From tier 5 to residence card

[Gin]

Hi guys,
Our situation;
Me; Danish, 25, student (1 1/2 to go with studies)
Partner; Australian, 28, youth mobility tier 5 visa expiring in sep., full time employment

Been together for 3 years ( in Aus before UK)

We are now hoping to apply for a residence card but have a few questions we would very much appreciate a bit of guidance on:

1.) if we do not apply till later on in the year and therefore do no get a decision until after my partners tier 5 visa has expired will he be able to continue work until a decision is made? I am asking this as we have holidays planned throughout spring and were not aware that they intend to keep our passports for so long!

2.) if we apply to get our passports back before they have death with our application will this set us back? I read that it may particularly if my partner gets his passport returned.

3.) we do not have much proof of having lived together since his name was the only on the first tenancy agreement and my name was the only name on the second one. Neither have we had shared bank accounts. I am hoping that individual mail sent to the same address will suffice? We have plenty of pictures. Does anyone have any experience with this?

4.) there is a section regarding the eea sponsors medical insurance? I do not have this as I was very much under the impression that NHS was enough. As I am away from Denmark for more than 2 years I have officially 'left Denmark' and can not receive medical treatment there.

I really appreciate anyone taking the time to read through this any help/advice to any of the above - or anything else we need to be aware of - is highly appreciated!

[secret.simon]

Hi,
I'm not the best person to advise about this issue, but would I be correct in assuming that the query is for residence in the UK based on the EU citizenship of the Danish student? If such is the case, this thread is best placed in the EEA (UK) forum, rather than Europe immigration.

Coming back to the thread, I'm not sure that you can rely on the NHS for medical insurance reason. I believe that under UK EEA rules, you need to demonstrate "Comprehensive Medical Insurance" (Google that) that is over and above NHS coverage. An EHIC card is not sufficient for that purpose and in any case, your Australian partner will almost certainly not be covered by the NHS.

The proof of living together will need to be much better. Letters addressed to the same address is typically not sufficient (you could get that because the previous tenant has not changed address with his providers, for instance). Joint bills/bank statements add a lot more weight to the joint living. Call logs and Skype logs would add weight as well, though if you lived together you may not have that.

As for waiting for your partner's Tier 5 to expire, that would be very foolish as that will have knock-on effects on future events such as permanent residency and citizenship. For instance, any period of overstaying in the UK will defer citizenship by 10 years. I would strongly counsel applying well within the timeframe of the valid visa period, come what may. Remember that once the visa is applied for, his current stay is automatically extended until the time the decision is reached, provided it is submitted while the visa is valid.

I am not an EEA citizen and hence am not au fait with EEA rules. I'm basing my knowledge on non-EEA rules and applying them by analogy. Please excuse me if my information and advice is incorrect.