Lorand

Hello all,
My name is Lorand and I have been looking for some decent information regarding EEA Family Permits. I will share my story so you have some facts and information about the situation and hopefully someone out there went through this situation and can help with information. Thank you in advance!

Am a citizen of Romania and in 2013 I came to UK (England) with work. I worked in the UK since 2013 until 2016. During this time I met my wife who is not in the UK, so in 2016 end of June I left the UK and moved to Trinidad and Tobago where we got married. I met her at the beginning of 2015, then in July 2015 I went to visit her over there, In December she came to Europe to visit me and then finally in July 2016 we got married in Trinidad and Tobago where we were thinking to settle down. Things did not go as planned and we decided to move across to Europe. We came in July 2017 on holiday to Europe and when holidays were done she returned to Trinidad and Tobago in August. In September 22 I moved to UK and we intend to move in together over here. Now I want to know how difficult it is going to be and where should we focus our resources and what documents should we put together.

Story Timeline:
Sep 2013: I moved from Romania to UK (England) and started work.
Jan 2015: I met my wife (She was not in the UK)
Jul 2015: I visited her in Trinidad and Tobago.
Dec 2015: She visited me in the UK.
Jul 2016: I left the UK and got married in Trinidad and Tobago.
Sep 2017: I came back to the UK.

Present:
I currently live at some friends until I am going to get my own place. We share house. I had some interviews so far and should start work soon as well.
My wife is in Trinidad and Tobago until we know exactly what steps to take.

I see the Family Permit is either for 5 years or 6 months depending where the NON-EU citizen applies from. So my question is, should she come to the UK first or should she apply from over there ? From what I read she wouldn't need a visa for 6 months if she is visiting me, so maybe she should come visit and we apply from within the UK ?

How hard is to get her the Family Permit considering I just arrived in the UK almost a month ago? We are looking to move together over here somewhere next year, preferably as early as possible but depends also on the requirements I have to meet. (Job status, finance, house etc.) I see in order to apply for the Family Permit we also must submit a joint application for residency for me. What are the requirements for me to get the residency?

Is it better to apply ourselves online or we should have an immigration specialist apply for us ? (Which would cost extra money)

Any info would be appreciated and if you have more questions about this feel free to ask.

Thanks a lot!

BritInParis

- Your wife should apply for her EEA Family Permit from Trinidad and Tobago.
- If you arrived less than three months ago then you do not need to be in work when she applies.
- If you want to wait until you have found work and sorted yourself out with your own accommodation then that's perfectly acceptable as well.
- You don't need to make a EEA residence certificate application - in fact UKVI have now removed this option as they were being inundated with applications due to the Brexit vote.
- An EEA Family Permit is probably the easiest UK immigration application you can make. You won't need the services of an immigration specialist.

Lorand

I appreciate the answers, thanks. Was getting hopeless here.

It does seem quite easy to apply for it, we just didn't know the exact steps to take. Thanks for clarifying things. Will get back if need more info.

Cheers!

Lorand

Update:

My wife applied for the Permit back in January and she applied for it to be valid from April+ as we weren't sure how long it would take to get it. It wasn't so bad, it took about 2-3 weeks so much better than all the horror stories you get to read online.

Question again for you BritInParis:
1. Do we apply for the 5 year permit right away after she arrives or it must be done some time before the 6 month permit expires ?
2. Is she able to work with the 6 month permit or only after she gets the 5 year one ?

Cheers!

BritInParis

1. You don’t “need” to do it at all but as soon as possible is preferable to enable your wife to travel abroad after her EEA Family Permit has expired.

2. She can work with both however the latter is obviously preferable for employers so again it is wise to obtain this as soon as possible.

Lorand

Alright, cool.

And one more thing, how long do you think it takes here in UK to get the 5 year permit usually ? I know it might be situational and time might vary, but if you got an idea about the time frame it would help. I am asking because we going on holidays on the 1st of June until the 8th and I wonder if she would get her passport back by June if we apply at the end of April.

Thanks for information!

BritInParis

Legally it’s a maximum of six months. Anecdotally the last time I checked it was three to four months.

Lorand

Ah ok, so it makes sense to apply after we come back from holidays.

Thanks again! I'll update topic once we go through next phase so others in same situation will know from my experience.

Have a great weekend, whatever it's left of it.