EEA Family Member's "right to rent"

Hi All,

I was wondering if anyone had any information or advice about how an EEA family member can demonstrate their "Right to Rent" without an EEA family permit/residence card?

I (the non-EEA national) have my marriage certificate to my German husband, he has a full-time permanent contract (a qualified person). I just finished my time as a student (we got marred while I was on a student visa for my MSc), and recently (13/11/2018) got an EEA Dependent Ink stamp. Since then, I've started working and am currently waiting for my NINo. We are applying for a residence card in March when the new EU settlement scheme rolls out post-Brexit (pending not everything goes bananas).

We are looking to move right now, and have run into some major trouble re. getting letting agents to recognize I have the right to rent. We've never had this issue before but that may because of my T4...

On what grounds can they refuse me?

I provided my EEA dependent ink stamp, my marriage certificate, my husband's EU passport, our job contracts etc. and they still asked for a permit/visa...

I sent the following in response:

"I do not need a visa or permit (they are recommended but not legally required, only my marriage certificate proving my relationship is required) as I am the wife of EEA national. The EEA dependent ink stamp gives me 3 months leave to remain in the UK, after which point I can stay provided that my EEA family member is exercising treaty rights and is a qualified person. In this case my husband (my EEA family member) is a qualified person as he is working (with a permanent contract). Therefore as my spouse is a qualified person with the right to rent, I also have the right to rent.

Additionally I’ve attached some more information:

My situation is in agreement if the gov.uk Right to Rent guide, page 32 (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... idance.pdf)

I have been admitted for a limited time (EEA stamp), and have the right to remain after this time as the family member of an EEA national ‘qualified person.’ I will be applying for a residence card when the new system for EEA settlement is rolled out March 30th (See government website for more information.) Letting agents are fully entitled to do further checks at the end of the 12 months lease, and which point I would have acquired my residence card.

That said, as it states in the EU regulations (2016) and here:

https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-a-uk-residence-card

I am not legally required to have a card or permit. It is only recommended.


If I was legally required to have a card or permit to have the Right to Rent, it would stipulate that it is required for me to have a residence permit. It clearly states I do not.

Hope this clarifies.

Attached is our marriage license."

Any advice would be appreciated?

Cheers,
-M

Unfortunately, it seems that you have failed to understand the purpose of a Residence Card, and have instead opted for the not recommended option of just having samp on your passport (which should really be done only as an emergency measure when a Residence Card is not an option and travel is imminent, and definitely not let it last so long before securing further proof of residence rights). I'm sorry to say that the right thing to do would have been to apply for a Residence Card as soon as you got married. There is a reason Residence Cards are recommended, as you would have avoided all this headache with landlords, and you would definitely not be able to get a job without one.

Now, for your options:

1) You could apply right now for a residence, card, and you would get a paper Certificate of Application certifying your right to work (which might or might not convince a landlord that it also means right to rent) within a week. Then you would get a Residence Card within a few weeks (sometimes it's as fast as 3 weeks, but check latest processing times here: eea-route-applications/eea-fm-eea2-time ... -1180.html)
All application info here: https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-a-uk-residence-card

2) You could wait for March 29th and apply for Pre-Settled status. You would likely get a digital confirmation within 48 hours, but as the scheme is so new, and only people already holding Residence Cards are allowed to apply as of now (and you do not get issued a new card if you already have one), it is still not clear how long a physical document is likely to take in this scheme.
All application info here: https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families

Here is another post where I discuss the pro's and cons of both options above, in a bit more detail: eea-route-applications/confused-between ... 74461.html

Hi there,
We are aware and in full understanding of the what the Residance Card constitutes. Unfortunately could not go down that avenue, there is no changing that. CoAs are not accepted. We are happy with the decision to proceed with the new settlement scheme, as opposed to applying for a RC now that is not a part of the new settlement scheme.

We really are more concerned if anyone can provide advice on how to deal with letting agents if we do not have an EFP or RC. We've rented with only our marraige certificate as proof of my right of residence in May, so this is just a new issue for us. Anyone that can provide some experience or comment on the best course of action dealing with the letting agents specifically would be greatly appreciated.

mmwindle wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 21, 2019 8:58 pm

Anyone that can provide some experience or comment on the best course of action dealing with the letting agents specifically would be greatly appreciated.

Not as easy as having an actual residence document, but might help: https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... user-guide

kamoe wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 21, 2019 10:39 pm

Not as easy as having an actual residence document, but might help: https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... user-guide

This document is the same as the one that the OP linked to and quoted from in the original post.

mmwindle wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 21, 2019 6:46 pm

My situation is in agreement if the gov.uk Right to Rent guide, page 32 (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... idance.pdf)

You may also want to go through Chapter 1, Part 3 of the Immigration Act 2014, relating to the checks that residential landlords need to carry out before renting out property. Look especially at Section 21(4), which lists non-British non-EEA citizens who resides in the UK under EU law as "people with a limited right to rent".

