EEA4 Refused and passport expired. Can I apply for EEA2

[viljoen8504]

Hi,

I've been living and working in the UK with my wife (EEA National) and 3 children for the past 7 years on an EE2 residency visa, however after applying for EEA4 my application was denied as my wife (German) has not been employed (or had sickenes cover) for the past 2 years.

This was an oversight by us and obviously had I know we would've taken out health insurance as she is self-sufficient based on my salary.

Another issue is that whilst waiting for my EEA4 application, my South African passport has expired and will take 4 months to renew.

Now my question is.

Should I appeal based on regulation 8 human rights? We have 3 children and we are settled here in the UK.
Or can I simply take out comp health insurance and then re-apply for an EEA2. Perfectly happy with this btw.

I would submit an EEA2 as I'm sure we would qualify for this with health insurance, but I don't have a valid passport atm and I'm really pressed for time.

Thanks in advance
Ray

[CR001]

Not too sure about the EEA2/4 applications but on the South Africa passport renewal I can say that it does not take 4 months and this is only a guide that they have to publish, Home Affairs being terrible to deal with as most of us know.

My husband and my daughter applied for passport renewals after the expiry date and their passports took 2 weeks and 4 weeks respectively. So quite a quick turnaround.