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Hi,

I hope I am in the right place and someone can help with this query.

My wife is a Spanish national living and working in the UK on that basis.

Her mother is a Colombian national, living in Colombia, and has been unemployed for some time. She does not own a property but has a mortgage which she is struggling to pay. She has a son in Colombia, who does not live with her but does not have his own place either. He earns very little and is unable to help her.

We have been sending her money via Western Union to help her survive.

I was hoping we could use the EEA Family Permit to bring her here but I am not sure what proof we would be required to show to prove that she is dependent on us.

Can anyone help advise what type of proof we could show to help our case?

Also, if she arrives on an EEA Family Permit, would this allow her to work here?

Hope this makes sense and that I am in the right section.

Appreciate any help or advice you can offer

Thank you.

JacksonPollock5 wrote:Hi,

I hope I am in the right place and someone can help with this query.

My wife is a Spanish national living and working in the UK on that basis.
...

Appreciate any help or advice you can offer

Thank you.

Start here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... s_v3_0.pdf
- see page 17+

See also:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... egulations

Once in UK such a dependent can have a right to work. EU case law supports that.

Many thanks noajthan for your help with this one....I think we can get started on that basis...

Hope it's ok to ask if for your help again if we are unsure of anything once we get the application rolling.

JacksonPollock5 wrote:Many thanks noajthan for your help with this one....I think we can get started on that basis...

Hope it's ok to ask if for your help again if we are unsure of anything once we get the application rolling.

Many members sure to help.

Good luck.

Hi again everyone,

We have been trying to organise the various bits of supporting evidence over the last few days.

We are now trying to write the covering letter for the application but have not been able to find a format that would suit for a dependent parent.

Would really appreciate it if anyway can help with this. Or point me in the right direction of where to find an example/template that we could follow?

Thanks in advance

Hi there,

Hope someone can help.

We're really struggling with the online form for EEA Family Permit.

Under the section 'EEA National', where it asks the questions about the 'Family Name', 'Name', 'Passport Number', 'Permanent Residential Address'....whose details should be completed here? I'm really confused as to whether we should put in my wife's details in this section...or her mothers...

Can someone help, if possible?

Thanks again

JacksonPollock5 wrote:Hi there,

Hope someone can help.

We're really struggling with the online form for EEA Family Permit.

Under the section 'EEA National', where it asks the questions about the 'Family Name', 'Name', 'Passport Number', 'Permanent Residential Address'....whose details should be completed here? I'm really confused as to whether we should put in my wife's details in this section...or her mothers...

Can someone help, if possible?

Thanks again

The 'EEA National' is the sponsor. So that's your wife if she lives in UK & is the sponsor for the visitor (her mother).

Here's a paper copy of the form to practice on before you complete & submit the online version:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... 0/vaf5.pdf

Great, thanks so much!!

Hi Again...

My mother-in-law just received the letter refusing the EEA Family Permit Application. She has sent me photos of the letter where it mentions an appeal form that is attached. No form was attached.

Can anyone please advise me on how we can appeal without the form?

They have said that we have not provided enough evidence that my mother-in-law cannot work.

Any help would be really appreciated.

Thanks

It should not be necessary to prove mother in law cannot work
Proof of dependency should be enough.

My understanding is that the reason for such dependency is not a factor and there is EU case law (Reyes & also Jia) to back that position.

On Reyes ...

... according to the CJEU, ‘there is no need to determine the reasons for that dependence or therefore for the recourse to that support’. The fact that the Union citizen or his/her spouse are sending a sum of money to the family member, necessary for the latter to support himself or herself, is sufficient evidence that s/he is in a real situation of dependence. It follows that the family member cannot be required to prove that s/he has searched for a job or has tried to acquire support from the country of origin in order to be regarded as a ‘dependant’.

... the Court now suggests that mere past remittances, essential for covering basic needs of the dependent family member in the country of origin, are sufficient for establishing a relationship of dependence.

See https://tribunalsdecisions.service.gov.uk/utiac/37636

Reyes was a case about dependent adult children (in particular) however Jia was about dependent parents (in law) of an EEA national...

18 So far as concerns the meaning of dependency, that is also acte clair as a result of the ECJ judgment in Jia which stated at para 35 that:

“…the status of ‘dependent’ family member is the result of a factual situation characterised by the fact that material support for that family member is provided by the Community national who has exercised his right of free movement or by his spouse…”.

19 The ECJ in Jia was concerned with a relative in the ascending line of the spouse of a Community national

See http://europeanlawblog.eu/?p=2329

I think you should have grounds for appeal based on case law that it is inappropriate for the UK to investigate (or stipulate) whether a dependent should be able to work in their home country.

Thanks so much noajthan....

They also mentioned that they could see no reason why my wife could not visit her mother in Colombia or even relocate there to support her. This is despite the fact that my wife has her husband and son working and studying in the UK. We also did try in Colombia for a year and neither my wife or I could find work. So I can't see the logic in their argument.

I'm worried that the appeal process will take a long time. Do you think it would be better to appeal citing the case law or to apply again?

As you can imagine, my wife is really upset. Her mum has been really suffering psychologically as well as financially lately and we hoped that this would get her back on track.

Thanks again.

JacksonPollock5 wrote:Thanks so much noajthan....

They also mentioned that they could see no reason why my wife could not visit her mother in Colombia or even relocate there to support her. This is despite the fact that my wife has her husband and son working and studying in the UK. We also did try in Colombia for a year and neither my wife or I could find work. So I can't see the logic in their argument.

I'm worried that the appeal process will take a long time. Do you think it would be better to appeal citing the case law or to apply again?

As you can imagine, my wife is really upset. Her mum has been really suffering psychologically as well as financially lately and we hoped that this would get her back on track.

Thanks again.

The reasons for refusal and the alternative suggestions from HO are spurious.
I faced similar arguments from HO when they refused my step-daughter a UK visa some years ago. It's a complete intrusion and out of order. The responses are clearly taken from some sort of library of standard responses.

The whole point of free movement is to support economic activity in the Union and to not have Union citizens who exercise those rights constrained unnecessarily due to family concerns or commitments.
And you are only applying for the FP in connection with and to support your free movement rights.

From the links above...

This approach seems to be based on the principle according to which the provisions of EU free movement law should be interpreted broadly in order to guarantee the free movement of EU citizens, which constitutes one of the most fundamental freedoms in the EU (see also Lebon para.23). Therefore, the Court’s judgment in Reyes comes as no surprise.

Also...

The fact that the Union citizen or his/her spouse are sending a sum of money to the family member, necessary for the latter to support himself or herself, is sufficient evidence that s/he is in a real situation of dependence. It follows that the family member cannot be required to prove that s/he has searched for a job or has tried to acquire support from the country of origin in order to be regarded as a ‘dependant’.

and...

... such situation may be seen as ‘suspicious’ by the immigration authorities in different Member States, the latter are not authorised to investigate the reasons why the family member becomes dependent on the Union citizen or his/her spouse

The details of your personal life and how you organise your family and your relatives' affairs are clearly and definitely not HO business.
I believe EU case law is on your side.

If you reapply again you may face the same sort of semi-automated 'boiler-plate' refusal.

Suggest appealing and refuting the refusal based on the EU case law.
I do not know the likely timeline involved.

Good luck.

Thanks again noajthan.....

I feel exactly the same as you. It seems like they are almost making it up as the go along and are certainly not following EU guidelines.

I really appreciate your time and advice and will follow that.

Will keep you posted.

Thanks,
Paul