You can see why the landlord is concerned about renting to you.

As an aside, is the rental agreement for a period longer than the dates specified in your Family Permit? Is the landlord open to a shorter tenancy (within the period stated on your Family Permit) until you get the Residence Card?

Also be aware that this is just the first step. If you refuse to get a Residence Card, you will have issues accessing many more services, such as banking. You may also want to familiarise yourself with the "hostile environment", which you will encounter repeatedly and from multiple service providers unless you can prove a right to reside (by means of a single Home Office issued document) in the UK.

As Kamoe has suggested above, it may be much simpler and save you a lot of aggro if you spend £65 and get a Residence Card.

secret.simon wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 22, 2019 11:49 am

kamoe wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 21, 2019 10:39 pm

Not as easy as having an actual residence document, but might help: https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... user-guide

This document is the same as the one that the OP linked to and quoted from in the original post.

Yeah, when I went to bed I thought that was probably the case. I was tired last night, sorry for that.

I'm not sure how having seen the twice-linked document, which provide a very clear layout of alternative documents, a landlord could still refuse. Have you had an answer from the landlord/agent? Or, after seeing that document, are they still refusing? I would think you already did one of the the best things (As a side note, I did see there is a section about being allowed to rent for 12 months having seen a stamp on the passport, so maybe that is why you did not have an issue last year.).

If you are still having issues, maybe you can procure alternative documents (e.g. a UK driving licence is listed as one of possible of any two documents), then it will be more straightforward.

And another two little tiny cents... it might, just might give you some time to apply for a RC (processing times averaging just over a month). I know you will need to replace it with Pre-Settled Status come 2020, but it will still be valid for a while, and might end up being faster than dealing with difficult agents...

a landlord could still refuse.

They have a right to refuse to rent. There is no law that says they must rent to someone if they have doubts and a person cannot force them to either. It is entirely up to a landlord to take the risk. Remember that they face huge fines (thousands) if found to be renting to people with no official legal status. This is why they are so overly cautious and want to see evidence of immigration status. Unreasonable to expect any landlord to be fully up to date with knowledge of all the different visa and immigration routes and rules. They simply want to see the evidence in the form of a visa/BRP/RC etc.

CR001 wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 22, 2019 12:07 pm

They have a right to refuse to rent. There is no law that says they must rent to someone if they have doubts and a person cannot force them to either.

True. But there may be aspects of discrimination law, etc, that would be engaged. It can get complicated and involved well beyond immigration law, which is the subject matter of these forums.

You can't apply for pre-settled status now? The outcome is pretty quick and you will be able to prove all your rights.

CR001 wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 22, 2019 12:07 pm

a landlord could still refuse.

They have a right to refuse to rent. There is no law that says they must rent to someone if they have doubts and a person cannot force them to either. It is entirely up to a landlord to take the risk. Remember that they face huge fines (thousands) if found to be renting to people with no official legal status. This is why they are so overly cautious and want to see evidence of immigration status. Unreasonable to expect any landlord to be fully up to date with knowledge of all the different visa and immigration routes and rules. They simply want to see the evidence in the form of a visa/BRP/RC etc.

Absolutely agree. You are articulating better why I think the OP already did the best they could, and why it might be worth considering applying for a RC ASAP*.

*It could be argued that applying for a RC might end up being as fast as simply waiting for Pre-Settled status to be an option, but as there is no data as to how fast Pre-Settled status cards take to be issued, might be worth considering.

Alien2017 wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 22, 2019 12:13 pm

You can't apply for pre-settled status now? The outcome is pretty quick and you will be able to prove all your rights.

Not if you do not already have a BRC, which is the whole point of the issue. The OP would need to wait for March 29 to apply.

secret.simon wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 22, 2019 12:12 pm

It can get complicated and involved well beyond immigration law, which is the subject matter of these forums.

Which is why I stand in my opinion that applying for a RC might be the fastest route out of the situation.

kamoe wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 21, 2019 8:32 pm

1) You could apply right now for a residence, card, and you would get a paper Certificate of Application certifying your right to work (which might or might not convince a landlord that it also means right to rent) within a week. Then you would get a Residence Card within a few weeks (sometimes it's as fast as 3 weeks, but check latest processing times here: eea-route-applications/eea-fm-eea2-time ... -1180.html)
All application info here: https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-a-uk-residence-card

The conversion of a CoA to a right-to-rent is described on p35 of the guide.