cityofedinburgh wrote:
1. Should we both leave the UK and I apply for EEA FP?
If you both have a legal basis to be in the UK (i.e. you have a valid visa) you do not need to leave the country.
Then we fly back into the UK and I apply for EEA EFM? As an unmarried partner I will have no right to work in the 5-6 months wait for the RC, so is having the FP for 6 months to cover that seem like a good idea?
The above being said, there is an argument for you choosing to submit your application overseas, and a big one for that matter: Processing time. While you are under no obligation to leave the UK to do this, the fact that there are many more EEA EFP applications within the UK means you have to wait for 6 months to get your application processed if submitted here. If you go to your country of origin, you could "jump the queue" and wait much less time to get a family entry visa there, by virtue of fewer applications in your local processing office (this obviously depends what the processing times are in your country, do check if it is worth it). The downside is, this way you can only get a 6-month family entry permit, and then you need to apply for the real EEA EFM RC once you are in the UK (and wait the 6 months to get it -there is no escape). However, see argument below.
As a Malaysian, I am aware that I don't need a visa to enter the UK anyways (for 6 months) but in that time I will have no right to work/study/NHS, which I am worried about.
That is another
potential argument for applying overseas.
Please do note that I use the word
potential here, as this is a really grey area, and I am really not sure of all legal aspects of this, but as far as I could check when I was in a similar situation, the family member entry permit they give you if you apply in your country
could give you the right to work straight away -this means that while you would have to make two applications, one for the entry permit in your country, one for the real Residence Card once within the UK- you would not need to wait for 6 months to be able to work. But again, I'm not sure. I could not find any confirmation of this anywhere, but I was also unable to find any official source positively saying the contrary. The official guidelines for employers on how to check valid documentation to prove right to work for potential employees includes the line:
A current passport endorsed to show that the holder is allowed to stay in the UK and is allowed to do the type of work in question.
Document here, page 39:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... checks.pdf
Now... I applied for the EEA family permit while in my country, and they gave me a visa/entry clearance that allowed me to come to the UK to join my EEA partner. Doesn't say anything else. It does not say work is permitted (as my previous student visa used to say), nor it says work is restricted (as my previous sponsored work visa used to say, as restricted to specific employer).
Hence why I say this is a grey area.
I used the family permit entry visa to come back to the UK (I had applied for my EEA EFM Residence Card 5 months before, within the UK, then stupidly scheduled holiday home before I received my RC and at the same time my previous sponsored work visa expired; after panicking, I made an EEA application in my country and got the EEA family entry permit in 3 days). I then came back to the UK and started my new job staright way, only a few days before receiving my RC, so can't tell you from experience if working on a family entry visa is a real issue or not, as I used it for only a week.
So, if you decide to interpret that the above means the entry permit does not give you the right to work, then your best bet is to apply within the UK.
If you decide to apply in your country, then again, please note there is no way to apply for the 5-year EEA EFM Residence Card outside of the UK, you would only get the 6-month entry permit this way.
2. Should I just apply for EEA EFM straight away in May 2017?
If by May 2017 you are eligible to apply, yes you can apply.
As my Tier 4 visa expires in 30/09, I am worried I won't get the RC in time, I'll have to leave the UK/be an overstayer. Will the EEA EFM application extend my permission to stay in the UK?
As long as you submit your application before your current visa expires, you will technically not be considered an overstayer as you will have a pending application. However, if your application is refused, you could then be an overstayer.
3. Another thing that might be challenging is my partner and I are both university students (graduating May 2017). In May-June 2015 and May-June 2016, we were living together in my partner's parents' house. So we don't have any tenancy agreements/utility bills etc. We have flight tickets, photos and a letter from his parents that state that we lived with them. Is this sufficient?
With these circumstances I would say better to wait to apply in July 2017, if you have proof of cohabitation for July 2015-May 2016 and July 2016-July 2017. Best to have to explain only one gap, not two.
If all other requirements are in order, and you have strong proof you are currently living together, and you follow the official guidelines and supplied the required documentation, then a one-month gap should not be an issue. Please note you do not need to supply bills or correspondence for every single month you lived together. Only 6 pieces of correspondence addressed to the both of you, from 3 different sources, with dates that spread evenly throughout the two-year period (but do check the official Home Office guidelines on what documents to send, they are there for a reason).
Last but not least, see my post on what makes a good unmarried application here, based on all my experience:
http://www.immigrationboards.com/eea-ro ... l#p1307574My posts express what I believe are the facts, based on the best of my knowledge, about the topics discussed in this forum. They do not constitute immigration advice.
