EEC-1 form

I just wanted to find out if anyone has experience with this situation or can make me feel less nervous about it!!

My partner is Swedish and I am American. We met in May 2003 and in August 2003 started traveling to be together and essentially living in hotels together. As he traveled so much for work and I was quite flexible, it wasn't too difficult. I was finally able to leave my job in February 2004 and we moved to Germany to live in an actual apartment together. As I knew that we would be traveling back and forth to the US, I remained on a tourist visa and had no problems. In August of 2004 we moved to Sweden and my visa was extended to December 2004 by immigration there. We moved again in October 2004, to Vienna (nothing covert, just moving for my partner's job!!) and was told by immigration there that I was fine, nothing to worry about!! So we continued to travel to and from the U.S. and other places in Europe...no problems. In March 2005, my partner got a job in the UK and we moved...again!! When I entered on April 1, I got a 6 month stamp as a visitor. We traveled to and from England 3 times (Spain, U.S. and Korea) since we have been here and I got restamped for 6 months each time. Never a problem... The last time I came in when I went through passport control I simply told them that we would be sending in our passports for residence stamps and that was fine.

Ok...so my partner called the Home Office in August and told them all of the details and they said to fill out the
EEC-1 form because he is an EU citizen and I am not and we will get residence stamps, though he actually doesn't need one, but I guess it just makes things easier. We reconfirmed with the Home Office twice that this was the right form and was reassured it was. So we gathered as much information as we could since we were filing as Unmarried Partners and sent it off. Our first real proof of living together is from February 2004, but there are many obvious passport stamps of our time together before that as well as a letter from a "professional" who happens to be an influential UK business exec (blah blah blah) that is a close friend and was there when we met. He also happens to be my partner's boss. We have leased an apartment here and it has both of our names on it, as well as all of the bills. We intend to stay and I think it seems obvious from our documents.

So, all that said (sorry about the lengthy details), we sent in September, received the letter that it was in process and we are waiting!!! I can't help but be anxious about it, because our situation doesn't seem very straight forward, but from reading others, not many situations are. I have also noticed now that they have stopped using the EEC-1 form. So that has added to my anxiety.

Any words of comfort or thoughts on what to expect. My partner isn't worried at all, but I just can't help it!

Thank you!!!

Pamela

Based upon what you've described, they will probably put a "documentation needed" buckslip on your application and pass it on to a more senior caseworker.  Beyond that, it all seems very straight-forward.  I don't see where stress about it would be justified unless it's just the normal stress that goes along with anything having to do with an application to IND.  Your partner is exercising treaty rights, correct?

Eventually, the caseworker may get around to sending you a letter about the "documentation needed" part, so don't change your address.  Other than that, it's fine.

Your partner is exercising treaty rights, correct?

Sorry to sound ignorant, but I am not sure what "treaty rights" are. Does this refer to him being an EU citizen and having the right to live and work anywhere in the EU?

As far as the documentation needed, do you think that they will ask for more information regarding the period between August 2003 and February 2004, when we were living "together" but not settled into an apartment or house together?

I think my stress is just the regular stress of dealing with the IND. Also, I haven't been able to work so I have plenty of time on my hands to think of these things! 

Thank you so much for your help!

He is excercising his treay rights if he is living and either working/studying in the UK.  You will need to prove this.

I am a bit confused about the period of time you were living 'together' but not settled into a home together.  Were you living together or were you not?


Victoria

We did prove his treaty rights with information from his employer. Also, we sent in documentation from February 2004 to present.

In August 2003, he gave up his apartment in Sweden and "moved in" with his parents, and I did the same in the U.S. but moved my things to a friends. We spent the next 6 months traveling back and forth to be with each other. As I said, I wasn't able to leave my job right away and had to wait until I was replaced. This took until February. In the meantime, we essentially lived in hotels and traveled to be together, waiting until I could leave Los Angeles permanently. I know this information makes the "living together for 2 years" a bit confusing, but I feel like we have given so much proof of our time together from February onward, that it might be inconsequential. Also, with the long processing times, I have a feeling our application will be processed very close to February 2006, meaning by then we will have established, with very clear documentation, that we have been living in one place together for over 2 years. Finally, if someone were to look at are passports and see the coinciding dates of our travels, it would be evident that we were either together or coincidently in the same places at the same time.

So, should I be worried?

I wouldn't be worried exactly, but stamps on your passports to prove that you were travelling together won't really count for anything, and even if the documents for the second year are perfect they will still need documents form the first year.


Victoria

Thank you for the info. I guess now we can just wait and see. Hopefully a year and 10 months of clear documentation will suffice. Also, I suppose the longer it takes to process, the closer we are to officially having 2 years of documention!

So, as I was told to expect, I received a letter asking us for more information, including photographs, travel documents, and anything further to prove the length of our relationship. Also, they asked me to write a statement of how long we have known each other and how we met. Peter did this with the original application, but I did not.

We have contacted the airlines to try and get copies of their records for flights we either took together or took to be with each other. We have also found copies of the receipts of hotels we stayed in together, but they all just have Peter's name on them. We have photos of us with my neice when she was a baby and pictures of her at 3 years old, and seperate pictures of us with Peter's parents and my parents. A lot of the pictures are digital and have dates connected to their digital file. I don't think I can get these to print on the photo itself, but I could probably do a sheet with thumbnails of the pictures and a list of their file details which would indicate their dates. Would this be advisable? Finally, is it possible that they would bring us in for an interview? We are working very hard to get enough details to prove that we have been together for over 2 years, but having moved so many times, we just don't have all the little bits that they need to prove it.

I am quite stressed about this, but I guess all we can do is scrape together what we can and hope... I am not sure what the alternatives will be if they decide we don't have enough information for them. It is crazy, we are both in our mid 30s, Peter has a very stable income, and we want to be together forever. We met through a mutual friend over 2 1/2 years ago and have been together ever since.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Just curious, when you were in Sweden, were you on a tourist visa or had you applied to be allowed entry into the country for the purposes of your relationship and you were here on what's called  a UT?  We've been in touch before, I think, I'm an American getting ready to move to the UK and married to a Swede, but I will have my Swedish citizenship by the time I move.

I was in Sweden on an extended tourist visa.