Bad Experience Coming back after Christmas without UK Resident Card

Hi all,

Previously, I've posted a few emails about my experience in returning to the UK with a still valid UK residence card, which I received due to my wife being an EEA citizen.

That card expired at the end of September and so I applied for another one. Normally, one would apply for ILR at this point, but as we were out of the UK for nearly 4 years, my 5 years towards ILR started over.

In case some of you don't know, a UK residence card is not obligatory to get, it merely confirms one's right to live and work in the UK as a spouse of a EEA citizen exercising their rights in the UK. However, if you don't have one, how can you prove you are entitled to live and work here?

So, after applying for my 2nd residence card, waiting 8 weeks and calling them repeatedly and getting no clear answers from them, I got a refusal letter. The reason: I forgot to sign the payment form (£65 for this application)! A silly school boy error!

I called them and said that we are going to Norway for Christmas, there's not enough time to apply for another one. They said all I need to have on returning, is proof of my wife's job in the UK, proof of marriage and proof that we live here.

When we arrive back at Heathrow on 29 Dec, we had all the paperwork ready and guess what? The agent didn't look at, didn't even want to look at it. All she kept doing was flipping through my password repeating "Where's your endorsement, you need an endorsement"?

I kept trying to tell her, that I do not need an endorsement, European law is quite clear. I told her I had all the relevant documentation with me that was required, but she refused to look at it. She seemed offended at what I saw saying and barely looked at me in the eyes.

She had us then (she gave the wife and toddler the option of leaving me or not) sit in the little quarantine area and we were there for about 20 minutes. At this point, I was weak from the adrenaline rush and my hands were shaking.

She came back, led us over to another counter, and said, "fill out this boarding card." I said "that under European law, I am not to fill one out, but need to be treated as a European citizen. I have all the paperwork that the gov.uk website and the visas and immigration office told me to have". She cut me off, didn't want to hear it, refused to look at the paperwork. With shaky hands I struggled my way through the landing card. Where it said 'Length of Stay in the UK' I wrote 20 years.

I was not rude to this agent, I merely calmly yet asserted my rights but she didn't care. I asked for her name or badge number and she merely said curtly "what for"? I said "well, it's common to always get the name of a person at a company or agency that one deals with." She wouldn't give it. I asked to speak to her manager and she pointed "that door over there."

She then stamped my passport with a stamp which said (6 months to do paperwork) which was hand written in. Under European law my passport is not to stamped either but at this point I didn't say anything. I wished her a "Happy New Year" which she didn't respond to and I went over to the door she had pointed out.

My wife and all then explained the situation to the manager, how I forgot to sign the payment form but had all the paperwork to show that we are indeed working and living here and European rights are being exercised.

It was a pleasant few minute conversation with the manager who apologised for the agents behaviour and said very diplomatically "Some of our agents are better communicators than others." That told me a lot. Apparently, the agent had seen on the computer that my residence card visa had been refused (not sure if the simple payment oversight reason had been seen as well) but she apologised and agreed that since the residence card was not a visa and it was not required, and that we had all the appropriate paperwork with us, she should not have done what she did. I didn't ask her to retract the stamp and the landing card, perhaps I should have, but at this point, we just wanted to get out of there and get home.

I am thinking of writing my MP and MEP, but not sure if that will actually do any good. My next application is now in process and I know that the £65 fee has this time been taken.

 Moral of the story: That card may be non obligatory, but without it, your life could be made hell by ignorant or power hungry border agents!

Oh man, that's awful!

Glad you at least had a decent conversation with the manger.

I travel back and forth between the UK and NL a lot for work.
I always fill in a landing card and get a stamp (both UK and NL).
Should I not?
I'm married to a UK citizen on a spousal visa. Should I also get a card or is that only for spouses of EU citizens (that are not British?).

Also, I wonder why the landing card and stamp upsets you so much? Not to belittle your experience or minimize the mistake of the officer but is there any adverse effects of a landing card/stamp?

Thanks for the insight.
Best,
Aimee

Hi Californiaguy,

That's terrible. I popped in and out of the UK on business while while waiting for my first residence card. Short of my US Passport and the letter from the home office I didn't have any valid entry documents. I knew it was going to be a pain getting back in through Heathrow and was even stopped in Frankfurt en route and questioned about not having a visa.

Sure enough I was thrown into quarantine at Heathrow. The boarder guard was a least receptive to my plight and left his post to do the necessary checks. After being told off about not having the residence card he let me on my way. This is when UKBA was all over the news for not being fit for purpose so I smugly informed him that its not realistic to penalize business and employees because it takes six months to process a straight forward application. I had work I needed to do. I thanked him and went on my way.

He was only doing his job and I'm happy for it. It's what we'd expect at our borders right? Needless to say, I can certainly empathize with you. It doesn't sound like your agent was completely on the ball. Being completely out of control and at the mercy of a border agent, even if for just 20 minutes, can be a little traumatic. On a related note, I've had a look at vacancies for these agents and unsurprisingly they are not paid exceptionally well for the job they are tasked with. I can only imagine some of the 'stuff' they have to put up with both from the public and their own agency. Not an excuse though.

