EEA family permit - trouble with online form

Hi everbody,

I have been searching google and various forums for days and asked my questions through the gov.uk visa email form (to which I received a generic, possibly automated response).
Also, for some of them I have found related questions and advise in forums but from a couple of years ago, so I am not quite sure if the information is still correct.
I would very much appreciate any help on my questions or confirmations that the answers that I intend to give make sense.

Some Data
I am German, my wife is Japanese. We have been married for about one year and have been living together in Japan since.
I recently got a job offer (already signed the contract) from a UK company and we are planning to move there in May.
We will be flying there together and will live for the first couple of weeks in temporary housing that will be provided by the company.

What we are asking advise for
We are currently trying to apply for an EEA family permit for my wife.
As far as I understand, it is only possible to apply online in Japan, however, I also went through the PDF application form (https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... -form-vaf5) since a lot of things seem to be explained in more details there.

Most other questions/faq/answers that I have found were concerned with the pdf form.
(I have read "Q2: What do I need to submit with the EEA FP application?" in the EEA faq)
The online form that we have to fill in seems to have a large overlap but a lot of questions are marked as mandatory that we would not have to fill out in the pdf.
For many of them I have to pick a given option and can't just simply put a "N/A".

Below is a list of points that we are confused about, I would be very grateful for help on any of them.

1. I keep reading of people that prove that the EEA national is exercising his treaty rights by providing payslips, contract and cover letter written by the EEA national.
   I am not sure what the treaty rights are but I suppose it refers to the freedom of movement within the EU (Regulation 11 and 12)?
   None of us is living or working in the UK at this moment, we are planning to travel there together.
   As far as I understand, we don't need any evidence that I (the EEA national) am exercising my treaty rights.
   Is that correct?
2. Do we have to provide any proof that we have been living together?
   Even if not necessary, would you advise us to do so? (The internal guidelines mention that living together is evidence of a sincere relationship/marriage)
3. I read in several other forum threads that people do not supply financial information of the non-EEA national (my Japanese wife).
   Again, these fields are marked as mandatory in the online form and we can't submit it if we don't fill them in.
   Would you advise in our particular case that we don't supply any info about our finances? ("What is your total monthly income", "Employer", "Type of work", "Savings", ...)
   If we do provide this info, do we have to back it up with documents? (We'd have to get them translated and certified as they would be in Japanese)
   If we don't provide it, what do you suggest we answer to questions like "What is your current working status?" where it is mandatory to select an option ("Employed full time", "Part time", ...)?
4. Should we fill in "Please enter what you plan to do whilst in the UK"?
5. My wife was in the UK as a student for one year and was admitted to the hospital there once.
   "Have you ever received medical treatment in the UK?" seems quite intrusive, we are even asked to state the location of the hospital.
   Can we skip this?
6. "Is the UK address given the permanent address of the EEA National?"
   This is from the "EEA National" category where I was asked for my permanent address. I specified my address in Tokyo as it is the only address I am registered for in any country.
   I never specified any UK address in this category (since none of us has one at this point), yet, I have to answer this question with a yes or no. The question is mandatory. Any advise on what to specify?
7. After that, they ask a lot of details about my current working status (EEA National).
   (This corresponds to section 8.10 in the pdf).
   I haven't started my job in the UK, yet, so this would refer to my Japanese job.
   It is madatory to choose between "Full time", "Part time", and several other options and I have to select one of them.
   I am working full time in Japan. If I select full time, do I need to specify all the details they ask about my Japanese employer?
8. Another question is if I intend to work in the UK.
   If I select yes (truthfully), I have to provide details about my future employer.
   I suppose I will have to back up the data that I supply with evidence.
   Do I have to ask my future UK employer to send me a statement saying I will be working for them?
9. EEA faq: Q2 here in the forum: "A declaration by the EEA national that the non EEA national would be travelling together or joining him"
   Is this still required? I haven't seen any mention in the online application. (Maybe they will tell me after submitting the online part?)
10. "What is the main address and contact details of where you will be staying whilst in the UK?"
    I will specify the address of the temporary housing there. We will have to move to a place where we will stay permanently after two months but this is the only address I have right now. Is that enough or is it better to put an "N/A" there.

Thank you for reading all our questions.
If you have advise on any of them I would be very grateful.
After checking for days I haven't been able to figure these out, so maybe other people will find advise on these questions helpful, too.

Best,

uksan

If I were you, I would just skip the application and get the stamp at the border. Would be quicker and saves you all the forms (and trip to the consulate). See Q1 in the FAQ (link below).

Once in the UK, she can apply for a 5 years Residence Card.

Hi Jambo,

thank you very much for your quick reply.

Not having to fiddle with all the forms does sound extremely nice.

