Code 1a Stamp, EEAFP or EEA2?

Hello All,

I arrived in the UK in late September.  I am an American and my husband is German, coming here to Oxford for grad school, thus exercising his treaty rights.  I arrived on a Code 1A Stamp, with relatively little fuss or problem.  The IO was polite, friendly and had us on our way in no time at all.  In the mean time, I thought that since I had the stamp there was no need to apply for an EEAFP or an EEA2 as the Code 1A took care of what I needed.   

I went home for Christmas and when I came back on the same Code 1A, the IO made me feel like a serial killer for travelling on the Code 1A.  I didn't know I needed to apply for anything else.  She finally let me through but told me if I ever travelled on the stamp alone again, I would be detained and possibly sent back to the US. 

My questions now are:

1.  What should I apply for, EEAFP or EEA2?

2.  Does this application have to be made from outside the UK?  (she told me I needed to leave and go to Ireland, France, etc. as long as I wasn't in the UK, yet the UKBA website says this application may be made at any point during your stay in the UK).  I feel like there is or should only be one correct way of processing things, yet you get a completely different answer depending upon whom you ask at any given time. 

Thanks in advance for your time and responses, everyone!

Pam

1.  What should I apply for, EEAFP or EEA2?

The Code 1A stamp is only valid for entry into the UK to show that you have been granted permission to ENTER as the spouse of an EU citizen. However, both the EEA FP and the Code 1A stamp are only valid for 6 months, so once you are in the UK, you need to apply for a 5-year residence card (EEA2) as your evidence that you are legally living in the UK.

Once you have the EEA residence card, you can leave and re-enter the UK as much as you like, and you just show the card to UK immigration when you re-enter.

But if you leave the UK before you have the EEA2, you need to apply for the EEA FP card from abroad before re-entering... otherwise you can have trouble getting back in. You will need to do this every time you leave and re-enter the UK, if you don't have the EEA2 residence card.

So, you still need to apply for the EEA2 5-year residence card anyway, so that you have the evidence of legally living in the UK on a long-term basis and so that you don't have to apply for another EEA FP from abroad every time you leave the UK and want to re-enter.

2.  Does this application have to be made from outside the UK?  (she told me I needed to leave and go to Ireland, France, etc. as long as I wasn't in the UK, yet the UKBA website says this application may be made at any point during your stay in the UK).  I feel like there is or should only be one correct way of processing things, yet you get a completely different answer depending upon whom you ask at any given time.  

You make the EEA2 application from inside the UK. It can only be made in the UK and the application is not accepted anywhere else. You need to apply by post and it can take up to 6 months to be processed, but you can request your passport back while it is processing if you need it.

Or if you leave the UK when you don't have an EEA residence card, you will have to apply for an EEA FP from outside the UK... and then apply for the EEA2 in the UK when you get back.

hi i just read this thread and there is similar kind of problem is with my friend he is Pakistani and got married with a polish girl in Cyprus and he has been issued a residence card of non EU citizen family member of union citizen which is issued by CIVIL REGISTRY AND MIGRATION DEPARTMENT and it is on a yellow A4 size paper and on top rite corner there is a logo of EU. with this paper he travel from Germany to republic of Ireland with his wife and then from Ireland he travel to Gatwick London with his wife together and immigration officer didn't stamp code 1A stamp on his passport and let them enter UK. so this is the case and now i need some help.
1) can he apply for EEA 2?
2) can he work before he got eea2? if anyone offer him a job the employer is ok with that or is it illegal to employ him?
3) how long he can stay like this because his wife came to uk first time and need national insurance number to get job.

with this paper he travel from Germany to republic of Ireland with his wife and then from Ireland he travel to Gatwick London with his wife together and immigration officer didn't stamp code 1A stamp on his passport and let them enter UK. so this is the case and now i need some help.

Did he get any stamp at all in his passport?

If he wasn't given a Code 1A stamp, he's probably been stamped into the UK as a visitor, for 6 months only.

1) can he apply for EEA 2?

Yes, he can, even as a visitor.

2) can he work before he got eea2? if anyone offer him a job the employer is ok with that or is it illegal to employ him?

It depends.

If he had been given the Code 1A Stamp, he would be allowed to work, claim UK benefits and use the NHS for free.

If he is just in the UK as a visitor, it is illegal for him to work until he has the EEA2, which can take 6 months to be issued. He is also not allowed to use the NHS for free either and he cannot claim benefits.

3) how long he can stay like this because his wife came to uk first time and need national insurance number to get job.

If he is a visitor in the UK, then he must leave before the 6 months are up on his visitor visa, unless he applies for the EEA2 before then. Once he has applied for EEA2, his visitor visa status will be extended until the EEA2 has been processed.

But I seen his passport myself and the is no entry or 1A STAMP there is no stamp at all

Ah, I've just realised he came in from Ireland and there are no immigration controls between Ireland and the UK... So there was no way he could get a Code 1A stamp or a visitor visa for the UK. Instead he probably has an Irish visitor visa stamp valid for 3 months?

To be honest it might be worth him leaving the UK, doing a channel hop and asking if they can give him the Code 1A stamp (or applying for an EEA family permit before coming back in). Then he can start working in the UK right away and still apply for the EEA2.


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He will need to show evidence that he meets all the requirements for the Code 1A stamp though... That he is married to an EEA citizen and they are exercising their treaty rights in the UK.


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The best bet (in my opinion) would be for him to remain in the UK and apply for the EEA2 permit.  While his rights aren't dependent on the residence card, they are MUCH easier to prove once he has it.  This will make it easier to get a NIN, register with the NHS (if his partner is a worker), and come and go.  It isn't illegal for him to work, however it will be extremely difficult to prove his right to work.  Once he has applied and received a Certificate of Application, he can then register for a National Insurance Number and then begin to work.  The application is fairly straightforward and costs £55 for each family member requesting a residence card.  If he has already been provided with a residence card from another EU country, it can help to show his rights have been recognised before, but he will still have to prove his relationship to his EU wife and prove her right to be here. 

There must be some sort of immigration stamp from the Republic of Ireland and if he has kept his boarding passes from all the flights, this will help establish how he came to be in the UK. 

ksand24, he'll still have to have all his documentation regarding his wife's residence in the UK if he hops the border, and he'll have to apply anyway, so it may be much less costly for him for remain here. 

  Hello To everyone
Could somebody tell me, applying for eea2 (I have code A1) do we have to answer all the questions in the application ?
 Did somebody have any problems getting a job on code A1?
 Thank you

  Hello To everyone
Could somebody tell me, applying for eea2 (I have code A1) do we have to answer all the questions in the application ?
 Did somebody have any problems getting a job on code A1?
 Thank you

Yes, you do have to answer all the questions - provided they are relevant to you (i.e. Section 5 won't apply unless you are a Surinder Singh case, from Section 6 onwards, you only answer the questions/sections that apply to your partner's situation).

What questions are you concerned about?

The only criteria that you have to meet are:

- you are the family member of an EEA citizen

- the EEA citizen is exercising EEA treaty rights in the UK.

You automatically have the right to the EEA2 anyway, just as you have the right to live and work in the UK, whether you have Code 1A or not - the issue is proving that right (which may be awkward with the Code 1A stamp).