When to send my application for EEA4? any advise!

manis · Post by **manis** » Tue May 17, 2011 12:17 pm

hi every 1. please kindly advise when i can send my application for eea4. my dates are;

married to eea national [ 13 march 2006 ] overseas - non eu country.

family permit issued [ 27 April 2006 ] valid for 1 year exp 27 april 2007.

arrived in uk [ 22 june 2006 ]
british high commision return my passport on 20 june 2006. the visa is issued on 27 april as i mention earlier.

applied RC from uk [ October 2006 ]

residence card issued [ 31 january 2007 ] exp 31 jan 2012.

me and my wife full time employed during this period.
so please any advise when exactly i can send my application for eea4. did i have to wait until 22 june 2011 to complete my 5 years uk residency or i can send this next week that is 1 month earlier.
any advise!
thanx awaiting.

fysicus · Post by **fysicus** » Tue May 17, 2011 12:32 pm

Just read the rules and you'll see that the main condition for PR is being resident in the UK for five consecutive years in accordance with the EEA regulations.
In your case that means you will acquire PR on 22 June 2011; I suppose there is an entry stamp on your EEA FP confirming that you entered the UK on 22 June 2006?
There is no need to apply at the earliest possibility. You may want to go on holiday first and apply in August, for example. That will not affect any of your rights, now or in the future.

Strange, by the way, that your EEA FP was valid for a year. If I remember correctly the validity was reduced to 6 months early 2005. Anyway, that's irrelevant for your situation now.

manis · Post by **manis** » Tue May 17, 2011 12:56 pm

thanx 4 ur reply.
yes i do have entry stamp in my eea family permit dated 22 june 2006.
6 month validity rule of eea family permit implement on 30 june 2006.
any way can i send my application a month earlier or better to wait till 22 june. thnx.

manis · Post by **manis** » Tue May 17, 2011 12:57 pm

6 month validity rule of eea family permit implement on 30 june 2006.

sorry 30 April 2006.

fysicus · Post by **fysicus** » Tue May 17, 2011 2:13 pm

My wife was issued with a 6-month EEA FP already on 1 August 2005...

I would not apply early. When you obviously do not yet meet all requirements the application is likely to be refused immediately.
If you have no travel plans for the coming months, you can apply on 22 June or later.
There is no deadline for the EEA4 application, you could do it even years later (for whatever silly reason) without any adverse effects.

manis · Post by **manis** » Wed May 18, 2011 12:23 am

i think its better applying after 22 june. thnx

EUspouse82 · Post by **EUspouse82** » Wed May 18, 2011 1:01 pm

manis wrote:i think its better applying after 22 june. thnx

Actually you make the application 6 months before the expiry date on your residence card OR more accurately 6 months before you meet the 5 years residence in the UK, hence when you have legally lived in the UK for 4.5 years . So in your case, you could have made your application since January 23 2011.

fysicus · Post by **fysicus** » Wed May 18, 2011 2:20 pm

EUspouse82 wrote:Actually you make the application 6 months before the expiry date on your residence card OR more accurately 6 months before you meet the 5 years residence in the UK, hence when you have legally lived in the UK for 4.5 years . So in your case, you could have made your application since January 23 2011.

This is utter nonsense! Applying early is useless: if you do not meet the requirements at the time of application, the application will be rejected, period.

EUspouse82 · Post by **EUspouse82** » Wed May 18, 2011 2:55 pm

fysicus wrote:
EUspouse82 wrote:Actually you make the application 6 months before the expiry date on your residence card OR more accurately 6 months before you meet the 5 years residence in the UK, hence when you have legally lived in the UK for 4.5 years . So in your case, you could have made your application since January 23 2011.
This is utter nonsense! Applying early is useless: if you do not meet the requirements at the time of application, the application will be rejected, period.

It will be very wise for you to do your research before calling my post 'utter nonsense' and you talk with so much gusto and confidence, the pitfall is realizing you are wrong after-all will make you look not so intelligent.

In France, they accept it 2 months before the expiration of your card:
http://riviera.angloinfo.com/countries/ ... ncy.asp#pr

In Cyprus, it is 1 month
http://feodgroup.com/en/immigration/cyprus

And it is clearly stated on the EU website:

Towards the end of their 5th year of continuous legal residence your non-EU spouse, (grand) children or (grand) parents should apply to the authorities for a permanent residence card.

The permanent residence card is often issued free of charge (or for the same price as identity cards for nationals).

There are numerous threads on this forum that support my assertion, just a have a little search.

fysicus · Post by **fysicus** » Wed May 18, 2011 4:03 pm

What I wrote is the current UKBA practice.

In France (please read more carefully the information in the link provided by yourself) the situation is entirely different: there it is mandatory to have a valid (permanent) residence card and of course then you must apply in time (which they have translated into practical terms as at least two months in advance). In the UK it is optional (but very advisable of course) and you should only apply when you meet all requirements. All very simple and very logical, in both countries within their own legal context.

EUspouse82 · Post by **EUspouse82** » Wed May 18, 2011 5:07 pm

fysicus wrote:What I wrote is the current UKBA practice.

In France (please read more carefully the information in the link provided by yourself) the situation is entirely different: there it is mandatory to have a valid (permanent) residence card and of course then you must apply in time (which they have translated into practical terms as at least two months in advance). In the UK it is optional (but very advisable of course) and you should only apply when you meet all requirements. All very simple and very logical, in both countries within their own legal context.

I understand your point but the whole essence of an immigration forum like this to give advise based on the law and not practice. The fact is that even in the UK, applications are allowed 6 months before the expiry of the residence permit as stated numerously on this forum.

It is not stated in any UK official literature but it is explicitly stated in the EU directive for free movements. If a particular country does not correctly transpose the directive it doesn't mean it is not the fact.

fysicus · Post by **fysicus** » Wed May 18, 2011 5:52 pm

Well, I think (and I assume many others as well) that giving practical advice is definitely also a core business of this forum.

I really don't know which EU legislation forces the UK to honour applications made six months in advance. In Article 20 of Directive 2004/38 it is only written that a Permanent Residence Card is issued not later than six months from the date of application. As the UK does not even require that you apply for it, there is no need to make sure that applicants have a valid PRC on the first day of their entitlement to Permanent Residence, and I see no conflict between the EU directive here and its UK transposition. Because of this section 2 of article 20 has not been transposed into UK law, as there is a more favourable national regulation.

And can I suggest you provide explicitly one of those numerous threads on this forum, that allegedly support your view?

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When to send my application for EEA4? any advise!

When to send my application for EEA4? any advise!