EEA Family Permit or Residence Card

[GameOver]

Hello all,

I am an American citizen who has been living and working in the UK for the past 7 years under a visa exemption (International Organization). Since then I have married an Italian citizen (3 years married) who has also been living and working in the UK for the last 6 years. Now we also have a 10 month old daughter who has both Italian and American citizen.

My current visa exemption/ work contract is set to expire on April 30th. I have been given an offer by another company but they legally can not offer me a contract until I have a right to work in the UK. It looks like the residence card or family permit are the quickest and best options for me but I can not wait 6 months to get the residence card. Is there any way to get a right to work permit faster?

I already have travel planned to go back to the U.S. for my daughters first birthday when my contract expires. Should I apply for the family permit while in the U.S.? Processing time says 10 working days.
Or
Should i apply for a residence card now (1 month before going ot the U.S.) and see if I can get a COA before I leave? What have peoples experiences been with getting a COA when applying for a residence card? How long did it take?

The sooner I get the work permit, the sooner I can get my contract signed and begin working. Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

[GMB]

There's no reason not to do both. Apply for the RC immediately (processing is taking 6+ months for non-EEA right now it appears), and plan-in extra time in the U.S. to apply for a family permit as well. The FP will give you hard evidence of right to work in the UK, and since it's valid for 6 months your RC should arrive before it expires. Even if it doesn't the COA should have arrived long before that, so you're covered two ways for minimal effort.