I travel back and forth between the UK and NL a lot for work.
I always fill in a landing card and get a stamp (both UK and NL).
Should I not?
I'm married to a UK citizen on a spousal visa. Should I also get a card or is that only for spouses of EU citizens (that are not British?).

Also, I wonder why the landing card and stamp upsets you so much? Not to belittle your experience or minimize the mistake of the officer but is there any adverse effects of a landing card/stamp?

Thanks for the insight.
Best,
Aimee

As you are married to a UK citizen, you are not treated as an EU resident (a spouse of an EU citizen is treated much better in the UK than the spouse of a UK citizen.  For example, a 5 year visa for an EU citizen's spouse costs £65).  As an EU resident spouse, they are not supposed to fill out a landing card or have their passport stamped, same as if they themselves were an EU citizen.  I think the OP is upset as the IO was disregarding the laws that are in place for free movement within the EU and refused to acknowledge that he knew the correct process to follow.

Plus traveling with a toddler makes immigration check points fun at the best of times!   

As you are married to a UK citizen, you are not treated as an EU resident (a spouse of an EU citizen is treated much better in the UK than the spouse of a UK citizen.  For example, a 5 year visa for an EU citizen's spouse costs £65).  As an EU resident spouse, they are not supposed to fill out a landing card or have their passport stamped, same as if they themselves were an EU citizen.  I think the OP is upset as the IO was disregarding the laws that are in place for free movement within the EU and refused to acknowledge that he knew the correct process to follow.

Plus traveling with a toddler makes immigration check points fun at the best of times!   

Exactly, you said what I was just about to say. In itself, there's nothing wrong with a stamp/landing card, but it's important that border staff obey the law, otherwise, things can get very messy.

As you are married to a UK citizen, you are not treated as an EU resident (a spouse of an EU citizen is treated much better in the UK than the spouse of a UK citizen.  For example, a 5 year visa for an EU citizen's spouse costs £65).  As an EU resident spouse, they are not supposed to fill out a landing card or have their passport stamped, same as if they themselves were an EU citizen.  I think the OP is upset as the IO was disregarding the laws that are in place for free movement within the EU and refused to acknowledge that he knew the correct process to follow.

Plus traveling with a toddler makes immigration check points fun at the best of times!   

A UK citizen and their spouse can be treated as EU/EEA citizens provided that they establish life in another EU/EEA country before moving back to the UK. This is an option that is still relatively unknown and of course the Border Force is not keen on people doing it!

Oh yes, it's a great option for people!  We have a couple of members on the board planning this route.  Now that the UK path is over £6k, I think we'll see a lot more people choosing this option.

The board? What board?

Some UK politicians say this is a loophole that needs to be shut down, but it's not, it's a fundamental piece of European law, which is also UK law.

The UK Yankee forum.  I tend to call it the board.  :p

It's not a loophole.  It's case law!

It's not a loophole. 

Absolutely.

So, would there be any point in writing my local MP or MEP about this or not?

So, would there be any point in writing my local MP or MEP about this or not?

Might depend on the MP.

I think it is worth it to advise people you know who can vote to choose to stay in the EU in the coming referendum.

I remember now that this if the way I came in the country, my wife is French and we lived in Prague for some years before moving to the UK.  It costs very little and was painless.  I just had to renew my visa a few times, then finally got an indefinite leave to remain. 

I've never even heard of the ID card that the OP speaks about and hope to never need one.  I usually fill in a card, never paid attention that they actually look at it.  I usually stand in the EU line if I am with my wife, the "other" line if I am by myself.  Whatever queue I pick, the border guards give me grief about it.  I never think twice about whether or not they stamp my passport as long as they let me in.  So far, it's always worked except when I was drunk on red wine and they made me sit on the naughty bench until I missed my train.




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I remember now that this if the way I came in the country, my wife is French and we lived in Prague for some years before moving to the UK.  It costs very little and was painless.  I just had to renew my visa a few times, then finally got an indefinite leave to remain. 

ILR? On the EU route of an EEA RC (which is not a visa)? Are you sure? Those under EU law get PR after they can prove 5 unbroken years as a qualified person.  Any reason why you haven't applied for British citizenship if you have that proof?

Many of those EEA citizens living in the UK for 20+ years and who think of the UK as their home, are now applying for British citizenship. PR is part of the EU directive and is dependent on the UK staying in the EU. An out vote would likely mean your stay in the UK would be based on what the UK will give as EU law will end. Not forgetting also that British citizenship is discretionary, not a right.

Don't forget that from November 2015, you must have a PR card now to apply for British citizenship and these seem to take months to get. Then after these  PR cards were made a requirement for citizenship, they announced they were bringing forward the Brexit vote forward to this spring/summer.