Keeping the passport during the Residence Card application

[yesindeed]

Hi there,

I have recently stumbled upon this forum and found it to be extremely helpful. I have browsed through many topics but couldn't find the answer to my unique question. Hope someone is there to help me!

I am a dual-citizenship owner EEA national (Italian and Turkish) and my wife is non-EEA (Turkish). We currently live in the Netherlands and we will move to UK in April, for my work purposes. My wife applied for the EEA Family permit today and we hope to have it in three weeks.

After we move to UK, we want to apply for the residence card for my wife as soon as possible. I have read from other topics that this application takes between 3 to 6 months on average. My questions are on this very subject - about the application.

1- I understand that my wife has to give her passport (to the Home Office (HO) as part of the residence card application process. Do I also have to give my passport as well?

Although I found this a little hard to believe at first sight, I have actually read that my passport should be included into the application package. Please find it on this link, on the fourth bullet: "your EEA family member’s valid passport or national identity card"
https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-a-uk-resid ... st-provide

Can someone with a similar experience confirm that this is the case? My work might require me visiting other European countries regularly. Considering that the application might take up to 6 months, this might create a problem for me. In addition, I won't have a national identity card by the time we make the application.

2- During the waiting period for the residence card application's answer, we actually have pre-planned travel plans to Turkey. Can my wife ask for her passport back (and in case the answer is yes to my first question - me) - so that she can travel back and forth. Assuming (hoping!) she will get her family permit without any problems, she will have a family permit to enter the UK, I suppose.

Again, I have read in other topics that this is possible and it does *not* affect the outcome of the application. Can someone confirm this and give more info on the specifics of this "document return", if possible?

3- I have read that the European Passport Return service is also a possibility for EEA Nationals and their family members.
From what I understand, it is only valid if I, as an EEA national, make an application. But I suppose our situation, described above, is kind of a corner case and this Return Service might also be relevant for us. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance for any kind of reply and help!

[dan1988uk]

Hi there,

I have recently stumbled upon this forum and found it to be extremely helpful. I have browsed through many topics but couldn't find the answer to my unique question. Hope someone is there to help me!

I am a dual-citizenship owner EEA national (Italian and Turkish) and my wife is non-EEA (Turkish). We currently live in the Netherlands and we will move to UK in April, for my work purposes. My wife applied for the EEA Family permit today and we hope to have it in three weeks.

After we move to UK, we want to apply for the residence card for my wife as soon as possible. I have read from other topics that this application takes between 3 to 6 months on average. My questions are on this very subject - about the application.

1- I understand that my wife has to give her passport (to the Home Office (HO) as part of the residence card application process. Do I also have to give my passport as well?

Although I found this a little hard to believe at first sight, I have actually read that my passport should be included into the application package. Please find it on this link, on the fourth bullet: "your EEA family member’s valid passport or national identity card"
https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-a-uk-resid ... st-provide

Can someone with a similar experience confirm that this is the case? My work might require me visiting other European countries regularly. Considering that the application might take up to 6 months, this might create a problem for me. In addition, I won't have a national identity card by the time we make the application.

2- During the waiting period for the residence card application's answer, we actually have pre-planned travel plans to Turkey. Can my wife ask for her passport back (and in case the answer is yes to my first question - me) - so that she can travel back and forth. Assuming (hoping!) she will get her family permit without any problems, she will have a family permit to enter the UK, I suppose.

Again, I have read in other topics that this is possible and it does *not* affect the outcome of the application. Can someone confirm this and give more info on the specifics of this "document return", if possible?

3- I have read that the European Passport Return service is also a possibility for EEA Nationals and their family members.
From what I understand, it is only valid if I, as an EEA national, make an application. But I suppose our situation, described above, is kind of a corner case and this Return Service might also be relevant for us. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance for any kind of reply and help!

If you apply only for her Residence Card you can not use the European Passport Return Service and you MUST submit both your passport and her passport. If you apply for a Registration certificate for you, you can add your wife and apply together using the EPRS and have both your passports checked and given back immediately so you can leave the country while the application is processing as long as her Family permit is not expired. Anyway is really unlikely that you can apply immediately for anything because you need to show to Home Office that you are a qualified person so you need to provide them at least 2 or 3 payslips.

