marcidevpal wrote: ↑Tue Jan 03, 2023 9:55 am
I have stressed very much about my EEA residence card within my bundle, I highlighted why I am a family member with retained rights. I have explained why I did not originally applied for permanent residence and my struggles to gain the required evidence to submit an application (Not sure if I should include this.) I just hope the judge doesn’t see it has a bunch of excuses. With the EEA dying in 2015, I struggled to retrieve is passport & dwp records to proof he was retired at the point of death. Even though, he was indeed retired on my arrival to the UK. home office can sometimes make things extremely difficult. they may try to say, I need to provide the EEA national ID, bank statement etc. but how?? It’s been 6 years since his death, When he died, his brother practically took his possessions and made no effort to communicate with us. It’s pretty brutal, I feel the home office might challenge my reason to why I don’t have the required information to prove retain right.
You should certainly explain why you did not apply for permanent residence after five years under the EEA regulations. If your passport expires, does that mean you are no longer a citizen of your country? Your EEA document expired, but your rights did not end.
You appear to be covered by the Withdrawal Agreement (WA). The WA lists which documents the Home Office can require. The list is limited. You should read the list. The WA requires the Home Office to work with you, to consider your circumstances "extensively". It does not sound like they made the effort. The WA also requires the judge to apply "proportionality" to your situation. That means, even if you did not do everything perfectly, the judge needs to do a balancing exercise (similar to the Human Rights Act and the ECHR). The judge should reason, on balance, and among all things considered, whether you deserve settlement. When you take into account all the facts laid out in your witness statement, it seems like on balance you deserve settlement.
I still think there is a strong chance you will not be successful because most of the published cases lately go against the person in favour of the Home Office. I read plenty of cases where people should have been successful. Ultimately, you have to ask yourself how far you are willing to go? I believe you would be successful before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the European Court of Justice (CJEU). As a retained family member of an EEA national, you may want to consider reaching out to groups that support EU citizens and their family members. They can possibly help you with your court cases - even as far as the CJEU or ECtHR.
[/quote]
I used a drafted copy of your skeleton argument and this is what i wrote regarding what happened: " The appellant came to the UK as a non-EEA family member of an EEA national on November 05, 2010. At this time, her mother was the civil partner of an Irish national. The respondent granted the appellant a 5 year residence card on July 19, 2011. The EEA national died on July 02, 2015. The 5 year residence card was not renewed nor did the appellant apply for permanent residence due the difficulties acquiring the relevant information to submit her application. As per the Respondent policy, it is a requirement the EEA national Passport/ID is provided at the point of application. The appellant confirms the EEA sponsor was retired upon her arrival to the UK in November 2010. Prior to his death, The sponsor remained a resident in the UK. The EEA sponsor continued to exercise his treaty rights as a retired Irish national under EU LAW. He maintained his status as an EEA sponsor to the appellant. He provided support on a regular basis. The appellant confirms she is the family member of an EEA national, she has resided in the UK immediately prior to his death. It is a fact, the appellant has never exited the UK since her arrival in 2010. The appellant has acquired a period of 5 years as the family member of an EEA national." im not sure if this is a good explantion.
I further eloborated the situation in my witness statement.
" In December 2018, Croydon Social Services provided assistance to me and my children under section 17 of the Children Act 1989. I immediately sought to gather the necessary information required to apply for permanent residence as a family member with retained rights under the EU law. After extensive query, I was only able to retrieve the EEA national's death certificate as presenting evidence. As per the respondent policy, a family member is required to provide the EEA National passport, and evidence showing the EEA national was a qualifying person in accordance with the regulations at the time of their death. I can confirm the EEA national was retired upon my arrival to the UK in November 2010, After my arrival to the UK, My mother and the EEA sponsor submitted an application for residence card as the family member of an EEA national. A 5 year residence card was granted by the respondent in July 2011. At the point of application, evidence provided recognised the EEA national as a retired EU citizen who has exercised his right under EU Law. On July 02, 2015 the EEA national sadly passed away as a result of cancer at the age of 81. In 2019, I sought to gather information required by the respondent to submit an application for permanent residence under the EU scheme. I struggled to provide evidence of the EEA national passport and his retired status as an EEA national. This is because I do not have legal access to retrieve DWP records of a deceased person. DWP policy states; “ We will only disclose personal information about a deceased person with the signed written consent of the administrator or executor of the de- ceased person’s will or where ordered to disclose by a court” Unfortunately, I am not my EEA sponsor’s administrator, nor am I the executor of his will. These rights were acquired by the EEA National’s brother, to whom I have no relationship with. Evidence of the EU national passport could not be obtained due to his death, Time has also elapsed since the EEA sponsor death in July 2015. This makes it extremely difficult to gather evidence to submit an application under the EU settlement scheme as the family member with retained right of residence. I can confirm the EEA sponsor has never departed the UK since my arrival in November 2010. Prior to his death, he continued to exercise his rights as a retired Irish national within the UK. He maintained his status as an EEA sponsor to me. He provided support on a regular basis. I can confirm I am the family member of an EEA national, I have resided in the UK one year prior to his death, It is a fact, I have never left the UK since my arrival. I have acquired a period of 5 years as the family member of an EEA national. Despite my best efforts to retrieve the necessary information to submit my application under the EU settlement scheme as a person with retained rights. I was instructed by Croydon Social Services to explore other immigration route. Despite my reservations and desire to apply for a derivative residence card as a Zambrano carer, Croydon social services convinced me to apply for leave to remain under Appendix FM. On October 10 2019, I was granted Further Leave To Remain. This leave expired on April 09, 2022. "
I am not sure if it’s too much information or even if what I wrote made sense. I feel like I kept going around in circles. but that is the best way I know how to present this information. What if the judge see’s it as excuses? How can they, that is honestly what happened. I forgot to ask, am I meant to be referring to myself as the appellant in the witness statement? The human rights cases you’ve posted, do I copy and paste these within the skeleton argument or should I present a printed copy to the courts within my bundle. Please let me know thanks.