EEA family permit appeals

[Britishgirl1986]

Hello we just recently got our eea family permit refusal, the reasoning was that my husband didn't provide documents to prove that I (his wife) am a British citizen but it clearly has it written on my passport and birth certificate.
The other reason was that he didn't provide proof that I reside in the UK but I don't I'm in America with him and our children. Everything we sent proved this.
It's my husband and two daughters who had to apply because me and my son are British citizens so I'm their sponsor. I provided all of our passports, biometric papers, birth certificates, marriage certificate (we've been married 8 years and got married in the UK), tons of pictures of us all together including wedding pictures, emails proving my husband has been applying for jobs in the UK including pictures of payslips from the money he's earning from his online graphic design job which he will be continuing in the UK, letters proving that we live together at the same address, a handwritten letter from me explaining our situation and a hand written letter from my mother who lives in the UK because she's really concerned about my mental health because of stress and anxiety with our current living situation (we live with my husband's dad and his wife and it's hell). I think that is everything.
My husband was stationed in the UK with the US Air Force and that's how we met, he spent 6 1/2 years there. We put that on the application forms but didn't provide any proof but that's irrelevant isn't it? The fact that I'm a British citizen means that I should be able to bring my family back there?

Anyway I appealed because I believe that our application wasn't looked at properly, they received it on a Tuesday and made there decision by Friday and then they emailed me their decision the Monday following so I think they didn't have a properly look at everything.

Have you appealed before and how long did it take to hear back? I can't seem to find this information anywhere online and we were hoping to leave for the UK in August.
Do you think we provided everything that was needed with the application?

I never in a million years thought it would be a fight to get back into my country

Thank you for reading my post and I'd really appreciate any information you have. Thank you!

[CR001]

Are you sure the letter didn't state evidence was omitted to prove you are an EU (non British) citizen??

What is the exact wording of the refusal?

A British citizen can't sponsor family under the EU rules for a family permit unless you have been living in another EU state exercising treaty rights and now wanting to return to the UK. There are very specific circumstances, requirements and documents needed for a British citizen to sponsor family using the EEA family permit route, none of which would appear to apply to your situation.

As you appear to live in the US, you only have the expensive and mandatory requirements of the UK immigration route available to you, ie a spouse settlement visa.

The fact that I'm a British citizen means that I should be able to bring my family back there?

Indeed but you have to apply for the correct visa and meet all the requirements, which you haven't as you applied for the eea family permit, which based on what you have stated, you don't qualify for.

An appeal will therefore fail.

Did you any seek advice before applying??

It's my husband and two daughters who had to apply because me and my son are British citizens so I'm their sponsor

How are you British?? Are you British born or .....?? Trying to understand why only one of your children hold British citizenship.

[Britishgirl1986]

Are you sure the letter didn't state evidence was omitted to prove you are an EU (non British) citizen??

What is the exact wording of the refusal?

A British citizen can't sponsor family under the EU rules for a family permit unless you have been living in another EU state exercising treaty rights and now wanting to return to the UK. There are very specific circumstances, requirements and documents needed for a British citizen to sponsor family using the EEA family permit route, none of which would appear to apply to your situation.

As you appear to live in the US, you only have the expensive and mandatory requirements of the UK immigration route available to you, ie a spouse settlement visa.

The fact that I'm a British citizen means that I should be able to bring my family back there?

Indeed but you have to apply for the correct visa and meet all the requirements, which you haven't as you applied for the eea family permit, which based on what you have stated, you don't qualify for.

An appeal will therefore fail.

Did you any seek advice before applying??

It's my husband and two daughters who had to apply because me and my son are British citizens so I'm their sponsor

How are you British?? Are you British born or .....?? Trying to understand why only one of your children hold British citizenship.

I was born and raised in the UK and I had my son from a previous relationship before meeting my husband so my son is a British citizen too. My husband was in the air force stationed in the UK when I met him in 2009 and we married in 2011, he then got retired from the air force because of back issues and so he had to move back to America. Me and my son got visas and moved here to America too in 2012.

The exact wording is "you state that you intend to accompany (my name) in to the united kingdom who is a British citizen. You have applied as the spouse of a British citizen. I have therefore considered your application in accordance with the Surinder Singh judgement."

