EEA ILR with Ancestry Visa Spouse

[anders]

First of All, thank you for providing this board, it has been helpful to read other people’s experiences and see the support they receive.

I have read up on quite a few people in similar circumstances, but still there are still a few things I can’t quite figure out, so any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

I am Polish and exercising treaty rights, And my wife is on an Ancestry VISA from two british grandparents.
Wife’s (Ancestry) Visa : valid from 05/06/2013
Date (we both) entered UK : 02/07/2013
Wife’s Visa expires : 05/06/2018

1. As the EEA ILR is much cheaper than the Set O (Ancestry), and it’s better to keep our documents together, if possible we would obviously prefer to do a joint EEA application, can we still apply on the same form if my wife has been using her own visa and never on an EEA Family Permit?

We would supply copies of old leases from before we moved to UK (circa 2010), Marriage Certificate (2015) and all of our joint bills and leases whilst we’ve lived in the UK so hopefully that would satisfy de facto and marriage spousal requirements.

2. Earliest possible application date, This thread States that 28 days is before the visa start data - which would be 8th of May 2018 earliest application date for my wife, In the calculating continuous period in UK guidance (version 16.0) it states “28 days before they would reach the end of the specified period” so for me, would that be Monday 4th of June?
If so, would submitting the joint application via post (after document check etc) on the Thur 31st May or Friday 1st to arrive on / dated as monday the 4th of June mean that an application was submitted and that my wife would then be in a implied bridging status, and not a Visa overstayer?
Also, when submitting the online application with passport checking service and documents posted later, is the “submission date” considered to be when you do the online form?

Thanks for assistance in advance

[CR001]

To apply under the EU rules, you BOTH need to have the full 5 years residence. Under the EEA/EU rules, there is no '28 days before' concept. It only applies to applications under the UK immigration rules.

The advantage of applying for ILR via SET(O) is that she can apply in person for a same day decision.

[anders]

Thanks for your reply.

Whilst a little annoying, that makes sense - and explains why I couldn't find any information on that scenario. It looks like we will apply separately.

If she has to apply for set O, applying for premium makes sense as it it takes away some of the waiting.