Edit: I think I found the official up-to-date copy of the Border Forces Operations manual.
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... ction3.pdf
It has changed a bit I think.
Do the officers at the border now of these rules or will we have a hassle getting them to understand why the need to give us that stamp? Do you maybe know (or can point us to a relevant forum thread) of people in a situation like ours that showed up at the border without an EEA family permit? That would help immensely.

Am I understanding correctly that we would not have to bring any kind of filled in form, financial evidence, or anything like that?
We would only need to bring a certified translation of a document that proves that we are married (in Japan this would be the entry in the family register)?
We would of course also bring our passports.

Thanks a lot again!

The online EEA Family Permit application is a shoddy piece of work! The Border Force operations manual is coming 9 years old. Hardly up to date I would say!

Regulation 13 of the EEA Regs is what you should quote, 3 months intial right of residence, no need to exercise treaty rights within that period, just carry marriage certificate (and possibly have ready joint items of correspondence showing shared residential address etc. and marriage photos just in case marriage of convenience is suggested)

Thank you so much, I really appreciate your help.

The Border Force operations manual is coming 9 years old. Hardly up to date I would say!

Does that mean I can't rely on it?

If they ask me what I will be doing in the UK, should I just refuse to answer or tell them that I will be working there.
In the latter case, do I have to provide a contract or other evidence?
Same for my non EEA wife when she might be asked for her plans in the UK. Answer or politely refuse?

I feel much more confident about this now, thank you very much.

uksan wrote:Thank you so much, I really appreciate your help.

The Border Force operations manual is coming 9 years old. Hardly up to date I would say!

Does that mean I can't rely on it?

If they ask me what I will be doing in the UK, should I just refuse to answer or tell them that I will be working there.
In the latter case, do I have to provide a contract or other evidence?
Same for my non EEA wife when she might be asked for her plans in the UK. Answer or politely refuse?

I feel much more confident about this now, thank you very much.

You can advise a Border Force officer that you are entitled to be admitted to the UK in reliance upon Regulation 13 by virtue of your nationality and possession of an EEA passport and that is the explanation as to the purpose of your stay.

I didn't bother with the family permit and just asked for an EEA Dependent stamp at the border. I provided the IO with our marriage certificate (in English), my husband's contract and offer letter. There are some IOs that don't know what the EEA Dependent stamp is (it was formerly called 1A - and even then some of them haven't had to deal with it). I just told the IO that I was happy to wait while they spoke to a supervisor and they eventually found someone that knew what they were doing.

jenangeles wrote:I didn't bother with the family permit and just asked for an EEA Dependent stamp at the border. I provided the IO with our marriage certificate (in English), my husband's contract and offer letter. There are some IOs that don't know what the EEA Dependent stamp is (it was formerly called 1A - and even then some of them haven't had to deal with it). I just told the IO that I was happy to wait while they spoke to a supervisor and they eventually found someone that knew what they were doing.

its really that simple ..

see section 5 sub sections 5.5.2 onwards & section 6 & 6.1 of the [latest Operations manual]

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ ... ndents.pdf

Thank you very much for your help!

I have a couple of last questions and then I think we'll be ready to just do this.

@jenangeles: Roughly, when did you enter the UK like that? Was it recently?
You mentioned your husband's offer letter and contract. Did they keep it or make a copy of it?
Did you get the contract and offer letter certified or did you just hand the IO a printout? (I don't have a physical copy of mine, only a pdf)
I was told the details of my contract should only be shared with close family members so I might get into trouble if I leave the IOs a copy for their archive. Just showing the first couple of pages as proof should be fine I think.

el patron mentioned Regulation 13 so maybe it is not even required to show the contract at all, however, as far as I understand I can only stay for 3 months without execising my treaty rights (i.e. working), so specifying (truthfully) that she wants to stay the full 6 months might be a problem then, right?

see section 5 sub sections 5.5.2 onwards & section 6 & 6.1 of the [latest Operations manual]
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ ... ndents.pdf

I am sorry for maybe making it more complicated than it is. I've been a bit worried about this document since it is not from an official source and could have been updated since 2011. If they had updated it, would they have to announce an update publicly?
Would it be possible that they changed the rules so radically that we might have trouble entering if we rely on this version of the manual?

Thanks again for your help, it is very much appreciated. I think these are really my last doubts. I just want to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible.

Please keep us posted about your journery uksan Goodluck

uksan, there is only a small problem, depending on which airline you will be flying to the uk, some of them, if no family permit then maybe they don't let your wife on the plane, I know this because it happened to me, I'm EEA and my wife is from south America, we got married in my country, and after 3 weeks we wanted to fly back to the uk, where I lived and still do for the last 20 years, they didn't let her board the plane, even though, I told them that UKBA at Heathrow told me that they would let her in, but the airline didn't want to know.
So we came back by coach, we got to Dover, and after 15 min waiting at the border, they put a stamp on her passport, after seeing the marriage certificate, my passport, asked me where I was living and that was all, we got in, no probs