my friends wife is coming over to uk next month on eea family permit,,,i cannot remember if she needs a retun ticket or a single ticket,,,,she has her eea permit issued by uk embassy allready.....so he wants to know does he need to buy her a return or just a single.....

also any good travel operators in bangkok or pattaya or even uk where he can get a decent priced ticket for her to fly end of august or 1st week in sept,,,,,

many thanks

Simple if she has to go home some time , Yes she needs a return tkt . Many people have been turned around and put back on the plane because they do not have a return tkt.

she will not be returning home anytime,,,do u understand eea family permit rules before posting? i understand and thankyou for your help but she is on an ea family permit to uk and she plans to get her resident card as soon as she lands in england..............

As she is coming to the UK for a settled purpose, i.e. to live, she does not need a return ticket.

You actually don't need a return visit just proof you have the funds for the onward journey.

It does cause chaos at check in and at Manchester but in this case she is settling in the UK.

she plans to get her resident card as soon as she lands in england..............

I'm not totally up to speed on the EEA rules, but don't EEA family permit holders have to be resident for 6 months before they can apply for a 5 year residence card?

Yes they must apply within that window.

Sorry, TVE, but do you mean that they can apply any time between first arriving and 6 months, or they cannot apply until they have been in the UK for 6 months.

Sorry to be so thick!

You actually don't need a return visit just proof you have the funds for the onward journey.

It does cause chaos at check in and at Manchester but in this case she is settling in the UK.

hi,,,please can you tell me more about the funds she needs for onward journey,,she has something like 30-000 baht with her when she arrives in uk...her husband also has a good chunk of funds to prove....and am i correct that she needs to apply asap for her resident stamp ? my own wife came on eea but i forget how it all goes now sorry...

thankyou in advance

If she is coming to settle she does not need an onward ticket nor the funds to purchase one.

TVE was referring to visitors who do not have a return ticket; they may need to show immigration that they have the funds to purchase one. Those arriving for settlement don't.

Requirements for Residence Card applications are as follows:

"1.7 Qualifying for a residence card

Before a residence card is issued the applicant must produce the following:

• A valid passport, or, where this is unavailable, a Home Office issued identity

document, such as an ARC card, as evidence of his/her own identity.

• The valid passport or national identity card of the EEA national family member.

• Evidence of his/her relationship to the EEA sponsor. For example, a spouse

should produce a marriage certificate, a civil partner a civil partnership

certificate, for a child a full birth certificate should be produced which names the

parent(s), for an unmarried partner proof that they have lived together for 2

years.

• Evidence that the EEA national family member is exercising a Treaty right in the

UK.

Applications for residence cards by family members may be accompanied by an

application for a registration certificate from the EEA sponsor, or the EEA sponsor may

already have been issued with a registration certificate. However, there is no

requirement for the EEA sponsor to have either applied for or been issued with a

registration certificate before a residence card is issued."

A few payslips from the EEA sponsor or family member should suffice to indicate that they are exercising their treaty rights. (Or college enrolment and attendance details, for example). They don't have to wait until the imminent expiry of the 6-month Permit.

She may apply anytime within the 6 month window before expiry of that visa.

She then receives a 5 year residence card.

It's not a visa, it's a family permit and, correct me if I'm wrong, there is nothing in the regulations preventing an application for a residence card after its expiry. In fact someone entering on a family permit or as a dependent of an EEA national exercising their treaty rights is not required to apply for a card and may remain without further ado. The card is simply to facilitate employment and travel and confers nothing in itself.

It's not a visa, it's a family permit and, correct me if I'm wrong, there is nothing in the regulations preventing an application for a residence card after its expiry. In fact someone entering on a family permit or as a dependent of an EEA national exercising their treaty rights is not required to apply for a card and may remain without further ado. The card is simply to facilitate employment and travel and confers nothing in itself.

All perfectly true, but in practice your last sentence illustrates why possession of a residence card is de rigueur except maybe for a privileged few who don't need to work or access public services, and they would probably want to travel frequently anyway. Also, a non-EU family member would be rather more vulnerable to enforcement action if the relationship finished and the only document they could produce when encountered was a passport with an expired family permit - in fact I vaguely remember the odd case or two.... But if they're holding a residence card, it's a brave call to try and arrest them for anything.

Thanks, Eff1n2ret and TVE, for the clarification.