Travel during BRP application - UK citizen & Non-EEA

[alex98uk]

Hello,

My wife is making a BRP application via the Surrinder Singh route (She is Non-EEA citizen). As I understand, we have to submit my passport (British) and my wife's passport (Chilean) as a part of this process to prove the required SS criteria.

However, I am due to travel to the US for work in February and both of us to Chile for 2 weeks in March for a family wedding.

Is there anyway to keep both passports during this process? Would submitting a notarised copy of each passport suffice? The only other option is we doing our application after travelling, early April.

I understand there is a service which allows EEA/Swiss persons to keep their passports, but, as my wife is a non-EEA passport holder going via Surrinder Singh, I guess we cannot use this?

If anyone could clarify, that would be fantastic!

[GMB]

Is there anyway to keep both passports during this process?

None that I've ever of, except in the case of an EEA citizen in possession of a current national ID card, in which case that substitutes for the passport. But only for the EEA citizen, not the non-EEA.

Would submitting a notarised copy of each passport suffice?

It hasn't worked for anyone yet that I've ever heard of. Even certified copies done by the relevant embassy have been rejected.

I understand there is a service which allows EEA/Swiss persons to keep their passports, but, as my wife is a non-EEA passport holder going via Surrinder Singh, I guess we cannot use this?

Not an expert on the online system, having never been involved with it, but as I understand it people on the SS route have to use the paper form.

A couple of other points:
- In the pre-biometric days, you could request all passports back literally as soon as they received the application, which I did in three cases, and had them back in a week or two. But since biometrics came in, they won't consider passport return requests until after biometrics have been submitted. But you can't submit biometrics until you get the enrollment letter, which right now takes 6-8 weeks from when they receive the application. Figure 8 weeks to get the letter + a week to submit biometrics and them to filter into their database + 1-2 weeks to get the passports back.

- Some countries will issue their citizens a second full-validity tourist passport (differentiating it from a limited-use emergency passport) for various reasons. It might be worth a call to the Chilean embassy to see if they can/will. That way one passport can go off with the application and she can travel on the other. Worth a shot.

[alex98uk]

Thank you for the help and late reply. We moved to the UK and are now looking at the EEA 2 RC FM application!

[kovacsma]

Is there anyway to keep both passports during this process?

None that I've ever of, except in the case of an EEA citizen in possession of a current national ID card, in which case that substitutes for the passport. But only for the EEA citizen, not the non-EEA.

EEA citizen and non-EEA citizen can use the passport return service if the EEA citizen is using the online system to apply and including the non-EEA citizen's application as part of their application.. However, the BRP will be taken -- in other words, it's a bit of a con, but at least you (the UK citizen) get your passport back, and she is able to LEAVE the country... Questionable about return though... Going through this right now.