Immigrationboards.com

Hello

Australian
Lived in UK for 5 years on EEA family member permit
Applied for PR a couple of weeks ago


My family permit will expire in one month and I very much doubt i will have my PR by then.

If i have my CoA and my passport, will I be able to leave and re-enter the UK if I am not accompanied by my EEA wife?

Sorry if this is obvious but I find the rules confusing and the home office doesn't help.

Cheers

Hi,

I've also started a similar thread as I'm in your same position. I'm not sure travelling with/ without your EEA family member matters in terms of entry clearance, rather it's the validity of the family permit seems to be the sticking point. (I travelled to the UK when I first got my family permit without my partner).

When I received my passport back, I had a note saying that I would need a valid family permit to re-enter. I've since been trying to contact the HO to work out how they expect me to apply for a family permit while abroad when they have all my orginals here. No clear answer, unsurprisingly.

I think options are likely to be (1) stay put till the RC comes through or (2) request originals back from the HO to put in a new family permit application while abroad, though recognising this could delay your RC application.

I am also in the same situation.

On their official website it says that you can leave and enter using a valid EEA FP as many times as you like but I am still paranoid they won't let me back in!

EEA family permits: guidance for entry clearance officers wrote:How long are they valid for?
An EEA family permit is valid for 6 months. The non EEA national family member can leave and enter the UK multiple times within that time period.

Even without an EEA family permit nor EEA residence card, entry is still possible under 11(4).

Hi all,

I am non-EU and applied for PR 1 month ago...I just came back from a solo trip to the US and had no issue to gain entry.

I explained to the officer that I have held a EEA FP for 5 years and that I have just applied for PR 1 month ago (application sent 13th March) I showed him the email confirming my application and payment receipt. I had my EEA Family Permit on a previous passport that the Home Office is keeping with my application and since I used the European Passport Return Service (My unmarried partner is EU and we applied together so I was eligible to use this service) I got to keep my current passport.

Had no issues and no questions asked. The only disadvantage is that you have to queue on the non-EU non-British side and I had to wait more than 1 hour in line!!!

I guess it depends on the officer and how you communicate your case.

Good Luck!

I came back today from traveling on business to Italy without my EU spouse.

It went OK, I had my marriage certificate with me and my old passport which had my residence permit. I also went on the EU line as there was a massive queue on non-EU.