Residency card app for non-EEA wife of EU citizen

Hi,

Sorry if this query is already on the forum (if it is, I couldn't find it), so here goes:

I am an EU citizen and married my partner - now wife (non-EEA), who is therefore the family member of an EEA (ie me) who is a permanent resident or ‘qualified person’ (ie me) - in the UK in June and she applied for a residency card in September (on the back of my EU settled status position).

We are told through online sources and by the company that takes queries by phone calls on UK immigration matters (it is a French company/call centre outsourced by the Home Office) that the process takes up to six months. (Supposedly many people get a reply within 12 weeks; my wife has been waiting 10 weeks.)

I understand that, but what I want to know is if she can get a document/letter from the Home Office that states that my wife has the right to work and live in UK right now, while the residency card application is pending, as she is married to an EU settled status person (ie me)?

The residency card appears, by many accounts, just to be a formality but by law my wife already has the right to live and work in the UK - but I would like to have that confirmed so she can have peace of mind and get on with her life.

More background information is that after she applied for the residency card she went to a Home Office centre to get her biometric details (ie fingerprints taken) for the card (the service cost £100; free if she wanted to wait three weeks; she didn't), suggesting that it is a done deal.

But when I look online on the Home Office I found that even if a person ticks all the boxes to get a residency card the Home Office can still choose not to approve the card.

It's all terribly confusing, so any information to help clear the above up would be very welcome. Thanks in advance for any help.

Which nationality is your wife and what is her current immigration status in UK?