Separated / not divorced - EEA4

Hello again,

I'm helping with an EEA4 application. He is an non-EEA national married to an EEA national. They are separated but not divorced, they remain close friends, and she is fully supporting his application. We have paperwork to show continuous 5 year residence at the same address. (Although she moved out in 2012 her bank statements etc are still registered to their shared address.)

I understand that his rights to reside are not affected until divorce is granted (and they have no plans to divorce in the near future), but we do not plan to mention in the application that they have separated. Is this wise? Could HO refuse his application if they found out he was separated? Or would it be better to be totally transparent about their situation?

On a related note, we are wondering how to handle the matter of overseas travel - the section where you list time spent abroad. Since the separation they have not travelled together but have been abroad separately several times. I wonder if this might arouse suspicion, and whether we should say that they actually travelled together. Is this risky? Do they run background checks on the passports submitted with documents e.g. can they access data / travel history? We will be sending non-EEA national's passport and EEA national's official ID card.

Thanks in advance...

If he is still married, he is still married. His status is not affected even if separated.
Why to lie on the application? There is no requirement to travel together. Just tell the truth.