Hi Danielle,
I am also a South African who followed the same route a few months ago, so hopefully I can enlighten you somewhat.
Question 1: How soon can I apply for my EEA2 Residency Card upon arrival? If he has an employment contract and 1 months payslips will this be sufficient?
Answer 1: Technically, you can apply immediately. In reality, you need to find a place to stay (have proof of income ready for that for the landlord), obtain at least 6 proofs of residence with your and your partner and spouse's name on it (original water bill, electricity & gas bill, phone bill, bank statements, council tax bill etc.). After you've found a place to stay, you'll wait at least 4-6 weeks for to get all those documents together. You'll also only be able to get your name onto a bank account once you have any of the others, as the bank requires a similar proof of residence. An employment contract/letter from the employer, plus the employers signature on a certain page in the application form will also be required.
Question 2: If he were registered as an EU qualified person would this help our case?
He's not legally required to register, although it is advised. It won't speed up the process though. A £400 fee to expedite the application will.
Question 3: It is to my understanding that I will issued with a short COA as I am his extended family member. This will not allow me to work and once my EEA Family Permit expires there may be a 1-2 month 'gap' where I cannot work. Is there any way around this? Extended permit/letter from employer to revoke short COA/confirmation that he is a registered qualified person
Firstly, for purposes of which application form to pick, you are a spouse or a partner, not an extended family member. This is how the timeframes work though: EEA Family Permit (FP) grants you entry into the country together with or following within 3 months of your partner/spouse, and then to live in and conduct other activities within the UK. Legally, you are allowed to work on the basis of you FP status alone, but this document is not accepted by employers who are "not in the know" (most of them in my experience) as proof of a right to work. In my honest opinion, the only chance at employment you will have in that 6 months is temp/low skilled work. This paragraph is continued in my answer to Question 4.
Question 4: What are the realistic timeframes in terms of the EEA2 residency card (Eg. how long does Royal Mail take to deliver, how long until I am invited for my Biometrics, and how long will I wait till being issued with a COA? Is the residency card issued only 6 months after the COA is issued? Seems like the process may take around 8 months then in total)
Ok... Once you apply for the EEA Family Member (FM) Residence Card (aka EEA2), within about 2-3 weeks you'll receive a request to submit biometric details at one of the post offices (as specified on the Post Office website). You just show up, they scan you and that's it. After about 2 weeks you'll receive a Confirmation of Application which in fact
does prove your right to work to the employer, for at least 6 months from the date on which the COA is issued. Even with this in hand, I have still found it troublesome to find employment, as most of the employment that I seek out is for the longer term (longer than 6 months at least), and employers have no guarantee of your right to work after that 6 months, and hence they are very reluctant to appoint you.
In my experience, the mail service in the country is very efficient. With the application, I paid £8 for next day delivery, including insurance. No need to worry about that.
I've applied for EEA (FM) at the end of August, and am still waiting for my residence card (and other documents). But from what I can see on timeline forum, other people who submitted around the same time seem to start getting their residence cards/refusals. So I am hopeful that mine will arrive soon. From their information it is also evident that the residence card's "start date" is about 6 months from COA.
Other Advice
Go the Job Centre as soon as possible after you've obtained an official address and apply for a National Insurance (NI) Number. You need this to be legally employed. If you have it before you apply for the EEA2, it will be very helpful. Otherwise you'll need to update the Home Office with your NI number during your application - and you'll never receive an update from them on whether they received it or not. It's technically not obligatory for the application to have an NI number at all, but it is highly advised.
ALSO: Keep an eye in the news on what happens politically to the rights of EU citizens in the UK. Nothing is sure yet, but at some point during the Brexit negotiations or parliamentary process (the less likely option) the government will establish a cut-off date after which EU citizens and their family members arriving in the UK won't have the same rights as the ones that are already here. The date may very well be in a few months or within 2 years. If you get in before the date, you should be fine.
