European Economic Area Family Permit
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A European Economic Area Family Permit (short: EEA family permit) is an immigration document that permits the holder to enter the United Kingdom as the dependant of a citizen of the European Economic Area (EEA). The documents are not conventionally visas as they are issued under the authority of free movement provisions of the Treaty of Rome and European Law rather than domestic United Kingdom immigration regulations. Additionally, dependants of citizens of Switzerland can also apply for this document although Switzerland is not a member of the EEA. A family permit can be issued for both a short term visit and/or to enable to holder to take up residence in the UK. As the documents are only valid for six months a person seeking to remain in the UK will need to apply for residence documentation from the Border and Immigration Agency.
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[edit] Legal framework
The framework for the issue of an EEA family permit is defined in the "Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 29 April 2004 on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States" [1] This directive defines the right of free movement of EU citizens, which is one of the Four Freedoms (European Union) and enshrined in the Treaty of Rome. The directive has been incorporated in UK legislation by the The Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 (see EEA Regulations (UK)).
[edit] Application
EEA Family Permits are now only available from Entry Clearance Issuing Posts (typically Embassies and/or Consulates) outside the UK[2] and are issued for six months at a time. Family Permits are no longer issued within the United Kingdom as this document has been replaced by a new form called Residence Documentation, which was introduced in October 2006. Applications for residence documentation are made to the Border and Immigration Agency [3]. Applications are free of charge.
In October 2007, the Home Office has produced a new form [4] for the application. It is 17 pages long and asks several rather personal questions. If you fill out this form, it is worth remembering that you do not have to volunteer all the information it asks for. In a simple situation (married couple, the EEA national is working) you only have to show that
- you are married and living together as a couple,
- you have enough money to support yourself (about 1000 GBP per month for two people),
- you have suitable accommodation,
- you are not a danger to public order (it is questionable whether you have to prove this, but you should answer the relevant questions).
So for example if one spouse has a job with sufficient income, you do not have to provide details on other sources of income (savings, second job, job of the other spouse). You can also ignore questions to which you cannot reasonably be expected to know the answer, for example the details of your previous passports, or your travel history for the last 10 years. Just make sure that you give no false evidence, so mark clearly the questions that you cannot answer.
Since the form is new, there is no experience yet concerning how the applications are handled. If you apply, please state your results on the discussion page.
[edit] Conditions of issue
Datailed information for applicants is available on the UKvisas website [5] but in essence family permits will be issued if the applicant is the spouse, civil partner or dependant child of an EEA national and they will be travelling to the UK with that person. There are also requirements connected to the need for the EEA person to be economically active and for the family unit not to fall dependant on Public Funds whilst in the United Kingdom.
