EEA2: work while waiting? evidence of durable relationship?

I am a non-EEA national currently in the UK on a post-study work visa, valid until March 2011. My partner of 3+ years is an EEA national. In December we will have been cohabiting for 2 years, meaning I will be eligible for a residence card. We intend to apply for this as soon as possible after we pass the 2 year milestone. However, I know from others' very useful posts that the UKBA may take some time (understatement!) to provide me with the RC.

My questions are:

(1) Am I allowed to continue working while they process my RC application, even if my current visa expires in the meantime?

(2) If the answer to (1) is yes, how can I prove this to my employer?

(3) We will be able to provide the following documents as evidence of our relationship:

• (a) tenancy agreements covering a period of 24 months
  
  (b) evidence of a joint bank account for around 4 months preceding the date of application
  
  (c) both our names on utility bills covering a period of around 18 months
  
  (d) evidence of frequent transfers between our separate personal bank accounts (e.g., I used to pay rent to our landlord and my partner paid me)
  
  (e) electronic tickets for joint trips abroad (e.g., to my home country, to his home country, on holiday together) spaced through the time we have been together (including pre-dating our cohabitation).
  
  (f) personal items such as photographs of us together, invitations to friends' weddings where we are both named etc.

Is this likely to be sufficient to prove a 'durable relationship'? Are any of these likely to be unnecessary?

Many thanks to all who so generously provide advice here.

The rule of thumb to prove cohabitation is 6 pieces of evidence from 3 different sources, evenly spread over the 2-year period.

It seems you can probably satisfy this (tenancy agreement + utility bills + joint account statements) but do you have any other items that cover the period? You can include things addressed to you individually at the same address (e.g. your own bank account statements).

In terms of working, you're in a tricky spot. As you didn't enter the UK on a family permit, you aren't formally classified by UKBA as a "family member" under the EEA regulations at the time you make your application. So the Certificate of Application you receive from the UKBA when you apply for a RC will not say that you have the right to work. An employer is probably going to be justified in saying that you can't work for them until you actually have your RC, which could be 6 months away.

Can you leave the country and apply for a Family Permit? You don't have to be in your home country to get a FP, and it would mean that you had proof of your status while a subsequent RC application went through.

Thanks, Kitty, for your fast reply.

We may be able to provide bank statements from our personal accounts which went to the same address. The tricky thing is that my partner was using a different address as a correspondence address for much of the first ~18 months we were living together. But I'm sure he could provide something with the relevant address on it. The thing is, so much is online now (e.g., most of our utility bills and bank statements come online) so it is becoming more difficult to actually provide pieces of hard evidence!

Do you know if personal items (photos/personal invitations/flight tickets) are likely to help our case or are they looking for documents from 'official' institutions? I'd like to make things as straightforward as possible for the person deciding my case, so don't want to include anything unnecessary, but of course would like to provide anything that would help.

I am most dismayed to hear that I may have trouble working while they process the RC application! It seems extraordinary, because when I applied for my post-study work visa, my student visa expired in the meantime but was considered to be 'extended' until my PSW application had been decided, which was very useful. I had assumed it would be the same for the EEA2 application, so am very glad I asked this.

I guess I could leave the country and apply for a family permit, but as I am hoping to continue working on an ongoing project with my current employer, it would be sub-optimal if I had to leave for anything more than a couple of weeks at the most. Would a family permit be processed within that time (or does it depend on where I apply for it)? Would my partner have to leave as well, or could he stay here in the meantime?

Further to my previous post, I have now spoken to someone at Immigration enquiries by telephone (having been advised to call them by the EEA queries call centre). The woman advised me that as long as my RC application was made 'in time' before my Tier 1 visa expires, the conditions of my Tier 1 visa would be considered extended (which sounds to me like a Section 3(C) extention).

I have tried reading Section 3(C) but I don't know how to work out whether it applies to applications for leave to remain under European regulations.

Can anyone advise me on this? (Any comments on my previous questions would also be most welcome.) Thanks!

achan892, I would also be interested in others' opinions on the Section 3C point. My own thought would be that it can't apply because you are not applying for a "variation of leave". You are asking the Home Office to confirm your existing status under EEA rules.

If you receive bills etc. online, will those service providers write a letter confirming how long you have been a customer, and what postal addresses they have had on record for you during that period? If printouts from online bank statements show your address for a given date, you can print these and ask your branch to stamp them to authenticate them.

A selection of personal items can help, especially if they show you travelling together. Invitations sent to you jointly will do no harm either. They are mainly looking for "official" documents, but a small selection of other material may help establish that you are in a "relaitonship akin to marriage" if you can only submit a minimum of official stuff.

Kitty, I agree with your point about my application not being for a "variation of leave" - and moreover, the Immigration Rules on the UKBA website state:

"Application
5. Save where expressly indicated, these Rules do not apply to those persons who are entitled to enter or remain in the United Kingdom by virtue of the provisions of the 2006 EEA Regulations. But any person who is not entitled to rely on the provisions of those Regulations is covered by these Rules."

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/polic ... roduction/

...which is pretty clear - and seems to scupper my chances of a Section 3C extension, despite the advice of the person on the Immigration enquires line. Do the Immigration Rules have the force of law? Does anyone have any further thoughts on how I might be able to continue working while my EEA2 application is being considered, other than by leaving the country and applying for a family permit?

