Travel in and out the UK while EUSS is pending

[Joseph_Gill]

Hi guys,

I am wondering if someone can help me in answering the following question:

My partner (a non EU national) is having her EUSS application under consideration and we are wondering if she can travel in and out the UK with just a COA. Sh entered the UK on the 22 October 2020 and before applying to the EUSS she used to hold a PBS BRP which expires on the 7th November 2022.

Your help will be much appreciated

Cheers
Joseph

[CR001]

Just posting your complicated situation previous link so that members can understand the context of the questions and issues your partner will face.

eea-route-applications/euss-for-non-eu- ... 30002.html

[alterhase58]

Hi guys,

I am wondering if someone can help me in answering the following question:

My partner (a non EU national) is having her EUSS application under consideration and we are wondering if she can travel in and out the UK with just a COA. Sh entered the UK on the 22 October 2020 and before applying to the EUSS she used to hold a PBS BRP which expires on the 7th November 2022.

Your help will be much appreciated

Cheers
Joseph

A EUSS COS would be acceptable for entry to the UK.
However, if partner is a visa national for UK, the carrier will normally expect to see a visa or valid BRP card. They won't recognise the COS as it's not a travel document.

[Joseph_Gill]

Thanks.

Yes she is a visa national.

The following is mentioned in her COA:

"If you are a visa national, you will be required to show your carrier (for example, an airline
or ferry operator) a valid visa exemption document (for example, a Biometric Residence
Card or an EU Settlement Scheme family permit) in order to travel to the UK.

If you applied to the EU Settlement Scheme after 30 June 2021, you may also be asked
for evidence to show that you were resident in the UK by 31 December 2020. If you are a
non-EEA national, you may be asked for evidence of the basis on which you qualify for
the EU Settlement Scheme (for example, your family relationship to a relevant EEA or
Swiss citizen)."

Cheers
Joseph

[contorted_svy]

You were told what to provide, do you have any of those documents? In case the CoA alone is refused?

[input-output]

You were told what to provide, do you have any of those documents? In case the CoA alone is refused?

I have to say the wording on CoA is rather affirmative and we were very surprised to find reference to the ability to travel abroad and to return using CoA as the basis. i fully understand that airlines may apply a more stringent test resulting in refusal to board and entire lives being suspended for months again.

[contorted_svy]

I would suggest to have with you what is being referred to in this paragraph


"If you applied to the EU Settlement Scheme after 30 June 2021, you may also be asked
for evidence to show that you were resident in the UK by 31 December 2020. If you are a
non-EEA national, you may be asked for evidence of the basis on which you qualify for
the EU Settlement Scheme (for example, your family relationship to a relevant EEA or
Swiss citizen)."

[Ticktack]

Thanks.

Yes she is a visa national.

The following is mentioned in her COA:

"If you are a visa national, you will be required to show your carrier (for example, an airline
or ferry operator) a valid visa exemption document (for example, a Biometric Residence
Card or an EU Settlement Scheme family permit) in order to travel to the UK.

If you applied to the EU Settlement Scheme after 30 June 2021, you may also be asked
for evidence to show that you were resident in the UK by 31 December 2020. If you are a
non-EEA national, you may be asked for evidence of the basis on which you qualify for
the EU Settlement Scheme (for example, your family relationship to a relevant EEA or
Swiss citizen)."

Cheers
Joseph

With such a complicated history that you have, you shouldn't even be contemplating taking your spouse out of the UK. Already, she might not even get her EUSS granted. Then you want to over complicate that by going on a holiday outside the UK.

Just make sure that you're travelling to a country were she can stay if things go south.

FYI, You must have liquid steel flowing through your veins (hyperbole).

[kamoe]

With such a complicated history that you have, you shouldn't even be contemplating taking your spouse out of the UK. Already, she might not even get her EUSS granted. Then you want to over complicate that by going on a holiday outside the UK.

This.

Non-Eu family members traveling abroad is usually a tough one, and strongly discouraged unless one has a physical document proving leave to enter the UK. Many people have been left stranded abroad, even if already holding electronic status.

[vinny]

An example of a digital status holder being stranded.

[Joseph_Gill]

Hi all,

I have just got my wife's application refused.

Surprisingly the outcome is issued on the same day on which her previous PBS dependent visa expires (07/11/2022). Does it mean now that we need to make a spouse visa before midnight today?

Please any advice would be appreciated it.

Kind regards
Joseph

[CR001]

Not sure you meet the requirements for a spouse visa as you only became an EU citizen in 2021. So you were not an EU citizen having started living in the UK before 1st January 2021.

https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/partner-spouse

Apply as a partner or spouse
To apply as a partner, you and your partner both need to be 18 or over.

