Advance permissions needed for EU/US couple?

[salmonela]

I'm an American married to an EU Citizen (Italian), currently resident in Denmark.

We plan to relocate permanently to the UK in September or October. I know EU citizens don't require a visa, but is there any advance permissions/documentation that is required to immigrate into the UK?

Similarly, for the American (me), accompanying my wife into the UK, am I okay to just enter on a tourist stamp and then apply through the pre-settlement scheme once we've set up housekeeping? Are there other steps necessary to establish residency? How do we request NHS numbers for example?

Any help would be appreciated.

[jmedina]

Hi Salmonela.
You have many options.

-The most tidy one, would be applying for an EEA Family Permit before entering UK
-You could also demonstrate your relationship at the border and get an EEA Dependent stamp, which is similar to a Family Permit. Takes some time, is not straight forward and some border agents are not familiar with EEA immigration regulations that much, so they don't like this, because if all non-EEA family members did this the border would be collapsed. But is perfectly legal
-If you are a resident in Denmark I assume you may have a Residence Card from Denmark. If it is not expired, you can enter into the UK with that Residence Card, claiming Article 10 of the EEA Immigration Regulations
-And lastly, I think you could enter with the visitor stamp. I have read that you can apply without any problem to the EU Settlement Scheme even if you entered on a visitor stamp, but I have never heard of anyone actually doing it, so I wouldn't like to be the first one to try it out.


Regards,
Joaquín

[Frontier Mole]

Do not attempt to enter on a visit visa stamp.That will just create more problems than it will solve.

Apply up front for an EEA non EEA family member permit. That gets you work Rights, access to opening bank accounts and generally gives you the rights of an EEA National in the UK.