"In order to satisfy the requirements of the Surinder Singh judgement, under regulation 9(2) the following conditions need to be met:
(A) the British citizen ("BC")-
(I) is residing in an EEA state as a worker, self-employed person, self-sufficient person or a student, or so resided immediately before
(ii) has acquired the right of permanent residence in an EEA state;
(b) family member and BC resided together in the ERa state; and (c) family member and BC's residence in the EEA state was genuine.

The decision

You state that your wife (my name) is a British citizen. You have not provided evidence that your sponsor holds British citizenship."

There's more written but it's basically all issues with them saying they didn't receive proof that I'm a British citizen.

We definitely have applied for the right thing.

Thank you for responding! Do you think we have done the right thing and that they were in the wrong or do you think we applied for the wrong thing?

[CR001]

Why are your daughters not British or have British passports then?

"In order to satisfy the requirements of the Surinder Singh judgement, under regulation 9(2) the following conditions need to be met:
(A) the British citizen ("BC")-
(I) is residing in an EEA state as a worker, self-employed person, self-sufficient person or a student, or so resided immediately before
(ii) has acquired the right of permanent residence in an EEA state;
(b) family member and BC resided together in the ERa state; and (c) family member and BC's residence in the EEA state was genuine.

The decision

You state that your wife (my name) is a British citizen. You have not provided evidence that your sponsor holds British citizenship."

There's more written but it's basically all issues with them saying they didn't receive proof that I'm a British citizen.

We definitely have applied for the right thing.

Thank you for responding! Do you think we have done the right thing and that they were in the wrong or do you think we applied for the wrong thing?

You have applied for the wrong thing. You don't qualify for your family to apply for a EEA Family Permit as you do NOT reside in an EU state as a British citizen to be able to use the Surinder Singh route back to the UK. EEA Family Permit would only apply if you were a non British EU citizen.

Note also that a passport is a travel document. HO was likely looking for a birth certificate for you.

The refusal was not wrong unfortunately and Admin review will also fail.

See the diagram in the link below to understand why you don't qualify and what the Surinder Sing route actually is.

eea-route-applications/bbc-explains-sur ... 38469.html

[Britishgirl1986]

Why are your daughters not British or have British passports then?

"In order to satisfy the requirements of the Surinder Singh judgement, under regulation 9(2) the following conditions need to be met:
(A) the British citizen ("BC")-
(I) is residing in an EEA state as a worker, self-employed person, self-sufficient person or a student, or so resided immediately before
(ii) has acquired the right of permanent residence in an EEA state;
(b) family member and BC resided together in the ERa state; and (c) family member and BC's residence in the EEA state was genuine.

The decision

You state that your wife (my name) is a British citizen. You have not provided evidence that your sponsor holds British citizenship."

There's more written but it's basically all issues with them saying they didn't receive proof that I'm a British citizen.

We definitely have applied for the right thing.

Thank you for responding! Do you think we have done the right thing and that they were in the wrong or do you think we applied for the wrong thing?

You have applied for the wrong thing. You don't qualify for your family to apply for a EEA Family Permit as you do NOT reside in an EU state as a British citizen to be able to use the Surinder Singh route back to the UK. EEA Family Permit would only apply if you were a non British EU citizen.

Note also that a passport is a travel document. HO was likely looking for a birth certificate for you.

The refusal was not wrong unfortunately and Admin review will also fail.

See the diagram in the link below to understand why you don't qualify and what the Surinder Sing route actually is.

eea-route-applications/bbc-explains-sur ... 38469.html

Because my daughters were born in America that's makes them American citizens, my son was born in the UK that makes him a British citizen.

My husband is a non EU citizen and he was the one that applied. I was his sponsor because I'm a British citizen. You don't need to be in the UK to apply.

I did give them my birth certificate. I think they just didn't look through everything. I read that they are told to refuse as many applications as possible.

With this application you just have to prove that you're seeking work which my husband has and he sent proof. With the spouse visa you have to prove you earn over £18,000 a year or more with dependants and we don't quite earn that much yet so it's not going to get us there.

[CR001]

Because my daughters were born in America that's makes them American citizens, my son was born in the UK that makes him a British citizen.

If you are British born, to British parents, then your daughters are British by descent if born abroad and can apply directly for British passports.

My husband is a non EU citizen and he was the one that applied. I was his sponsor because I'm a British citizen. You don't need to be in the UK to apply.

Unfortunately, you have misunderstood the EEA Family Permit rules. As a British citizen residing outside the EU with a non EU spouse, you cannot use the EEA Family Permit option at all. It doesn't apply to you.

