrelevant when applying ot the EEA RC. Both systems are not mutually excluive, so as @Zerubbabel says, you can have both cards at the same time.

2. If he is granted EEA RC, would he loss his pre-settlement status?

No.

3. Does the EEA RC application requires him to submit his pre-settlement card?

No.

4. Does anyone applied for pre-settlement before EEA RC ?

It's quite silly thing to do it that order, since doing the opposite would have saved you an additional biometrics process. But such is life.

kamoe wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 13, 2020 7:54 pm

Zadith14 wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 13, 2020 1:14 pm

1. Would the home office request him to return his pre-settlement card on the basis of his application for EEA RC? Meaning that he can't have the two cards.

No. At no point in the application process of the EEA RC are you even asked if you have a EU Settlement Scheme card, hence having one is irrelevant when applying ot the EEA RC. Both systems are not mutually excluive, so as @Zerubbabel says, you can have both cards at the same time.

2. If he is granted EEA RC, would he loss his pre-settlement status?

No.

3. Does the EEA RC application requires him to submit his pre-settlement card?

No.

4. Does anyone applied for pre-settlement before EEA RC ?

It's quite silly thing to do it that order, since doing the opposite would have saved you an additional biometrics process. But such is life.

Thank you for response. I really appreciate it.
I just wanted to mention to your comment as above. I wouldn't call it "silly" if you apply in this order. In our case, we didn't know so we went by what we were told my immigration lawyers.
Thank you.

we went by what we were told my immigration lawyers.

Your solicitor was right as he recommended you apply under the new scheme rather than under the one that is being slowly deprecated. As immigration applications are painful and often expensive, nobody wants to apply for a card that will last just a few months.

The only restriction is that the cards obtained under the EU Settlement Scheme don't allow visa free travel to EEA countries. You can then apply for one for purpose of travel but you may never know how long it would take to get it. It can be just a few weeks but I have seen 6 months+ already. If your travel is coming soon, a Schengen visa is faster.

Zerubbabel wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 13, 2020 7:47 pm

Hello

I haven't seen anyone doing it in this order. Most people do the opposite.

Still, as both scheme are "compatible" with each other, having one doesn't exclude you from the other. In that sense, I don't see why the Home Office would take away the EU Settlement Scheme card if you apply for an EEA card.

Provided the EEA application is successful (I don't see why it won't) your husband can then use it for EEA travels with you.

Hi Zerubbabel
Thanks a lot for the above. I know the cost involve with EEA RC £65 + biometric fees. At least if he is granted this hopefully in a few months, it will allow him to travel visa free at least one time before they discontinue its use by end of December 2020 or June 2021. After this, he will then rely on shengen visa.

Zerubbabel wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 13, 2020 8:19 pm

we went by what we were told my immigration lawyers.

Your solicitor was right as he recommended you apply under the new scheme rather than under the one that is being slowly deprecated. As immigration applications are painful and often expensive, nobody wants to apply for a card that will last just a few months.

The only restriction is that the cards obtained under the EU Settlement Scheme don't allow visa free travel to EEA countries. You can then apply for one for purpose of travel but you may never know how long it would take to get it. It can be just a few weeks but I have seen 6 months+ already. If your travel is coming soon, a Schengen visa is faster.

On dear it seems like eu settlement scheme decisions are quicker than eea rc. It is true because he received his pre-settlement BRC card in less than a month after applied.
It is worth applying for eea rc since he wants to travel visa free.
Yes we will apply for shengen visa if HO takes longer to give their decision on eea rc when he applies.
Now we know that his pre-settlement status won't be affecting, he won't waste time with eea rc application since it may take longer as you said to get a response from HO.
Thanks again

Zadith wrote: I wouldn't call it "silly" if you apply in this order. In our case, we didn't know so we went by what we were told my immigration lawyers.

I did not say you were silly. You followed advice from a professional, which is more than reasonable.

Applying in that order is silly, wether you knew what you were doing or not. But that is fine. Smart and reasonable people do silly things all the time.

Can anyone make sense of this sentence below? I thought the HO asking for submission of pre-settlement BRC when applying for EEA.

"If you currently have or last had:
"A residence card (biometric format) confirming your right to reside under the EEA regulations,
Or
A biometric residence permit confirming that you had been granted leave to remain under the immigration rules or immigration Act 1971.
You must include this document with your application (unless you have already returned the document to us )"

Please confirm if this includes pre-settlement BRC. I am applying for EEA(FM) for my husband (non-eu citizen).
The only think that he has under the EU regulations is his family permit sticker ( valid for 6 months)on his passport.

kamoe wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 13, 2020 7:54 pm

Zadith14 wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 13, 2020 1:14 pm

1. Would the home office request him to return his pre-settlement card on the basis of his application for EEA RC? Meaning that he can't have the two cards.

No. At no point in the application process of the EEA RC are you even asked if you have a EU Settlement Scheme card, hence having one is irrelevant when applying ot the EEA RC. Both systems are not mutually excluive, so as @Zerubbabel says, you can have both cards at the same time.

2. If he is granted EEA RC, would he loss his pre-settlement status?

No.

3. Does the EEA RC application requires him to submit his pre-settlement card?

No.

4. Does anyone applied for pre-settlement before EEA RC ?

It's quite silly thing to do it that order, since doing the opposite would have saved you an additional biometrics process. But such is life.

Hello

Can you make sense of this sentence below? I am not sure but it sounds to be that the HO asking for submission of pre-settlement BRC when applying for EEA.
I found this on the guidance of EEA (FM):
EEA_FM__guide-to-supporting-documents_v4_2020 (2).pdf


"If you currently have or last had:
"A residence card (biometric format) confirming your right to reside under the EEA regulations,
Or
A biometric residence permit confirming that you had been granted leave to remain under the immigration rules or immigration Act 1971.
You must include this document with your application (unless you have already returned the document to us )"

Difficult to say.

Taken to the letter, it could be interpreted that one needs to submit one's EUSS BRC, but that is an unfortunate consequence of having applied in the wrong order. The EEA RC caseworker is not expecting at all a EUSS BRC.

Now, if that is the only piece of documentation that proves that the applicant has current leave, then to be on the safe side, it might be sensible to just submit it with the application. In any case, ask for it to be returned to you as soon as possible. Mind that, in the current climate that might take a while; all postal applications will take a while for that matter.

kamoe wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 25, 2020 1:05 pm

Difficult to say.

Taken to the letter, it could be interpreted that one needs to submit one's EU Settlement Scheme BRC, but that is an unfortunate consequence of having applied in the wrong order. The EEA RC caseworker is not expecting at all a EU Settlement Scheme BRC.

Now, if that is the only piece of documentation that proves that the applicant has current leave, then to be on the safe side, it might be sensible to just submit it with the application. In any case, ask for it to be returned to you as soon as possible. Mind that, in the current climate that might take a while; all postal applications will take a while for that matter.

Thanks Kamoe.
You are right. This is indeed the consequence of applying the wrong order. Here we are now, cant change it now.
His family permit is also in date and due to expire May 2020.

To avoid application being rejected, we have no choice than to submit his pre-settlement residence card.
If his application is successful, will his pre-settlement be amended to reflect EEA BRC or will he receive a different card?


With the covid 19, I guess we will have to wait before we send application to avoid long delays in return of travel documents and timing for a response.

Hello Friends, can u help me to apply the pre-settled application, I am a British citizen and my mum received residence card through ( Surinder Singh route ) about a month ago which is valid till June 2021 and now I want to apply for her pre settle status. can she apply online via app EU exit and what are the documents required? thanks in advance.