Your partner must also either:

be a British or Irish citizen
have settled in the UK - for example, they have indefinite leave to remain, settled status or proof of permanent residence
be from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and have pre-settled status - they must have started living in the UK before 1 January 2021
have a Turkish Businessperson visa or Turkish Worker visa
have refugee status or humanitarian protection in the UK

After today, yes, she will be an overstayer.

Can you post what the refusal says?

[Joseph_Gill]

Not sure you meet the requirements for a spouse visa as you only became an EU citizen in 2021. So you were not an EU citizen having started living in the UK before 1st January 2021.

https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/partner-spouse

Apply as a partner or spouse
To apply as a partner, you and your partner both need to be 18 or over.

Your partner must also either:

be a British or Irish citizen
have settled in the UK - for example, they have indefinite leave to remain, settled status or proof of permanent residence
be from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and have pre-settled status - they must have started living in the UK before 1 January 2021
have a Turkish Businessperson visa or Turkish Worker visa
have refugee status or humanitarian protection in the UK

After today, yes, she will be an overstayer.

Can you post what the refusal says?

Thanks CR001.

In that case which option are we left with?

Kind regards
Joseph

[CR001]

Can you post what the refusal says?

[Joseph_Gill]

Can you post what the refusal says?

Here it goes:

"Thank you for your application under the EU Settlement Scheme. Your application has
been carefully considered but unfortunately from the information available you do not
meet the requirements of the scheme. I am sorry to inform you that your application has
therefore been refused.
The rest of this letter details the reasons you have been refused,
We have considered whether you meet the requirements for settled status (also known as
indefinite leave to enter or remain) or pre-settled status (also known as limited leave to
enter or remain) under the EU Settlement Scheme. Unfortunately, based on the
information and evidence available and for the reasons set out in this letter, you do not
meet the requirements.
To qualify under the scheme, you need to meet the requirements set out in Appendix EU
to the Immigration Rules. You can find out more about the requirements here
www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-f ... ligibility.
Careful consideration has been given as to whether you meet the eligibility requirements
for settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme. The relevant requirements are set out
in rule EU11 and rule EU11A of Appendix EU to the Immigration Rules.
You state that you are a spouse of a relevant EEA citizen. However, you have not
provided sufficient evidence to confirm this. The reasons for this are explained below.
To be a relevant EEA citizen, the citizen must have held EEA nationality prior to the
specified date (31 December 2020).
You have provided a passport / national identity card as proof of the EEA citizen’s
identity and nationality, but you have not demonstrated that your sponsor held EEA
nationality prior to the specified date (31 December 2020). The evidence available to us
suggests that your sponsor gained their EEA nationality after the specified date. Your
sponsor has indicated on their application that they were solely an Algeria nationality until 2021 when they gained Portugal nationality. You have also supplied a letter stating that
the sponsor gained EEA nationality 25 October 2021.
Therefore, you do not meet the requirements for settled status as a family member of a
relevant EEA citizen.
Careful consideration has also been given to whether you meet the eligibility requirements
for pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme. The relevant requirements are
set out in rule EU14 and rule EU14A of Appendix EU to the Immigration Rules.
However, for the reasons already explained above, you have not provided sufficient
evidence to confirm that you are a spouse of a relevant EEA citizen. Therefore, you do
not meet the requirements for pre-settled status on this basis.
It is considered that the information available does not show that you meet the eligibility
requirements for settled status set out in rule EU11 or rule EU11A or for pre-settled status
set out in rule EU14 or rule EU14A of Appendix EU to the Immigration Rules. This is for
the reasons explained above.
We have also considered whether you meet any of the other eligibility requirements under
Appendix EU. However, from the information and evidence provided, or otherwise
available, you do not meet any of the other these other eligibility requirements.
Therefore, your application has been refused under rule EU6.
To qualify under the scheme, you need to meet the requirements that are set out in
Appendix EU to the Immigration Rules. You can find out more about the requirements
here: www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-f ... ligibility."

Any suggestions? This is really urgent as I need to move today before midnight.

Kind regards
Joseph

[kamoe]

The evidence available to us suggests that your sponsor gained their EEA nationality after the specified date. Your
sponsor has indicated on their application that they were solely an Algeria nationality until 2021 when they gained Portugal nationality. You have also supplied a letter stating that the sponsor gained EEA nationality 25 October 2021.
Therefore, you do not meet the requirements for settled status as a family member of a relevant EEA citizen.

You were warned repeatedly about this. You seem to have ignored the substantial commentary that was given to you months ago?

Any suggestions? This is really urgent as I need to move today before midnight.

For the umpteenth time, your case is extremely complex and you need professional solicitor help.

Good luck.

