How Long Can An Eea Family Member Stay Out Of Uk

[dmax]

how long can my wife stay out of the uk for ? we will be in thailand a total of 94 days..she is on eea family permit visa and has got her 5 yr resident stamp.. i hope she is not going to have a problem with her visa when she goes back home or the uk border revoke it.

[londonthai]

if she already has residency card than she is not entering on the family permit.

anyway, any of them doesn't require to stay in the uk for any time - she is free to travel and stay out the uk

[mrbojangles]

My wife was on a 5 yr EEA family permit in the UK. I moved out to Saudi Arabia 1 1/2 years ago and my wife joined me out here 10 months ago. We travelled back to the UK in November for 2 weeks, so she hadn't been back to the UK for 9 months and we had no problems.

[7by7]

To retain their residency, an EEA national or family member of same needs to maintain continuous residence in the UK.

Continuity of residence

3. —(1) This regulation applies for the purpose of calculating periods of continuous residence in the United Kingdom under regulation 5(1) and regulation 15.

(2) Continuity of residence is not affected by —

• (a) periods of absence from the United Kingdom which do not exceed six months in total in any year;
  (b ) periods of absence from the United Kingdom on military service; or
  (c ) any one absence from the United Kingdom not exceeding twelve months for an important reason such as pregnancy and childbirth, serious illness, study or vocational training or an overseas posting

After living in the UK for 5 years one can obtain permanent residence. Once one has permanent residence, this can be revoked after a continuous absence of 2 years or more

Permanent right of residence

• 15- (2) Once acquired, the right of permanent residence under this regulation shall be lost only through absence from the United Kingdom for a period exceeding two consecutive years.

If one has not maintained continuous residence then one could be refused entry.

Refusal to issue or renew and revocation of residence documentation

20-(4) An immigration officer may, at the time of a person's arrival in the United Kingdom—

• (a) revoke that person's residence card if he is not at that time the family member of a qualified person or of an EEA national who has a right of permanent residence under regulation 15, a family member who has retained the right of residence or a person with a right of permanent residence under regulation 15;
  (b ) revoke that person's permanent residence card if he is not at that time a person with a right of permanent residence under regulation 15.

See The Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006.

All of which means, if I've read it right, that unless one meets one of the exceptions listed above; no more than 6 months out of 12 until one has permanent residence and no more than 2 years at any one time after that.

[Laganside]

Sort of but not really.......

Provided the family member is seeking entry as a qualified person exercising Treaty rights there is no bar to return, at any time.

Sure, if permanent residence is obtained and the member ceases his/her relationship to the EEA national and is seeking entry in their own right as a permanent resident, then the 2 year rule would operate.

There is no requirement for an EEA family permit holder to seek a resident card or to apply for permanent residence in order to remain as a qualified person. They can remain indefinitely provided their status is unchanged. The issue of a residence card and PR is simply there to facilitate international travel and proof of entitlement to employment and services.

Qualifying periods may assume a significance if naturalisation is contemplated.

Edited January 3, 2010 by Laganside

[7by7]

Are you sure? My reading is that if one were to exceed these periods then one would have to obtain a new family permit in order to return; which if one still qualified would be a formality anyway. Otherwise I see no point in having these periods in the regulations.

The residential qualifying period for naturalisation, applications for which are judged under UK regulations not EEA/EU ones, is different to the above. In the five years (three years if the spouse/civil partner of a British citizen) prior to applying the applicant must have spent no more than 450 (270) days out of the UK with no more than 90 days in the final year.

[Laganside]

Otherwise I see no point in having these periods in the regulations.

Precisely, there is little point but that's the UKBA for you. In truth what they are saying is that if one were to spend a significant time out of the UK whilst on a 5 year residence card they would take that into consideration when any future application for a permanent card might be sought.

[7by7]

One point; these are EEA regulations, not UKBA ones. They are the same in all EEA countries.

[Laganside]

The bottom line is that anytime a qualified family member turns up accompanied by their EEA sponsor wishing to exercise Treaty rights entry cannot be barred nor is their admission subject to any time limit.

[7by7]

Not quite correct, I'm afraid.

From the regulations linked to earlier.

11(1) An EEA national must be admitted to the United Kingdom if he produces on arrival a valid national identity card or passport issued by an EEA State.

(2) A person who is not an EEA national must be admitted to the United Kingdom if he is a family member of an EEA national, a family member who has retained the right of residence or a person with a permanent right of residence under regulation 15 and produces on arrival—

(a) a valid passport; and

( b ) an EEA family permit, a residence card or a permanent residence card.

(4) Before an immigration officer refuses admission to the United Kingdom to a person under this regulation because the person does not produce on arrival a document mentioned in paragraph (1) or (2), the immigration officer must give the person every reasonable opportunity to obtain the document or have it brought to him within a reasonable period of time or to prove by other means that he is—

(a) an EEA national;

( b ) a family member of an EEA national with a right to accompany that national or join him in the United Kingdom; or

© a family member who has retained the right of residence or a person with a permanent right of residence under regulation 15.

