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Travelling with EFM Residence Card valid till June 2021

Use this section for any queries concerning the EU Settlement Scheme, for applicants holding pre-settled and settled status.

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stopz
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Travelling with EFM Residence Card valid till June 2021

Post by stopz » Thu Feb 18, 2021 2:44 am

Good evening,

I hope some of you can give me some information.
I have Residence Card under EEA EFM as unmarried partner of EU Citizen on December 2020. I have applied and received a pre-settle status. According to EU Settlement Resolution Centre, I will not received a physical card to reflect the changes to my status, they stated I have to apply for "replacement BRC" to reflect the changes which I did and submitted my finger print on 17 January 2021. Initially I thought this is a straight up process, but Home office stated that there might be some delays due to covid and now the estimate time is around 6 months for a replacement card.

According to "view my settle/presettle status" on government website it stated that I can "travel in and out of the country without having to prove your status, as your information will be checked automatically".
I was thinking to go home (outside EU) on around end of May. I just want to confirm, if It will be OK? as the EEA EFM BRC that I have expired on June 2021 and the new BRC that reflect pre-settle possible not arriving until end of July. Will I get into trouble if I come back to the UK on July which my BRC only valid until June 2021, will I get stopped at the immigration counter at the airport or so? and how do they "automatically check", I just don't want to get into trouble.

Thank you and hope someone can give me insight with this.

Cheers.

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Zerubbabel
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Re: Travelling with EFM Residence Card valid till June 2021

Post by Zerubbabel » Thu Feb 18, 2021 8:37 am

Hello

These EEA cards will expire in June 2021 even if the date shown in them goes beyond.

If you try to come back in July, you may get into troubles possibly with airlines companies. I am not claiming they are 100% aware about these rules, the Brexit, the Transition, the EUSS... most check-in agents haven't got a clue about these things. I have seen people with legitimate paperwork being denied boarding while people with invalid documents let in. But if your card has an expiry date in June 2021, they won't let you board in July 2021. At the moment, there isn't a system in place for them to check your status electronically.

kamoe
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Re: Travelling with EFM Residence Card valid till June 2021

Post by kamoe » Thu Feb 18, 2021 10:12 am

stopz wrote:
Thu Feb 18, 2021 2:44 am
Will I get into trouble if I come back to the UK on July which my BRC only valid until June 2021,
Probably yes. See this Guardian article of an NHS worker being denied boarding in Kenya because her EUSS card is in process and electronic status was not accepted (the title says EUSS documents were not accepted, but from her account seems like the actual documents are in progress and she only showed her outcome letter, which as we know, is of no value) :
She had no problems travelling from the UK to Kenya but when she arrived at the airport in Nairobi on Friday hoping to board a Qatar Airways flight back home she was denied permission to board the plane by airline staff and immigration officials at the airport.

“I presented my letter from the Home Office confirming my EU settled status, which said I could share my immigration status online but they said that the advice given by the Home Office to prove my status online is not enough, I need a visa stamped on my passport,” she said.

Although she logged into her digital identity documents, which included a photo, and showed them to officials, they rejected this as proof of her status and said they would have to contact Home Office officials in London.

She showed a screenshot of the UK government website page titled: “View and prove your immigration status”, explaining how to access the online identity information but was still denied permission to board the 5.10pm flight she and her fiance were booked on to.
Regarding your next question:
will I get stopped at the immigration counter at the airport or so? and how do they "automatically check", I just don't want to get into trouble.
UK immigration is not the biggest problem. I believe if you produce the physical BRP/BRC that has your electronic status attached they could be able to check in a UK-airport system that you have electronic status. But this is just a guess, this might still not be in place, I am just guessing that judging by how they promote the electronic status over physical cards they would have sorted this out already in domestic computers.

The biggest problem is any check that needs to happen outside of the UK. That is almost guaranteed to be an issue. In airports counters around the world, systems are designed as a "yes/no" process, where the passenger shows physical documents (passports, visas, residence cars) for a human to check against a list of requirements that shows on a screen. This system is not designed to take your word for it that you have an electronic status, nor are these computers equipped to surfing the web (have you seen what their user interface looks like? Usually dark-mode style black background terminals).

From media reports such as the one above, where someone was denied boarding in her own country, unsurprisingly it does not seem like airport systems around the word can check wether someone has electronic status.
My posts express what I believe are the facts, based on the best of my knowledge, about the topics discussed in this forum. They do not constitute immigration advice.

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Zerubbabel
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Re: Travelling with EFM Residence Card valid till June 2021

Post by Zerubbabel » Thu Feb 18, 2021 11:34 am

That lady in Kenya shot herself on the foot by showing the Home Office letter. These letters say clearly "This is not proof of your status". Here is an actual example:

Image

Anyone showing that letter at a check-in desk is not going to fly that day. Just show them the EEA card and don't say a word. 99% they will just print your boarding pass and that's it. Most of these people working at check-in desk don't even know what Brexit is. As long as there is a good looking card with a validity date in the future, it's fine with them.

I spoke with people who travelled to the UK with these card in 2021 from various places, no questions asked as long as they don't start talking about electronic status and showing letters.

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Re: Travelling with EFM Residence Card valid till June 2021

Post by kamoe » Thu Feb 18, 2021 11:57 am

Zerubbabel wrote:
Thu Feb 18, 2021 11:34 am
That lady in Kenya shot herself on the foot by showing the Home Office letter. These letters say clearly "This is not proof of your status". Here is an actual example:

Image
I think what she was trying to do is prove that the online checking tool was a valid tool, and she was trying to show it on her phone.
Just show them the EEA card and don't say a word. 99% they will just print your boarding pass and that's it. Most of these people working at check-in desk don't even know what Brexit is. As long as there is a good looking card with a validity date in the future, it's fine with them.
Yes. If the OP's card did not expire in July 2021 then this is what they could probably do. Alas, not the case.
My posts express what I believe are the facts, based on the best of my knowledge, about the topics discussed in this forum. They do not constitute immigration advice.