[Joseph_Gill]

The evidence available to us suggests that your sponsor gained their EEA nationality after the specified date. Your
sponsor has indicated on their application that they were solely an Algeria nationality until 2021 when they gained Portugal nationality. You have also supplied a letter stating that the sponsor gained EEA nationality 25 October 2021.
Therefore, you do not meet the requirements for settled status as a family member of a relevant EEA citizen.

You were warned repeatedly about this. You seem to have ignored the substantial commentary that was given to you months ago?

Any suggestions? This is really urgent as I need to move today before midnight.

For the umpteenth time, your case is extremely complex and you need professional solicitor help.

Good luck.

All professional solicitors advised that I need to wait for a decision and today I received the decision!

Regards
Joseph

[Joseph_Gill]

Do we have 14 days to make an application for a spouse visa?

Kind regards
Joseph

[kamoe]

All professional solicitors advised that I need to wait for a decision and today I received the decision!

Contact (one of) them again with the answer, then, now that you have it. That's the clear next step.

[kamoe]

Do we have 14 days to make an application for a spouse visa?

Kind regards
Joseph

It would be wise for you to stop assuming you can apply for a Spouse visa. As already explained more than once, you are very unfortunately in an impossible situation, where you have a status issued in error. Because of that, the spousal visa might be rejected for the exact same reason the Pre-settled status was rejected: because you were not a EU citizen before January 1st 2021. That's also a requirement for the spouse visa, read what CR001 quoted above.

I would guess that you need to sort your own status first. I would guess that your Pre-settled status is of no use here. But I don't know if that's a correct assessment of the situation. Hence why you need to go back to one of the solicitors who asked you to wait for the outcome, and follow their professional advice.

Again, good luck. Yours if probably one of the most entangled situations I've seen in years here.

[ALKB]

The evidence available to us suggests that your sponsor gained their EEA nationality after the specified date. Your
sponsor has indicated on their application that they were solely an Algeria nationality until 2021 when they gained Portugal nationality. You have also supplied a letter stating that the sponsor gained EEA nationality 25 October 2021.
Therefore, you do not meet the requirements for settled status as a family member of a relevant EEA citizen.

You were warned repeatedly about this. You seem to have ignored the substantial commentary that was given to you months ago?

Any suggestions? This is really urgent as I need to move today before midnight.

For the umpteenth time, your case is extremely complex and you need professional solicitor help.

Good luck.

All professional solicitors advised that I need to wait for a decision and today I received the decision!

Regards
Joseph

You do need professional advice. From what you have shared here, in my personal opinion, you do not hold a status that allows you to sponsor any family members at all.

Again, in my personal opinion going by the limited information available, you could:

- wait until you naturalize as British and then try again for a spouse visa from abroad or

- you could forget about the UK, relocate with your spouse to an EU country that you do not hold nationality of (so, not Portugal) and regularize their status under EU freedom of movement. If you move to the Republic of Ireland, for instance, you could both naturalize as Irish after the requisite number of years resident there and be able to move back to the UK as Irish citizens.

In any case, do not expect a quick solution to this situation.

Good luck.

[JB007]

Again, in my personal opinion going by the limited information available, you could:

- wait until you naturalize as British and then try again for a spouse visa from abroad or

He would need EUSettledStatus first before British citizenship. How would he meet the requirements to be granted Settled Status?

[ALKB]

Again, in my personal opinion going by the limited information available, you could:

- wait until you naturalize as British and then try again for a spouse visa from abroad or

He would need EUSettledStatus first before British citizenship. How would he meet the requirements to be granted Settled Status?

I have absolutely no idea, that´s why I said naturalization - how he gets there is another problem.

He does need professional legal advice from somebody who can actually look at all documents. Personally, I think the UK is probably a wash for him.

[Ticktack]

If the HO has discovered that OP doesn't even have a pre-settled status (issued in error), I fear even him might not be let back into the country when he exits the UK.
Passport might have been flagged and he would be stopped at the boarder!

He clearly has overstayed his visit/leave.

OP's spouse, isn't even in the equation as it currently stands.

The HO has a history of waiting for you to leave the country before barring you from returning. They could be mean like that.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/h ... 32311.html

[JB007]

Again, in my personal opinion going by the limited information available, you could:

- wait until you naturalize as British and then try again for a spouse visa from abroad or

He would need EUSettledStatus first before British citizenship. How would he meet the requirements to be granted Settled Status?

I have absolutely no idea, that´s why I said naturalization -

Naturalisation requirement is to either hold ILR, or the EU Settlement Status. Both ILR and the EU Settled Status, take 5 years to get.

He doesn't appear to be able to meet the requirement for Settled Status.

For ILR, he would need to have a sponsor for his visa and then he could bring his wife with him on a dependant visa; which is what he said he had before and is why his wife was allowed to live in the UK while her visa was valid. Those visas have expired.

Become a British citizen by naturalisation
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... on-form-an