I did give them my birth certificate. I think they just didn't look through everything. I read that they are told to refuse as many applications as possible.

You have read wrong. If you qualify you will get a family permit. You simply don't qualify as a British citizen living outside the UK cannot sponsor their family using the EEA route to come back to the UK.

With this application you just have to prove that you're seeking work which my husband has and he sent proof.

Again, you have misunderstood. Your husband seeking work is completely irrelevant, for any family visa or EEA Family Permit if he qualified for the latter.

With the spouse visa you have to prove you earn over £18,000 a year or more with dependants and we don't quite earn that much yet so it's not going to get us there.

This is the only route you have unfortunately. There is no other option for you. Also, it is only YOUR income that counts, his income is irrelevant. Joint savings of £62,600 could be used but it is only savings from either spouse that would count, income from the visa applicant doesn't.

[CR001]

https://www.gov.uk/family-permit

Overview
You may be able to get a family permit to come to the UK if both of the following apply:

you’re from outside the European Economic Area (EEA)
you’re the family member of an EEA or Swiss national (excluding UK nationals)

EEA family permit
Apply for the EEA Family Permit if you’re a close or extended family member of an EEA or Swiss national.

if you can make a ‘Surinder Singh’ application after living in another EEA country with a British family member

https://www.gov.uk/family-permit/surinder-singh

Surinder Singh
You might be able to apply for an EEA family permit if you’ve lived in another EEA country with an eligible family member who’s a British citizen. This is known as making a ‘Surinder Singh’ application.

Your British family member must be one of the following:

your spouse (husband or wife) or civil partner
your parent or grandparent (or their spouse or civil partner) - you must also be under 21 years old or dependent on them
your child or grandchild (or their spouse or civil partner) - you must be dependent on them
This includes family members who were adopted under an adoption order that’s recognised in UK law.

Eligibility requirements
You and your British family member must prove that you:

meet the eligibility in the EEA country where you live now - if you want to come to the UK at the same time
met the eligibility while living together in another EEA country - if you want to join your British family member in the UK
Eligibility for you and your British family member
You must have genuinely made your home in another EEA country. Both of you must prove that:

it’s been your main residence or base for the ‘centre of your life’
you’ve lived there together
you’ve integrated there
Eligibility for your British family member

Your British family member must either have the right to permanent residence in the EEA country where you’ve lived together, or have been one of the following there:

working
self-employed
self-sufficient
studying
If they’ve been back in the UK for more than 3 months, they must also be working, looking for work, self-employed, self-sufficient or studying in the UK.

[Britishgirl1986]

https://www.gov.uk/family-permit

Overview
You may be able to get a family permit to come to the UK if both of the following apply:

you’re from outside the European Economic Area (EEA)
you’re the family member of an EEA or Swiss national (excluding UK nationals)

EEA family permit
Apply for the EEA Family Permit if you’re a close or extended family member of an EEA or Swiss national.

if you can make a ‘Surinder Singh’ application after living in another EEA country with a British family member

https://www.gov.uk/family-permit/surinder-singh

Surinder Singh
You might be able to apply for an EEA family permit if you’ve lived in another EEA country with an eligible family member who’s a British citizen. This is known as making a ‘Surinder Singh’ application.

Your British family member must be one of the following:

your spouse (husband or wife) or civil partner
your parent or grandparent (or their spouse or civil partner) - you must also be under 21 years old or dependent on them
your child or grandchild (or their spouse or civil partner) - you must be dependent on them
This includes family members who were adopted under an adoption order that’s recognised in UK law.

Eligibility requirements
You and your British family member must prove that you:

meet the eligibility in the EEA country where you live now - if you want to come to the UK at the same time
met the eligibility while living together in another EEA country - if you want to join your British family member in the UK
Eligibility for you and your British family member
You must have genuinely made your home in another EEA country. Both of you must prove that:

it’s been your main residence or base for the ‘centre of your life’
you’ve lived there together
you’ve integrated there
Eligibility for your British family member

Your British family member must either have the right to permanent residence in the EEA country where you’ve lived together, or have been one of the following there:

working
self-employed
self-sufficient
studying
If they’ve been back in the UK for more than 3 months, they must also be working, looking for work, self-employed, self-sufficient or studying in the UK.

