EEA Family Permit

You can apply for an EEA family permit to come to the UK if you’re both:
• from outside the European Economic Area (EEA)
• the family member or ‘extended’ family member of an EEA or Swiss national (excluding UK nationals)
• An EEA family permit makes it easier and quicker to enter the UK. You might not get a boarding pass and could experience major delays without one.
• You may be refused entry into the UK if you don’t have an EEA family permit.

An EEA family permit is valid for 6 months. You can leave and enter the UK as many times as you need within that time. You can apply for a residence card card or derivative residence card to confirm your right of residence. You don’t have to apply but it will make it easier to prove your right to live and work in the UK.

You must apply for a residence card if you’re the ‘extended’ family member of an EEA national and want to stay in the UK after your EEA family permit has expired.

Derivative rights of residence
You can apply for an EEA family permit if you have a ‘derivative right of residence’ as the:
• primary carer of an EEA child in the UK who is financially independent
• child of an EEA former worker and you’re currently in education in the UK
• primary carer of a child of an EEA former worker and the child is currently in education in the UK
• primary carer of a British child
• primary carer of a British dependent adult
• child of a primary carer who qualifies through one of these categories

As a ‘primary carer’, you have responsibility for the day to day care of a person, including making decisions about their education, health, and finances. You must be a family member or their legal guardian, and can be their main carer or share that responsibility with someone else.

Retained rights of residence
You can apply for an EEA family permit if you previously had a right to reside in the UK as the family member of an EEA national who either:
• had permanent right of residence in the UK
• was a ‘qualified person’ (a worker, student, self-employed person, self-sufficient person or someone looking for work) in the UK

You could have a retained right of residence if:
• your, or another member of your family’s, marriage or civil partnership to that person has ended (with a divorce, annulment or dissolution)
• that person has died and you had lived in the UK for at least 1 year before they died
• you’re the child of an EEA national who has died or left the UK, or the child of their spouse or civil partner, or former spouse or civil partner, you were in education when that person died or left the UK, and you continue to be in education
• you’re the parent and have custody of a child who has a retained right of residence because they’re in education in the UK

Our team can conduct the eligibility assessment on your case and offer the best advice to prepare and submit the visa application with end to end support. As we are authorized to legally represent your application, we can offer our professional and dedicated services to ensure the success of your visa application.

You can currently apply for a permanent residence document if you’ve lived in the UK for 5 years. You don’t need a permanent residence card to confirm your residence status in the UK unless:

• you’re an extended family member of someone from the European Economic Area or Switzerland and are yourself not an EEA or Swiss national
• you want to apply for British citizenship
• you want to sponsor your partner’s visa application under the Immigration Rules

Your residence card won’t be valid after the UK leaves the EU.

Eligibility
You’re eligible if both of the following apply:
• you’ve lived with your EEA family member in the UK for a continuous 5 year period
• your EEA family member has been a ‘qualified person’ throughout the 5 years or has a permanent right of residence

You can also get permanent residence if you’ve lived in the UK for a continuous period of 5 years:
• as the extended family member of an EEA national and you’ve held a valid EEA family permit and a residence card throughout
• first as the family member of an EEA national and then with a retained right of residence
• as the family member of a British citizen, if you entered the UK under the EU law after living in another EEA country (‘Surinder Singh’ route)

You can get permanent residence before 5 years if either:
• you were living with your EEA national family member, who was working or self-employed in the UK, immediately before their death
• your EEA national family member was working or self-employed in the UK but has ‘ceased activity’ (stopped work or self-employment because of retirement or permanent incapacity, or because they’re now working or self-employed in another EEA state but are still resident and return to the UK at least once a week)

Children
Children under 16 must be accompanied by a parent, guardian or someone over 18 who have legal responsibility for the child. If the responsible adult isn’t the parent or guardian, they must be named on the application form.
Children under 6 years old don’t need to provide fingerprints but must have a digital photo taken of their face.
Our team can conduct the eligibility assessment on your case and offer the best advice to prepare and submit the visa application with end to end support. As we are authorized to legally represent your application, we can offer our professional and dedicated services to ensure the success of your visa application.