I think we are going to be fine with proving we are in a durable relationship and have been cohabiting for 2 years, so thank you for your advice about that.

Further to my previous post, the UKBA has now sent me two responses to my question about my immigration status if my current LTR expires while my EEA Residence Card application is being processed.

Both replies told me what I wanted to hear: that as long as I make an 'in time' application, my current (Tier 1) visa will be extended until such time as my new application is decided.

I'm still a bit anxious about relying on this though! Can I trust this person at the other end of a UKBA email address to interpret the rules/law the same way as any other UKBA person would!? Will these emails save me from strife if anyone ever queried my status??

Any advice would be much appreciated!

achan892 wrote:Further to my previous post, I have now spoken to someone at Immigration enquiries by telephone (having been advised to call them by the EEA queries call centre). The woman advised me that as long as my RC application was made 'in time' before my Tier 1 visa expires, the conditions of my Tier 1 visa would be considered extended (which sounds to me like a Section 3(C) extention).

hi achan 892, I'm in a similar position: my unmarried partner (American) applied for an EEA2 residence card in September, and his student visa expires in late January, most probably before we have an answer on our EEA2 application.

I also called UKBA, but I got a different answer - I was told he'd be allowed to remain in the country while the application was being processed, but that he wasn't allowed to work at all (while his current visa does allow him to work 20 hours a week). So it sounds like my partner will have to quit his current part-time job while we wait god knows how long

I've also emailed them to double-check, waiting on the answer.

achan892 wrote:Further to my previous post, I have now spoken to someone at Immigration enquiries by telephone (having been advised to call them by the EEA queries call centre). The woman advised me that as long as my RC application was made 'in time' before my Tier 1 visa expires, the conditions of my Tier 1 visa would be considered extended (which sounds to me like a Section 3(C) extention).

I have tried reading Section 3(C) but I don't know how to work out whether it applies to applications for leave to remain under European regulations.

Can anyone advise me on this? (Any comments on my previous questions would also be most welcome.) Thanks!

hiya, i wld avdice u to make yr application asap, when yr 2yrs cohabitation completes and while yr post study visa still valid... coz the home office sometimes play funny on application for RC. send as much as documents u both got together with the current address, letter of yr invitations to ceremeonies and individual accnt showin where money been transfered.. too much docs ok , than not enough. am non-eea too, and applied as unmarried partner to my finland partner and living together now for almost 3yrs now. we sent joint-tenancy agreement, joint-council-tax bill, joint-npower bill , joint-water bill, joint-tv-lisence bill, electoral letter with both names at address and personal bills on the address.. as adviced by a solicitor. too much is not bad lol. here is my case:

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applied march 30th as unmarried partner , got COA on 6th MAY. didnt call them at all regarging the progress. until my partner had to travel for 4-days to finland in oct. and requested her passport back, and ukba letter sayin not to send it until requested for again. but on her return, our solicitor ask us to send it to them, ignoring their letter lol. after reading everyone's story here and how it takes time to get the RC, i decieded to ring them few days ago and the nice guy behind the fone siad to me all docs recieved and i will hear from them within nxt 4weeks and if not i shld ring them back again just to double check. (so am hoping i will get my RC in the post by then.)

anaotchan wrote:

achan892 wrote:Further to my previous post, I have now spoken to someone at Immigration enquiries by telephone (having been advised to call them by the EEA queries call centre). The woman advised me that as long as my RC application was made 'in time' before my Tier 1 visa expires, the conditions of my Tier 1 visa would be considered extended (which sounds to me like a Section 3(C) extention).

hi achan 892, I'm in a similar position: my unmarried partner (American) applied for an EEA2 residence card in September, and his student visa expires in late January, most probably before we have an answer on our EEA2 application.

I also called UKBA, but I got a different answer - I was told he'd be allowed to remain in the country while the application was being processed, but that he wasn't allowed to work at all (while his current visa does allow him to work 20 hours a week). So it sounds like my partner will have to quit his current part-time job while we wait god knows how long

I've also emailed them to double-check, waiting on the answer.

hiya, am in similar situation too..applied as unmarried partner to finland national. applied in march , and my working visa expires sept. while application still in home office. and my COA, did not allow me to work at the moment. my partner got a good job coz she work with the city of london police, and do not want me to be borthered abt workin for now, thinkin it mite affect my application. so i have to stop working and wait till i get my RC. here is my story:

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am a non-eea natonal, applied march 30th as unmarried partner to my finnish partner , got COA on 6th MAY. didnt call them at all regarging the progress. until my partner had to travel for 4-days to finland in oct. and requested her passport back, and ukba letter sayin not to send it until requested for again. but on her return, our solicitor ask us to send it to them, ignoring their letter lol. after reading everyone's story here and how it takes time to get the RC, i decieded to ring them few days ago and the nice guy behind the fone said to me all docs recieved and i will hear from them within nxt 4weeks and if not i shld ring them back again just to double check. (so am hoping i will get my RC in the post by then.) _________________

Smallpie: Sorry to hijack your thread anaotchan, but smallpie you should notify the UKBA that they have a legal obligation to process an application within 6 months and not a day later. Your application is over 7 months now and you can take them to court over that and win easily, it's been done many times.