So all these people who get accepted for this eea family permit who are not even British can get some random sponsor in the UK and go there but someone who is born there and it's THEIR country they can't go back. All sounds ridiculous to me

[CR001]

So all these people who get accepted for this eea family permit who are not even British can get some random sponsor in the UK and go there but someone who is born there and it's THEIR country they can't go back. All sounds ridiculous to me

They are not 'random sponsors', it doesn't work like that. Substantial evidence is required and while there are many refusals for EU citizen family members, there are also many approvals for those that are well prepared and meet the requirements. I myself cannot sponsor my elderly parents under the EEA rules and need at least £10,000 to get them here on a visa.

Had you lived and worked in another EU state, then yes you could have used the EEA Family Permit to return. But you don't so you have the two options :

a) move to another EU state, ie Ireland and you get work etc, wait a few months and then move back to the UK. The problem is Brexit of course and not much time left to do the Surinder Singh route back to the UK

b) Meet the requirements and apply for a spouse visa for your husband. Also note my comment regarding your US born daughters.

[Britishgirl1986]

So all these people who get accepted for this eea family permit who are not even British can get some random sponsor in the UK and go there but someone who is born there and it's THEIR country they can't go back. All sounds ridiculous to me

They are not 'random sponsors', it doesn't work like that. Substantial evidence is required and while there are many refusals for EU citizen family members, there are also many approvals for those that are well prepared and meet the requirements. I myself cannot sponsor my elderly parents under the EEA rules and need at least £10,000 to get them here on a visa.

Had you lived and worked in another EU state, then yes you could have used the EEA Family Permit to return. But you don't so you have the two options :

a) move to another EU state, ie Ireland and you get work etc, wait a few months and then move back to the UK. The problem is Brexit of course and not much time left to do the Surinder Singh route back to the UK

b) Meet the requirements and apply for a spouse visa for your husband. Also note my comment regarding your US born daughters.

We will get the spouse visa. My husband is going to apply for more remote online graphic design jobs so that we have the over £18,000 income and can work from anywhere including UK. We're just in a bad living situation and I just want better for my kids that's why this is all stressing me out.

Why wouldn't they have told me on the refusal letter that we had applied for the wrong visa?
Do you think a spouse visa application will get accepted once we have the correct Income? Just want to make sure we qualify.

We only just got our daughters passports but if I knew we could have gotten them British ones I would have .

Thank you so much for all your info and help!

[CR001]

You can still get their British passports as both the us and the UK allow dual nationality.

Note that for a spouse visa, it is YPUR income that is relevant for the initial entry clearance visa. Your husband's income won't be considered at all for the initial visa.

I am fairly sure the paragraph in the letter would have stated the exact reasons and as you have not posted the full text of the refusal letter (usually helpful to those on a forum trying to help you) where it starts with something like '....failed to meet or demonstrate EU citizen exerciaing........your application is refused under xyz of the rules etc', I can't comment.

Note the income is £18,600pa and 6 months evidence is required from you either with a job you have in the US and a confirmed job offer in the UK to start within 3 months of arrival or you come for 6 months and work to meet the requirements and then apply for the visa. You should do your daughter's British passports first otherwise the income requirement is more if you don't.

[Britishgirl1986]

You can still get their British passports as both the us and the UK allow dual nationality.

Note that for a spouse visa, it is YPUR income that is relevant for the initial entry clearance visa. Your husband's income won't be considered at all for the initial visa.

I am fairly sure the paragraph in the letter would have stated the exact reasons and as you have not posted the full text of the refusal letter (usually helpful to those on a forum trying to help you) where it starts with something like '....failed to meet or demonstrate EU citizen exerciaing........your application is refused under xyz of the rules etc', I can't comment.

Note the income is £18,600pa and 6 months evidence is required from you either with a job you have in the US and a confirmed job offer in the UK to start within 3 months of arrival or you come for 6 months and work to meet the requirements and then apply for the visa. You should do your daughter's British passports first otherwise the income requirement is more if you don't.

Yes I did some research and found out that it has to be my income. Does that still count if my husband's job is online and one that he can do from anywhere? His income still won't matter?

Wow so if I get my daughters British passports my husband won't have to put them down as dependants and add them to his application??

Sorry I couldn't write all the info there was just too much to type out from the refusal. From what I provided you have already told me that I applied for the wrong visa so the rest doesn't matter now.

[CR001]

For the initial visa it is only your salary that counts. For extensions of visa within the UK he salary will count.

Re daughter's, correct yes, for visa purposes they are not dependents applying for a visa if they have British passports.