[yesindeed]

Thanks for the quick response dan1988uk.

I have come upon the actual EEA2 application form and on it there actually is an option for us to not submit my passport. You can choose NO and state a reason to why not. Would you say this could affect the outcome of my wife's residence application? I guess it's favorable not to pick NO (and submit the document) unless you really really have to have it with you.

I also could submit a certified copy of my passport. I'm not sure whether that's a valid option, though.
Any thoughts?

[dan1988uk]

Thanks for the quick response dan1988uk.

I have come upon the actual EEA2 application form and on it there actually is an option for us to not submit my passport. You can choose NO and state a reason to why not. Would you say this could affect the outcome of my wife's residence application? I guess it's favorable not to pick NO (and submit the document) unless you really really have to have it with you.

I also could submit a certified copy of my passport. I'm not sure whether that's a valid option, though.
Any thoughts?

All the people that I know who didn’t submit the original have seen their applications refused.

[yesindeed]

Hmm, I understand. Thanks.

What about the request for document return? Do you have any information on that?
I suppose you can ask for the return of documents for "business travel" reasons. Do you need to hand it in again when you are finished with your travels?

Thank you for your replies, by the way. It really helps.

[dan1988uk]

Hmm, I understand. Thanks.

What about the request for document return? Do you have any information on that?
I suppose you can ask for the return of documents for "business travel" reasons. Do you need to hand it in again when you are finished with your travels?

Thank you for your replies, by the way. It really helps.

You can request passports back at least 10 days after your application, then you will receive them in usually 10-15 days, but why you don’t want to use the EPRS?

[yesindeed]

I'm confused now.

I understand that we couldn't use the EPRS (European Passport Return Service) for my wife's residence application (EEA2) since I am *not* the person who's making the application. To be able to use EPRS, there must be an application under my name.

I can apply for the Residence Certificate (RC) for myself. Do you think we can "add" my wife's EEA2 residence application into my RC application? I thought these are two different things and thus cannot be "combined" into one.

Because if they can be "combined" in some way, then BOTH of us would be able to request our passports back (via EPRS) and hence go on to our vacation without any problems.

[dan1988uk]

I'm confused now.

I understand that we couldn't use the EPRS (European Passport Return Service) for my wife's residence application (EEA2) since I am *not* the person who's making the application. To be able to use EPRS, there must be an application under my name.

I can apply for the Residence Certificate (RC) for myself. Do you think we can "add" my wife's EEA2 residence application into my RC application? I thought these are two different things and thus cannot be "combined" into one.

Because if they can be "combined" in some way, then BOTH of us would be able to request our passports back (via EPRS) and hence go on to our vacation without any problems.

I quote my first post to your question:

"If you apply only for her Residence Card you can not use the European Passport Return Service and you MUST submit both your passport and her passport. If you apply for a Registration certificate for you, you can add your wife and apply together using the EPRS and have both your passports checked and given back immediately so you can leave the country while the application is processing as long as her Family permit is not expired. Anyway is really unlikely that you can apply immediately for anything because you need to show to Home Office that you are a qualified person so you need to provide them at least 2 or 3 payslips."

[yesindeed]

Oh, sorry apparently I misunderstood what you mean there.

On the page of the Registration certificate, it clearly says at the end:

https://visas-immigration.service.gov.uk/product/eea-qp

By completing this form, you and any dependants will only be considered for EEA (QP) - Registration Certificate (EEA or Swiss National). You will not be considered for any other type of leave to remain. You must use a different form if you want to stay for another reason.

To me, this doesn't imply that we can combine two applications together.
I tried to find another source that states it is possible, but couldn't. Do you happen to have a link?

Thanks so much!

[yesindeed]

I think I found a very close one - application for the extended family member.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... rm-eea-efm

Still searching for the "spouse" one...

[dan1988uk]

I think I found a very close one - application for the extended family member.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... rm-eea-efm

Still searching for the "spouse" one...

These are the paper forms, for the EPRS you need to use the online form: https://visas-immigration.service.gov.uk/product/eea-qp

[yesindeed]

Thanks!