EEA Family Permit - Russian Spuse

[christoph]

Greetings,

We would like to ask for advice in relation to the EEA Family Permit Application.

I am an EEA citizen (Germany) living in the UK, working as an engineer for almost 2 years. My fiance is citizen of the Russian Federation and we are getting married in Cyprus on 6th April. We have met on vacation in December 2018 and we decided to get married, we have spend almost 3 weeks together in Bali. I recently traveled to Russia to propose and meet the family. We both have established careers, me in the UK and she in Russia.

We are thinking of applying for the EEA FP in Cyprus straight after the wedding but I have some questions:

1. Would it be risky to apply straight after the wedding? Even if we do not have a residency in Cyprus?

2. We have only 5 working days to complete from the time of obtaining the marriage certificate until the day we need to return to work (UK and Russia) would you recommend to apply in Cyprus? Do we need to be together when the application is submitted?

3. I am self-employed and I will be sponsoring my wife, she has a property in Russia and a career, does she need to provide any financial documents?

4. In case the processing time of the applications exceeds the number of days we have available, can we just go at the embassy and request our passports back?

Any general advise, or success stories are highly appreciated.

Thank You

[kamoe]

We have met on vacation in December 2018 and we decided to get married, we have spend almost 3 weeks together in Bali.

So if I understand this correctly, you met your fiancée two months ago?

1. Would it be risky to apply straight after the wedding? Even if we do not have a residency in Cyprus?

It is my understanding that you can apply for a Family Permit anywhere in the world except the UK, and this does not have to be your country of nationality or residence. Unless you are Korean and living in North Korea, this is done online, and you book an appointment at the local application center to submit the documentation is physical form and submit the applicant's biometric details.

What presents a difficulty is not the fact that you apply straight after your wedding, but the fact that, as I understand it, your relationship is extremely recent. A caseworker will likely take more than average time to consider if your marriage is genuine. This does not necessarily mean your application will be refused, but you might want to prepare to wait. It might be a good idea to consider applying in Russia, or a place where both of you are able to attend a potential interview.

2. We have only 5 working days to complete from the time of obtaining the marriage certificate until the day we need to return to work (UK and Russia) would you recommend to apply in Cyprus? Do we need to be together when the application is submitted?

This might vary from country to country. In my personal case, only I, the non-EU applicant, had to be present when submitting the application itself. Again, factor in a potential interview, that both of you might be invited to attend.

3. I am self-employed and I will be sponsoring my wife, she has a property in Russia and a career, does she need to provide any financial documents?

No, she doesn't. You need to prove your status as a qualifying person, e.g. self-employed and paying taxes.

4. In case the processing time of the applications exceeds the number of days we have available, can we just go at the embassy and request our passports back?

This is a question for the application center, which might vary from country to country.