EEA FP -> Residence card and/or Tier 2??

[oxfordshiregirl]

I'm a US national in the UK as the unmarried partner of a Spanish national (currently on 6-month EEA extended family member permit).

I am applying for a residence card to stay; in the application form they ask about whether I have a previous biometric residence permit. I did have my biometric information taken as part of the 6-month extended family member permit - does this qualify? And does it mean that I don't have to go to the post office to give them my biometrics again? I would have assumed fingerprinting etc. wouldn't be necessary as I just did that for my permit, but elsewhere on the form it implies that you have to do so unless you have an actual previous biometric card.

Second question is - I was thinking of also applying for a work visa sponsored by my current employer. My reasoning was that then I would be covered either way - I'd like to be able to stay here independently regardless of my relationship. However, my question is, if I do apply for Tier 2, does that supersede my EEA status (or alternatively would the EEA supersede my UK work visa)? Obviously it would be best to have both independently so that I could stay in the country even if:

1) I lose my job (could stay on EEA permit) or
2) my partner has to return to Spain when his contract ends (could stay on work visa)

So does one of them somehow invalidate the other?

Thanks - any advice very much appreciated!

[aurora77]

Hi! On your first question, the EEA Family Permit is not the same as the Biometric Residence Card although your biometric data was taken during your EEA FP application which is also asked in the form. On your second question, I was actually brain storming with the same delemma a few months back, but knowing the immigration changes right now, its a bit of a gamble on our part whether to go with a Tier 2 working visa or continue with the EEA FM residence application. Just a side not, the Tier 2 is only good for 3 years and renewed once but its difficult to proceed to PR because of a minimum income requirement of around 35k per annum. This means that after 6 years, you have to leave UK and the advantage of an EEA RC is you can freely change employments without a sponsorship from an employer.

I'm a US national in the UK as the unmarried partner of a Spanish national (currently on 6-month EEA extended family member permit).

I am applying for a residence card to stay; in the application form they ask about whether I have a previous biometric residence permit. I did have my biometric information taken as part of the 6-month extended family member permit - does this qualify? And does it mean that I don't have to go to the post office to give them my biometrics again? I would have assumed fingerprinting etc. wouldn't be necessary as I just did that for my permit, but elsewhere on the form it implies that you have to do so unless you have an actual previous biometric card.

Second question is - I was thinking of also applying for a work visa sponsored by my current employer. My reasoning was that then I would be covered either way - I'd like to be able to stay here independently regardless of my relationship. However, my question is, if I do apply for Tier 2, does that supersede my EEA status (or alternatively would the EEA supersede my UK work visa)? Obviously it would be best to have both independently so that I could stay in the country even if:

1) I lose my job (could stay on EEA permit) or
2) my partner has to return to Spain when his contract ends (could stay on work visa)

So does one of them somehow invalidate the other?

Thanks - any advice very much appreciated!

[oxfordshiregirl]

Thanks so much for the response. Sorry - I hadn't gotten that far yet on the application form about previous biometric submissions. So will I need to submit biometric information again anyway for the RC or will they just use the FP information?

On the second question, does that mean that if I do get a residence card and then apply for the Tier 2 visa, the residence card is no longer valid? For example, if my work visa ran out or I wanted to change jobs, could I then still do so under the terms of the residence card despite having also gotten the work visa?

[aurora77]

Thanks so much for the response. Sorry - I hadn't gotten that far yet on the application form about previous biohttp://www.immigrationboards.com/eea-route-app ... htmlmetric submissions. So will I need to submit biometric information again anyway for the RC or will they just use the FP information?

On the second question, does that mean that if I do get a residence card and then apply for the Tier 2 visa, the residence card is no longer valid? For example, if my work visa ran out or I wanted to change jobs, could I then still do so under the terms of the residence card despite having also gotten the work visa?

Based on the new biometric form, you don't need to have your biometric data taken if you have a BRP(eg with Tier 2) already and you have to send this card along with your EEA application. Although they are not clear about the FP, they may very well use that data as it is in their system. I also have a FP and I just lodged my EEA FM application. I will let you know as soon as I have an update or if HO will send me a letter to have my data taken at a post office(hopefully not).

Regarding having both EEA RC and TIER 2, there is an existing topic about it and one member uses both without problems.. Here's the link http://www.immigrationboards.com/eea-ro ... 70859.html

[aurora77]

Just an additional info: EEA FM is just £65 while Tier 2 is around £600-800 + NHS surcharge of £200 unless your employer is willing to shoulder this initial expense. Hope this helps a bit.

[aurora77]

Hi Oxfordshiregirl! I gave HO call and in addition to my enquiry, they said I still need to have my biometrics taken again despite my EEA FP(with biometrics taken at my home country).