Immigrationboards.com

Hello Everyone,

As per the title, our application for a EEA Family Permit has been refused, and I was looking for advice on how to proceed. Below are details specific to my situation:

- I am a male, French Citizen, living in the UK

- My family settled in the UK from France in 1990, when I was a young child, and we have been living in the UK ever since

- I got married in Pakistan at the end of 2011, to a girl who is a Pakistani National

- We did not make any applications for her to come to the UK to join me immediately after the marriage due to some family issues (there were some family members who fell ill, whom she had to take care of, which meant she could come sooner, so we postponed the move temporarily - but we have been in almost daily contact via phone/internet)

- My aim is for my wife to join me, here in the UK

- Almost two years after the wedding I went again to Pakistan this October (2013) and submitted and application for an EEA Family Permit at the Visa Application Centre in Islamabad

- I am currently in the UK, she is in Pakistan

- About 4 weeks after the application was submitted, we were informed that the application was refused


The decision to refuse the application was based on the following two points:

1) ' ...Whilst it is indicated that your husband is a French national and has resided in the UK since 1990, no evidence or information has been provided to demonstrate that he has exercised any rights of free movement and work. You have therefore failed to provide evidence that your EEA national family member is a qualified person in accordance with Regulation 6 of the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2006. I am therefore not satisfied that your EEA national family member is residing in the UK in accordance with the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2006'

2) ' ...The definition of 'spouse' in the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2006 does not include a party to a marriage of convenience. You have not provided any evidence or information to demonstrate that you have met you husband, nor to show any contact or intervening devotion between you as a couple from either before or since the marriage. Whilst you have provided details of your husband's flight bookings, there is no other evidence to demonstrate he was here during the dates indicated and was with you. Given all of this I am satisfied that you are party to a marriage of convenience and therefore not the family member of an EEA national in accordance with Regulation 7 of the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2006.

I therefore refuse your EEA family permit application because I am not satisfied that you meet all of the requirements of Regulation 12 of the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2006'


I wanted to seek the opinion of this board's members on how I should proceed in my aim to get my wife here in the UK with me.

- I have not filed an appeal against this decision as there was a 28 day limit within which to do so and due to other various commitments I wasn't able to take time out to gather all the paperwork for the appeal - will not filing an appeal be detrimental to my case?
Also, to submit an appeal there was a fee of £250 whereas the application was free, so it seemed absurd to me to pay for an appeal when I could just make another application which is free - would this be detrimental to my case?

- As for the 1st point for their decision, how do I go about providing evidence that I 'exercised any rights of free movement and work' when I was about 10 years old when I came to the UK? How do I prove I am a qualified person in accordance with Reg. 6 of the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2006? As far as I know, my parents did not have / did not require any special permits or anything of the sorts to come to live in the UK, it was merely on the basis of us being French and being part of Europe where you could move freely where you wanted.
I was thinking maybe getting letters from my old school to say I was a pupil for x years and also from my doctor's surgery to prove I have been registered here for many years with my GP. Also I'm thinking about getting my friends to write character references for me.
Is this the kind of thing they are looking for? Would this be enough to prove that I have been living in the UK for many years?

- For point 2 of their refusal decision (I was shocked and surprised that they thought it was a fake marriage / marriage of convenience) - would providing a copy of the wedding DVD and photographs from the wedding be enough to prove that this is a a real marriage? What else could I provide as evidence? I was thinking about phone bills but my wife's previous number was registered under her uncle's name and that was the one I called her on up to 3 months after the wedding - so would providing details of my calls to her on that number prove to be detrimental to my case, because the SIM card was not registered on her name, even though she was the one who used it?
After that she got a Smartphone, which has turned out to be cheaper for the both of us to keep in touch on a daily basis through using apps such as WhatsApp and Viber to message and call each other - the only problem is that this doesn't show up up bills as its is just using internet data - how can I prove to them that we are in contact on a daily basis? What else can I provide to prove this is a real message?

Many thanks for reading

Any help, advice, hints or tips will be greatly appreciated

Do you have a confirmation of permanent residence in the UK, either in the form of a letter or sticker in your passport or card?

Are you working in the UK?

What evidence did you provide of YOUR status in the UK as part of the application?

