Immigrationboards.com

Hello,

I am a Polish (and Canadian) national living and working in the UK in the legal industry. While my children are entitled to Polish citizenship and a Polish passport, the process is taking a very long time. When my children arrived in the UK on their non-EU passports, they were in the company of my wife (a UK citizen, but by descent, so children not automatically entitled to UK citizenship). At that time the immigration officer stamped their non-EU passports with a 6 month visa (which expires in August) and told my wife that had she not been a UK citizen, the children would not have been allowed to enter the country.

Since then, I have been going through the process of having their births registered in Poland, which will be followed by applying for their Polish passports. However, there is a possibility that the process will not be completed before the visa expires (yay for bureaucracy).

I therefore will apply for their residency permits under the EEA2 application. Since the application will be for the two kids, does anyone know what kinds of proof of residence the home office will accept for them? They are both too young for school, but have been issued NHS cards with their addresses on them. Will sending in the NHS cards be sufficient as their proof of address? I can also send in my council tax bill (as the EEA national on who they will be relying for their residency permit). I hope that between those two documents, we should be alright.

Thanks

You do not have to worry about the expiry of the visas, it has no effect whatsoever, take your time, get your children polish passport, no matter how long that will take, they will have absolutely no problem. Even if they are not entitled to a polish passport, EEA2 is conditional and not mandatory, it is a confirmation of a right which one already has, it does not confer that right. In any event they are covered till whenever their Polish passport will be ready.

Thanks for the answer dalebutt - could you tell me why you say the visa expiry has no effect? Is it because if my children are entitled to Polish citizenship, then they do not need a visa in order to remain in the UK?

This is because under EEA regulations, rights are obtained automatically and there is no legal requirement (for non EEA nationals) to hold a visa (or a valid one). EEA2 is just an application for confirmation of the automtaic rights.