Residence Card: Extended Family Application for girlfriend

Hi, Ive been reading this forum all night as I think its my girlfriend and I's best option.
Background:
I am from Ireland and lived and worked in the Uk from 2007 to 2012. After that I moved to Australia and worked there till 2016. I moved back to London with my new Australian girlfriend and she is still on a Tier 5 youth visa and working with it valid until July. She has been offered sponsorship on a Tier 2 but with the new rules and all her Australian friends getting rejected we thought to look around at other options. I think we would both apply for residence cards with mine being eea and hers being extended family (partner in a durable relationship). We lived together before we left Australia and have some proof of it. Anyone done a similar?

Extended Family member (partner) looks like the best option.
As an Irish citizen can I sponsor her?
Should I apply for a residence card at the same time?
Is my 5 years previous living in the UK of any use in this application?
I am self employed and I have seen topics saying this may be a problem for this application.
What do people mean by EEA National exercising their Right of Permanent Residence?

Any pointers would be great. Thanks!

Hi there,

How long have you been living together? You need to provide evidence that you have been in a relationship akin to marriage for two years (tenancy agreements, joint bank accounts, joint utility bills).

As an Irish citizen can I sponsor her? Yes, you can as long as you can prove you are exercising treaty rights in the UK.

Should I apply for a residence card at the same time? You don't apply for a resident card but for a registration certificate as a qualified person.

Is my 5 years previous living in the UK of any use in this application? No. You have not been in the UK for a continuous period of 5 years (you have a gap from 2012 to 2016).

I am self employed and I have seen topics saying this may be a problem for this application. You can apply for a registration certificate as long as you provide evidence to sustain it.

What do people mean by EEA National exercising their Right of Permanent Residence? Exercising treaty rights means that you are in the UK as a worker, student. job-seeker, self employed or self sufficient person. The best way to prove this is to apply for a registration certificate.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for your reply!

We have lives together for about two and a half years and have a joint bank account that’s over two years old in Australia. I’ve gone through what they recommend to supply to prove our relationship and I think we have enough.

My partner’s Tier 5 visa expires July 7th and she has a biometric card with this visa. Will she need a new biometric card?
If we don’t have a reply by July 7th will she need to leave the country?
Also I see the timeframe can be quite long for applying. Do you know if it’s possible to get your passport back before the application is decided?

Again thanks for the replies.

Hi there,

Will she need a new biometric card?
Yes. Tier5 is a visa granted under UK immigration rules whereas EEA2 RC is under European ones.

If we don’t have a reply by July 7th will she need to leave the country?
When she applies she will receive a certificate of application (CoA). She can use that certificate to stay in the country beyond the duration of her current visa and during the time your application is being considered. However, she won't be able to leave the country without her application being affected (basically she won't be able to enter the country again because she won't have any legal status in the UK). In case your application gets refused, your girlfriend will become an overstayer and then you will have to see if you have right to appeal or you can apply again.

Do you know if it’s possible to get your passport back before the application is decided?
Yes you can. You can request your documents online using the passport return service.