UK residence of an EU citizen

[Finchatton]

My (unmarried) partner, who sponsored my FLR(M) in 2015, is an EU national. She has lived in the UK for 10 years consecutively. I have lived in the UK with her in our own flat for 6 years consecutively through student visas and the FLR(M) visa.

In 2015 when we applied for my initial FLR(M) visa we proved her uninterrupted UK residence through tenancy agreements, bills, and employment records. She has not applied for a residency permit at any point.

Now I need to extend my FLR(M) visa and we are more or less looking at the same application as we did in 2015. We noticed this time around that the guidance notes say that the sponsor of my visa, if they are from the EEA, must provide their UK residency permit.

My question is this: Does anyone know if we apply with the same strategy we used in 2015 by proving her residence with tenancy, bills, and employment (all three are the same as they were in 2015), if that will suffice in the eyes of HO decision makers?

In other words, does she absolutely need a UK residency permit in order to sponsor my visa? The guidance notes seem to suggest yes.

I understand that her getting a residency permit is relatively cheap and easy (compared to the visa), but we've boxed ourselves in with a time constraint and I want to know if we can extend my visa without her getting the residency permit. Thanks to anyone that helps!

[CR001]

How did you apply for FLR(M) if your partner is an EU citizen (non Bitish)??

Is your partner dual British and other EU citizen?

[Finchatton]

Cr001

I applied as an unmarried partner/spouse of a settled resident through FLR(M). The requirement was that we had at least two years of living together with joint responsibility in an honest and provable relationship. Your question unnerved me a bit as it suggests that was incorrect. Alas, it went through with no issues.

In 2015 we only need to prove that she was settled in the UK for five previous years through her housing agreements, work history, and bills, ect.

Now as I prepare to extend, it appears that she would need a PR card as proof of residency as opposed to what we did in 2015.

She is sole national of an EU country but has lived in the UK for all of the past 10 years.

[Obie]

Statement of Change HC 535, make it a requirement for PR card to be held for EEA national or their family members sponsoring non-EEA nationals.

There was a period of 7 months window to enable the EEA national to apply for the documents. The Home Office therefore made no transitional provisions for people in your case.

It is over 2 and a half years ago since people were informed of the changes in HC535.

[New on forum]

Statement of Change HC 535, make it a requirement for PR card to be held for EEA national or their family members sponsoring non-EEA nationals.

There was a period of 7 months window to enable the EEA national to apply for the documents. The Home Office therefore made no transitional provisions for people in your case.

It is over 2 and a half years ago since people were informed of the changes in HC535.

I wonder if Ops sponsor is an Irish citizen.

[Obie]

If he had to provide what he provided with the 2015 application, chances are his partner is not Irish as it would not have been necessary for him to provide what he provided.

[New on forum]

If he had to provide what he provided with the 2015 application, chances are his partner is not Irish as it would not have been necessary for him to provide what he provided.

Agree

[Finchatton]

Obie, you were both very helpful and correct by providing Statement of Change HC 535. I read it, and it answered my question perfectly.

Unfortunately, the answer is that this requirement has changed. It was made more rigid and objective. She needs to have a residency document/card in order to sponsor a partner. Clear and definite.

Continental European, not Irish.

Thank you guys for your time and help on this question.

One final thought I wanted to bring attention to:
Whilst one should always be aware of the regulations and changes of a country's immigration policy, especially when involved in the immigration system themselves, I wonder how much prudence is required to prevent being caught out.

You are told to apply no sooner than 28 days from expiry. We went over the application a few months ago and made sure that there were no major changes. I started preparing in-depth 6 weeks before expiry. I noticed the wrinkle this thread discussed about 5 weeks from expiry. It seems that applying and receiving a residency card is taking roughly 3 months. So, my partner and I would have had to recognise the need for her to get the residency card 4 months from expiry. Maybe I was naive and made poor assumptions, but I did not prepare in-depth or early enough to avoid this problem.

Now my partner is urgently applying for residency document, and in all likelihood will receive it after my visa expires.

Is there any advice that can be given as to what I should do before or when my visa expires? I have 2 ideas.

1) I could wait until her permit is successful and apply, but that would mean working past my visa limits.

or

2) I could apply knowing that we don't meet this requirement and hope that they ask for additional information, therefore prolonging the application. (am I right to assume that my visa conditions can extend beyond my expiry date as long as an extension application is in process?)