EEA family permit expired and my wife is abroad

[erikerxon]

Hello,

I am EU national and live in UK for 11y (I am self employed and never left country for longer than 1 month), my wife is USA national and lived in UK for 10y, we are married for 5 years and she was residing in UK on EEA Family permit. 1.5y ago she had to go back to USA to deal with some family issues. At the moment my wife is in USA and her family permit expired 4 months ago, now she is coming back in 2 months. So, my questions are: 1. what kind of visa does she have to apply for? 2. does she have to do it right now while she is still in USA or come to UK and then we will apply for it from UK? 3. Will she be able to enter country with expired EEA Family permit? Will it help if I will mail her our marriage certificate to have it with her on arrival?
What is the best way to be in this situation?

Thank you.

[vinny]

She may apply for another EEA family Permit or enter without one under 11(4), subject to evidence that she has an extended right of residence, i.e. is married to you and you are a qualified person or have PR.

Suggest she applies for confirmation of PR when she is in the UK.

[erikerxon]

thank you vinny for such prompt reply.
will she be able to work here with an expired family permit or she needs to apply for a new one?
in a few months time when online service will be open we will be applying for a settled status anyways.
and if to apply for a new EEA family permit, how to do that? I am so lost on gov.uk website. I keep clicking on links and it keeps taking me in circles. back in days we have found a form, mailed necessary documents and thats it, now as I understand it is done online, but I cant find the right link, even the link you have provided it is just information and no links to any forms or websites where to apply. I am totally lost in the abyss of information
or would it be smarter for her just to enter country under 11(4) and then wait for a few months jobless till we both can apply for settled status?

thank you once again for prompt replies.

[vinny]

Apply for all other visas? But note that ECO guidance is flawed with regards to EEA national’s PR. They expect you to show that you are a qualified person rather than PR.

However, as a non-visa national, she is also able to travel without an EEA family Permit. May have to spend more time with an Immigration Officer and provide more documents, when entering under 11(4j.

Employers may be reluctant to employ her without confirmation of right to work.

[erikerxon]

thank you very much for clarification.

bless you!

[Obie]

She may apply for another EEA family Permit or enter without one under 11(4), subject to evidence that she has an extended right of residence, i.e. is married to you and you are a qualified person or have PR.

Suggest she applies for confirmation of PR when she is in the UK.

I cannot see how she can qualify for PR, of their 5 years of marriage, she has been in America for 18 months.

[vinny]

Thanks, Obie. You are correct.

I had forgotten that she was absent for 18 months! Her continuity of residence was broken, unless she had acquired PR prior to leaving the UK.

What's her Immigration history?

[erikerxon]

history is: she arrived to UK to study. graduated. got post graduate visa, worked, then we got married almost 6yrs ago, then after being married for 4yrs she left o usa for 18m. she left to usa after being married to me for 4yrs and being in UK for over 10yrs in total.

i think best for us is to apply for EEA Family permit again and then after that apply for PR due to brexit (when it will be available in 6months or so). am i correct here or what can be done differently for best and less hassle outcome possible?

[Richard W]

i think best for us is to apply for EEA Family permit again and then after that apply for PR due to brexit (when it will be available in 6months or so). am i correct here or what can be done differently for best and less hassle outcome possible?

A family permit is applied for outside the UK and lasts for 6 months; its primary purpose is to allow someone to travel to the UK.

What I think you have meant when you wrote 'family permit' is residence card. An ordinary residence card (RC) is valid for 5 years; a non-EEA permanent residence gets a permanent residence card (PRC).

The simplest course is for her to fly to the UK as airlines don't demand visas of US citizens, and for you to meet her at the airport armed with a DCPR if you have one, and if not, evidence that you are self-employed. It would be good to have evidence of continuing contact during her absence from the UK. The risk is that Immigration Officer does not believe you have permanent residence (if you have no DCPR) and does not believe that you are self-employed, or decides that your marriage has become one of convenience. (The question should be whether it was one from the beginning, but one cannot rely on UKVI following a law the government has considered wrong.) Your wife could apply for a family permit in the US; that has a greater chance of being refused, but refusals do not incur the loss of a return airfare.

Once your wife has entered the UK, she should then apply for a residence card. Her prolonged absence has reset her PR clock, and this resetting also applies under the rules for settled status; her qualifying 5 years will start on her return to the UK.

[erikerxon]

thank you Richard, now I have a clear picture.
thank you all who have helped me.