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Hello everybody,

I'm new to this forum and have several questions that need your advice on.

I have been married to a Slovak woman for 12 years with 2 children. We have been living in slovakia for the last 2 years and I have my Slovak permanet residence. We would like to move to London in January and start a new life there.

We have heard all kinds of information and need your help and advice.

I know that I need to apply for an EEA family permit and once in London apply the residence card which can take up to 6 months. My wife and kids all have EU passport except for me. That is all very clear but my question now is when am I allowed to work ? I have heard once I get the family permit, another person told me that only once you have received your residence card, another have told me only after my wife have completed one years work in the UK. I just imagine waiting flat least 6 months before you can find a job.

I would really appreciate some step by step advice, especially people who have had similiar experience as mine.

You will be allowed to work on EEA family permit and your EU partner will need to exercise its treaty rights by working/self employment/studying/self sufficiency etc after three months from arrival.

your EU partner will need to exercise its treaty rights by working/self employment/studying/self sufficiency etc after three months from arrival.

Sorry can you elaborate in more detail how my EU partner needs to exercise its treaty rights after 3 months from arrival ? What does this mean ?

Your right of work & live will depend on the activities called treaty rights of your EU national partner. Treaty rights can be exercised by working/self employment/study/self sufficiency etc. An EU national is exempt from exercising its treaty rights for the 1st three months after arriving. On the other hand, Since you already hold Slovak PR then if you be able to upgrade it into Slovak passport then can even enter as an EU national along with your EU national family (if you can do that).

So my understanding is that my EU partner needs to work before I can apply for a residence card. Studying, self employed or self sufficient will not be applicable to our case. In our case she was taking care of the kids ( house wife ) and I was the one working. Please correct me if I am wrong !

Also my EU partner and the kids all have EU passports, so they will apply for certificate of registration and I will be applying for the residence card. Is this my understanding ? Who would be applying first ?

Derek3672 wrote:So my understanding is that my EU partner needs to work before I can apply for a residence card. Studying, self employed or self sufficient will not be applicable to our case. In our case she was taking care of the kids ( house wife ) and I was the one working. Please correct me if I am wrong !

Also my EU partner and the kids all have EU passports, so they will apply for certificate of registration and I will be applying for the residence card. Is this my understanding ? Who would be applying first ?

Yes, the EU partner needs to exercise treaty rights before you can apply for the residence card as you need the evidence to prove this. If, in your case, this means working then so be it. The EEA partner will need to provide a contract of employment/letter from employer and at least one pay slip (more would be better). I provided 2 wage slips and a letter from my employer when I applied for my registration certificate (EEA1).

The EU partner and any EU kids do not need to apply for a registration certificate if you don't want to - it's not actual a very useful document for an EU citizen, but it can help when you apply for your residence card. If your EU partner does decide to apply for EEA1 then you have two options:: 1) The EU partner (exercising treaty rights) can apply first and then enclose his/her registration certificate with your EEA 2 residence card application OR 2) You can apply at the same time; this has been done in the past. In our case, we chose 1 and I sent my EEA1 with my partner's EEA2 application the day after I received it. It took about 29 working days for me to get my EEA1, but it may take longer.

I hope this helps a little.

If you have any other questions, just throw them out here!

When does my EU partner exercise her treaty rights ? Is it only after 3 months ? Or as soon as she finds a job.

You mentioned that she does not have to apply for a registration certificate but it will help with my application for residence card. Please can you explain as I am more confused.

My understanding is that my EU partner needs to first find a job before she can apply for her registration certificate ? Is this correct ? You mentioned it took 29 working days for your RC, so I have to wait about 1,5 - 2 months before I can apply for my resident card. Is this correct ? What about my kids ? How does it work for them ?

So what happens if my EU partner cannot find a job ? Or during my 6 months EEA FP ? Does mean we are screwed ?

I hope these are not stupid questions to ask, but I'm confused and just trying to figure this out.

When does my EU partner exercise her treaty rights ? Is it only after 3 months ? Or as soon as she finds a job.

You mentioned that she does not have to apply for a registration certificate but it will help with my application for residence card. Please can you explain as I am more confused.

My understanding is that my EU partner needs to first find a job before she can apply for her registration certificate ? Is this correct ? You mentioned it took 29 working days for your RC, so I have to wait about 1,5 - 2 months before I can apply for my resident card. Is this correct ? What about my kids ? How does it work for them ?

So what happens if my EU partner cannot find a job ? Or during my 6 months EEA FP ? Does mean we are screwed ?

I hope these are not stupid questions to ask, but I'm confused and just trying to figure this out.

You can familiarize yourself more clearly regarding registration certificate (EEA1 for EU national) & residence permit (EEA2 for non-EU national) leading to permanent residence by reading the guidance notes.

I have just read that there are 8 accession states amongst the EEA states ( slovakia is one of them - my EU partner is from Slovakia ) and she can only get a resident permit as worker only once she successfully completed 1'years of registration with the HO under the WRS scheme. Can somebody please elaborate ? Does that mean she can only get resident permit after one years of work ? Does this mean I have to wait until she get hers before I can get my resident card ? This is quite concerning as who will employ me with only a 6 months family permit or is there other alternatives ? Please help !

WRS scheme has already abolished in 2011. Therefore, A8 country's national are not subject to this scheme.