19(2) A person is not entitled to be admitted to the United Kingdom as the family member of an EEA national under regulation 11(2) unless, at the time of his arrival—

(a) he is accompanying the EEA national or joining him in the United Kingdom; and

( b ) the EEA national has a right to reside in the United Kingdom under these Regulations.

So, the non EEA family member may not be admitted unless their EEA national sponsor is exercising their treaty rights to live in the UK and the non EEA national has the appropriate entry clearance as listed in the regulations. It is not enough to simply turn up and claim to be a family member of the accompanying EEA national. Doing so means they could be denied entry under Para 11(4).

My reading is that, whilst an EEA national and their family are not subject to any time limit on their stay in the UK (provided the EEA national continues to exercise his/her treaty rights) both an EEA family permit and permanent residence can both lapse if too long is spent out of UK.

You disagree.

It is up to individual members to decide whose advice to follow.

(I have used the UK throughout for convenience, but, of course, these regulations apply to any and all EEA nationals exercising their treaty rights to live and or work in an EEA state other than that of which they are a citizen, and their family.)

[Laganside]

Perhaps you may wish to check the UKBA's own guidelines to its staff. Not having a family permit does not disqualify a family member who qualifies otherwise and cannot in itself prevent them from exercising treaty rights including right to movement.

Best to view the Regulations as published by the UKBA as a framework and not the ' Ten Commandments ' as you are evidently doing.

[7by7]

Perhaps you would care to direct me to those guidelines?

The UKBA website says that non EEA or Swiss nationals who are coming to live in the UK with their EEA national spouse/partner/etc. do need to apply for an EEA Family permit before coming to the UK.

The Entry Clearance Guidance says the same.

Maybe you are confusing non EEA nationals with EEA nationals? Obviously if the family member is them self an EEA national they do not need an EEA family permit as they have the same right to enter as their spouse/partner/etc.

The Immigration Rules and the The Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 lay down the legal rules and requirements for entry clearance to the UK. Guidance and guidelines issued by the UKBA etc. are just that; guidance and guidelines to staff in interpreting and applying the regulations.

But, as I said before, you have one opinion, I have another. It is up to individual members to decide whose opinion to accept and whose advice to follow.

Neither of us are professionally qualified (at least, I assume you are not as I'm sure you would have said so by now if you were) and members who want to be absolutely sure should seek advice directly from the UKBA or relevant government agency or a qualified professional.

[Eff1n2ret]

Perhaps you may wish to check the UKBA's own guidelines to its staff. Not having a family permit does not disqualify a family member who qualifies otherwise and cannot in itself prevent them from exercising treaty rights including right to movement.Best to view the Regulations as published by the UKBA as a framework and not the ' Ten Commandments ' as you are evidently doing.

Absolutely correct. In fact, never mind guidelines to staff, the UKBA's public advice in a "Frequently Asked Questions" leaflet says this:-

"Under EU law EEA nationals and their family members do not need to apply for documentation confirming their right of residence in the UK. However, EEA nationals may need proof of residence if they are seeking to support an application for a residence card for a non-EEA national family member."

http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/siteconte...aqs?view=Binary

[Laganside]

Perhaps you would care to direct me to those guidelines?

Maybe you are confusing non EEA nationals with EEA nationals?

Please see Chapter 7 IDIs for enlightenment.

Your patronising tone vis a vis my apparent confusion is unhelpful and, in the context of my posts, quite insulting.

I am not a professional in this field but I can read what is plainly stated in the UKBA's web site and have obtained legal opinion which confirmed my understanding as expressed in this thread.

I have no interest in point scoring.

[7by7]

Eff1n2ret, what you have quoted is not under dispute.

Laganside,

Section 5 of chapter 7 of the IDS does seem to confirm what I am saying.

5.1. Admission and refusal of non-EEA family members of EEA nationals

In accordance with Regulation 11(2) all non-EEA family members of EEA nationals (see

paragraph 5.5 for definitions) must be admitted to the UK on production of a valid passport

and either a family permit, a residence card or a permanent residence card.

(My emphasis)

5.3. Procedures when no EEA family permit or residence card is held is too lengthy to quote, but basically says that if the non EEA family member does not hold a family permit or residence card then they may be admitted upon production of satisfactory evidence that they are indeed the family member of an EEA national, but they could be refused entry if they cannot produce such evidence.

I am not interested in point scoring, and am insulted that you imply I am. What I am interested in is endeavouring to give the best advice.

If people follow my advice and I am wrong, then the worst that will happen is they will go through the slight inconvenience of applying for an EEA family permit unnecessarily.

If people follow your advice and you are wrong, then they could be denied entry.

We have both reached the point where we are simply repeating the same arguments again and again. I'm therefore closing this thread.