Am I allowed to work? Currently on Tier 1, awaiting EEA2

[lanvin]

Hi there, I hope some of you can help me with this dilemma. I am currently on a Tier 1 post study work permit which is expiring some time next week and I have submitted my EEA2 application (unmarried partner) on the 25th of July ( am still waiting for my COA). I submitted my partner's EEA1 form along with my EEA2.

Can I work after my Tier 1 visa expires?
and what if my visa expires and I still have not received my COA?
Is there any proof that I can provide my employers that I am able to work whilst my application is processing?

I called the european enquiries at the ukba today and they said that I can request for a COA only after the 1st of September if I haven't received it yet by then.....? What should I do??

Any advice is very much appreciated!! Thanks!!

[Jambo]

Even if your CoA would arrive, as unmarried partner you don't have automatic right to work in the UK. Usually CoA for unmarried partners doesn't state that you are allowed to work. Only if your application is approved and a RC is issued, you will have the right to work in the UK.

Your case might be a different as normally Tier-1 visa holders are allowed to keep their immigration status until their application for extension is processed as long as they apply before the expiry of their visa. However, I'm not very familiar with Tier-1 PSW and if it holds also when switching to a different visa category.

May I ask why you waited to apply for EEA2 just a month before the expiry of your PSW visa?

[Qman]

I don't know what the exact rules are in this situation either, but the Home Office are usually awkward with any change in categories and like to disregard everything else (it's as though they don't approve of the EU routes)

Also, like Jambo said, you are very unlikely to be granted the right to work. How long have you been with your partner?

Is your current employer not willing to retain you after your visa expires? I'd have tried renewing the work permit under whatever category you fall under now that Tier 1 is "exceptionallly talented"

[lanvin]

i've been with my partner for 5.5 years, moved in together after university because we were in different universitiies before, and have been living together for 2 years.

We were on a holiday that was booked ages ago and I made my application as soon as I got back!! i was actually thinking of moving back but my boyfriend (german) didn't want me to just yet because he doesn't want to do a long distance relationship and he said we'll move together in a year or two.

We do want to get married but I don't want to get married just for this visa/residence card reason!

I thought about renewing my work permit but I heard its much more difficult now and it also cost about 900+ pounds? In that case I'd rather go home and avoid all the visa trouble (because they messed up my tier 1 initially when I applied for it hence had to reapply so paid double for it).

My employer wants some proof in writing somewhere that says I can work after my visa expires whilst awaiting for the RC. Anyway its too late to apply for a Tier1 again now as the home office have my passport and all the documents that I would need for a Tier1...

[Kitty]

THis thread might give you a bit of comfort as to the UKBA's policy:

http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... 8d211b319a

If your employer wants to confirm your continuing status after your Tier 1 visa actually expires, then they will need to fill in the appropriate form and send it to the Employer Checking Service:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/emplo ... pport/ecs/

Unfortunately there is really no way to confirm what the UKBA's response to that enquiry will be. Can you contact them as the poster in the linked thread did and "test the waters"?

One way to expedite the decision-making process is to ask for your passport back from UKBA: some applicants find that they use this opportunity to make the decision and issue the RC. May be worth a try.

[lanvin]

i did contact the european enquiries call centre and they told me to wait for my COA. sShe said she can't advice me otherwise. I'll call again later to check if the answer differs from yesterday!

I emailed the european enquiries email address as well but either they have not replied me or sent me links to FAQs on the UKBA website.

Thanks for your help!

[imraniqbal2010]

i did contact the european enquiries call centre and they told me to wait for my COA. sShe said she can't advice me otherwise. I'll call again later to check if the answer differs from yesterday!

I emailed the european enquiries email address as well but either they have not replied me or sent me links to FAQs on the UKBA website.

Thanks for your help!

It is highly unlikely to get permission to work with unmarried partner EEA2 application,until they decide your application at least.

[lanvin]

When I emailed the UKBA, they sent one of those FAQs type of email and this was included:

'1. Outstanding Applications


If you make an application before your authorised stay ends, your existing immigration status will continue until your application is decided, even if the decision is not made until after the end of your permitted stay. If your existing visa or other permission to stay here allows you to work, you can continue to do so until your case is decided.'

Do you think that applies? As my current leave is a working permit, I would be able to work?

[Kitty]

My own opinion is that the provision you are referring to (which comes from Section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 and is often called "Section 3C leave") only relates to applications for a variation of "leave to remain".

An application for a Residence Card is not an application for leave to remain under the Immigration Rules. So Section 3C cannot apply.

Interestingly, Chen parents are provided for under the Immigraiton Rules, so the way I read it, a hypothetical Tier 1 migrant could benefit from Section 3C leave if they were applying to remain as the parent of a self-sufficient EEA child. Weird.

But in the thread I linked to earlier, the OP got similar advice to yours from the UKBA in the same situation. If their policy is to treat EEA applicants as if they were making an application to vary leave (and thus allow them to benefit from Section 3C) then that would be great

In some policy documents the UKBA does provide for discretion to be exercised so that people using the EEA route are not disadvantaged unfairly when it comes to the application of the Immigration Rules (for instance, last time I checked, someone with a Residence Card as a spouse can apply for leave to remain for access to a child in the UK, without having to fulfil the technical condition that they currently have a spouse visa), so it would be nice if the UKBA took that view here too.

[lanvin]

sounds hopeful! thanks!