Why do you say the appeal costs £250?

Hi Directive/2004/38/EC

In response to your questions:

- Do you have a confirmation of permanent residence in the UK, either in the form of a letter or sticker in your passport or card?
What do you mean by 'confirmation of permanent residence in the UK'? I am not sure what this constitutes, as a French citizen, whenever I had to prove my ID, I showed my passport (when opening bank accounts, applying for driving licence, going to uni, applying for student loans etc...)
I've never had any sort of letter and/or sticker in my passport or any card.
I often go to Europe to visit friends and family, and on my return back to the UK I have never been asked for a proof of residence or anything of the sort, on a few occasions I have been asked by UK Border Agency staff what the purpose of my visit is, and when I tell them I live in the UK they just say its fine.
I don't know if this helps, but my passport, last time it came up for renewal about 8 years ago, was issued by the French Consulate in London (its valid for 10 years) and has my UK address printed on it).
Also, the mortgage for the property where I live is in my name, would providing mortgage statements be enough to show I am living in the UK, and have been living for a number of years?


- Are you working in the UK?
Currently I am not working, as I was made redundant from my previous job about a year or so ago, and I'm currently looking for work. But I am not claiming any kind of state help or benefits as I am supporting myself with my savings (when we made the initial application for my wife to come here to the UK, I provided her bank statements to show that she will not be claiming any benefits as she has sufficient funds to support herself, which she will bring with her when she comes here - I did this to allay any fears they may have had in case they thought she would come here with the aim of wanting to claim benefits)


- What evidence did you provide of YOUR status in the UK as part of the application?
I gave copies of my passport, bank statements and bills in my name to show I am resident in the UK - I am unsure what else I should be providing, am I missing some documents which they are looking for?


- Why do you say the appeal costs £250?
I have checked the paperwork they gave with the refusal notification, and this was an error on my part I got this mixed up with something else, the fees they have mentioned are as follows:
For an appeal to be determined at an Oral Hearing, £140.00
For an appeal to be determined on the papers provided, £80.00
But appealing is isn't an option as it was to be done withing 28 days, so my plan is to submit a new application, which is free of charge


Many thanks

you need to pick a five year period that you have documentary proof of residence / work for school reports p60.s self employed accounts and include this in your wifes application since this will evidence that you have already acquired the right of permanent residence.This means there is no requirement for you to be "qualified" now include a single proof of residence for each year after your five year proofs to demonstrate you never lost your right of P.R.one bank statement from each year would be an example (P.R can only be lost after an absence of two years from the UK)

And include any evidence of your visits to Pakistan a few call text printouts if you have any and a few photos wedding and other visits reading what you say it was very easy for ukba to refuse your wifes application she could mention the reasons why she made no immediate application as that wont hurt if they decline her again and it goes to appeal

You have been in the UK for more than 3 months. Quite a bit more. So you need to demonstrate either that you are working, or self sufficient, or that you have permanent residence.

Proving PR is possible but might be more complicated. Can you show that you worked in the UK for 5 continuous years? Or as a student?

Otherwise if you have decent amount of savings, then you can just show that you are self sufficient.

You were refused in the first case because you did not show either than you have PR or that you are working, or that you are self sufficient.

What evidence did you provide to them to show you were married? Where were you married for that matter?

Directive/2004/38/EC wrote:You have been in the UK for more than 3 months. Quite a bit more. So you need to demonstrate either that you are working, or self sufficient, or that you have permanent residence.

Proving PR is possible but might be more complicated. Can you show that you worked in the UK for 5 continuous years? Or as a student?

Otherwise if you have decent amount of savings, then you can just show that you are self sufficient.

You were refused in the first case because you did not show either than you have PR or that you are working, or that you are self sufficient.

What evidence did you provide to them to show you were married? Where were you married for that matter?

Directive the marriage question has already been accepted by the eco they refer to "your husband" they have made the probably unlawful jump to a marriage of convenience which unless they have reasonable grounds would almost certainly under European rules be overturned on appeal, my view is they just tacked this on because of no evidence of treaty rights being demonstrated.

Yes, but appeal is not so much an option at this point.

agreed its a reapplication covering the points raised