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Re: Travelling with EFM Residence Card valid till June 2021

Post by CADSM7 » Wed Feb 24, 2021 5:05 pm

My wife who is a Brazilian national came back from Brazil early February with just the printed online proof of the settled status (the one with the photo) in an A4 and her Brazilian passport. She hasn’t experienced any issues boarding in Brazil, boarding a connecting flight in Madrid with a different airline or entering the UK even with the flight ban due to coronavirus.
She has an EEA EFM BRC, but it has expired in October. She still has the physical expired card but was never asked to show it.
In my mind she either got very lucky, or the airlines have more knowledge about the settled status than we know.
We wouldn’t risk it again though.

kamoe
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Re: Travelling with EFM Residence Card valid till June 2021

Post by kamoe » Wed Feb 24, 2021 5:35 pm

CADSM7 wrote:
Wed Feb 24, 2021 5:05 pm
My wife who is a Brazilian national came back from Brazil early February with just the printed online proof of the settled status (the one with the photo) in an A4 and her Brazilian passport. She hasn’t experienced any issues boarding in Brazil, boarding a connecting flight in Madrid with a different airline or entering the UK even with the flight ban due to coronavirus.
She has an EEA EFM BRC, but it has expired in October. She still has the physical expired card but was never asked to show it.
In my mind she either got very lucky, or the airlines have more knowledge about the settled status than we know.
We wouldn’t risk it again though.
That's because she is not a visa-required national, i.e. even if she came for tourism she would not need a visa: https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa/y/brazil/tourism
My posts express what I believe are the facts, based on the best of my knowledge, about the topics discussed in this forum. They do not constitute immigration advice.

CADSM7
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Re: Travelling with EFM Residence Card valid till June 2021

Post by CADSM7 » Wed Feb 24, 2021 5:40 pm

kamoe wrote:
Wed Feb 24, 2021 5:35 pm
CADSM7 wrote:
Wed Feb 24, 2021 5:05 pm
My wife who is a Brazilian national came back from Brazil early February with just the printed online proof of the settled status (the one with the photo) in an A4 and her Brazilian passport. She hasn’t experienced any issues boarding in Brazil, boarding a connecting flight in Madrid with a different airline or entering the UK even with the flight ban due to coronavirus.
She has an EEA EFM BRC, but it has expired in October. She still has the physical expired card but was never asked to show it.
In my mind she either got very lucky, or the airlines have more knowledge about the settled status than we know.
We wouldn’t risk it again though.
That's because she is not a visa-required national, i.e. even if she came for tourism she would not need a visa: https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa/y/brazil/tourism
Hi Kamoe, no tourists can board from Brazil to the UK due to the coronavirus flight ban. She was asked for proof of residency in Brazil and Madrid.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/brazil

kamoe
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Re: Travelling with EFM Residence Card valid till June 2021

Post by kamoe » Wed Feb 24, 2021 6:06 pm

CADSM7 wrote:
Wed Feb 24, 2021 5:40 pm
Hi Kamoe, no tourists can board from Brazil to the UK due to the coronavirus flight ban. She was asked for proof of residency in Brazil and Madrid.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/brazil
Fair enough. She was lucky, then :)
My posts express what I believe are the facts, based on the best of my knowledge, about the topics discussed in this forum. They do not constitute immigration advice.

CADSM7
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Re: Travelling with EFM Residence Card valid till June 2021

Post by CADSM7 » Wed Feb 24, 2021 6:30 pm

kamoe wrote:
Wed Feb 24, 2021 6:06 pm
CADSM7 wrote:
Wed Feb 24, 2021 5:40 pm
Hi Kamoe, no tourists can board from Brazil to the UK due to the coronavirus flight ban. She was asked for proof of residency in Brazil and Madrid.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/brazil
Fair enough. She was lucky, then :)
A lot of praying was also involved. Thank god everything worked out! But as I said, we wouldn’t try it again.

1878
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Re: Travelling with EFM Residence Card valid till June 2021

Post by 1878 » Sat Apr 17, 2021 9:38 am

Is there a thread on this forum where people can share their international travel experiene?

I.e. traveling to the UK, experience with flight check in counter and immigration? What documents did they show?

My non-EEA wife has settled status and an EEA BRC which expire in 2027. We would rather prefer to keep as she would avoid a Schengen visa to visit Europe. We havent travel since Dec 2019. Just worried what will happen at airports/border when we produce EEA BRC to enter UK from abroad.

seekingadvice87
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Re: Travelling with EFM Residence Card valid till June 2021

Post by seekingadvice87 » Sat Apr 17, 2021 1:15 pm

1878 wrote:
Sat Apr 17, 2021 9:38 am
Is there a thread on this forum where people can share their international travel experiene?

I.e. traveling to the UK, experience with flight check in counter and immigration? What documents did they show?

My non-EEA wife has settled status and an EEA BRC which expire in 2027. We would rather prefer to keep as she would avoid a Schengen visa to visit Europe. We havent travel since Dec 2019. Just worried what will happen at airports/border when we produce EEA BRC to enter UK from abroad.

If you prefer to keep EEA BRC that can be an issue in the future as BRC is no longer valid after June 2021 regardless of expiry date. If you want to travel after this date. Best swap card for new Eu settlement card that reflects settled status. You cannot avoid Schengen visa unless your wife’s non-EEA passport allows her to travel visa free or tour wife can apply for British passport if/when she’s eligible then she can travel without requiring a visa. You have to check for the specific country you’re travelling to.

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