Can I still enter the UK after my EEA Family Permit has been denied?
I am a New Zealand citizen with residency in Canada. I have been with my EEA National Partner for theee years in a durable relationship.
Unfortunately my EEA Family was just denied. They stated:
The Decision
• You state that your sponsor _____________ is residing in Vancouver with yourself and is a Swedish national. You have failed to provide evidence of his identity or his nationality. I am therefore not satisfied that you are the unmarried partner of an EEA National.
• To evidence of your relationship with your sponsor you have submitted joint tenancy agreements, joint financial commitments and vast selection of photographs taken in different locations with different people so whilst your application falls for refusal on the grounds of no sponsor ID I am satisfied that you are in a durable relationship akin to marriage in accordance with regulation 8 of the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2016.
• In view of your failure to provide sufficient satisfactory evidence, I am not satisfied that you are the unmarried partner of an EEA National in accordance with Regulation 6 of the immigration (EEA) Regulations 2016.
• I therefore refuse your EEA Family Permit application because I am not satisfied that you meet all of the requirements of regulation 12 of the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2016.
• Your application does not attract the right of appeal under regulation 36 (2) of the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2016 as you have failed to supply any evidence of your sponsors identity.
Unfortunately, when we sent of the paperwork we had had an awful day. I realized I filled out my form wrong, had two meetings with biometrics due to this and had to photocopy a wealth of evidence. When we got home we realized the copy of my my partners passport had fallen out in to my bag and was not included in the application! Although it did have his birth certificate.
He has now left for the UK, and spooked I am still in New Zealand (I am a permanent resident of Canada but have flown home to NZ for three months to prepare to move to the UK with my partner).
My questions:
- As a New Zealand citizen, technically I can enter the UK for 6 months as a visitor. However, now I have been denied my EEA Family Permit, will this affect my right to enter?
- I know as the unmarried partner of an EEA National, I legally am not required to even obtain a EEA Family Permit to join him in the UK, however, a friend advised me to. Do you recommend I simply go on my booked flight as planned, with all of my evidence and a copy of his passport I failed to put inside and present my case at the border with all evidence and the previous letter? My partner will meet me at the airport anyway.
- Is there a way to quickly appeal this decision? They state I have no right to appeal, but combing the forums, it says I have ‘a limited right to appeal’. How do I go about appealing? Do I simply resubmit a new form? I was told this would likely be denied if I didn’t follow the correct procedure, but after dozens of phone calls and much question asking, no one has given me a direct answer as to what the “correct” procedure is.
Best Answer
If I were you, I would just submit a new application for the family permit, including the passport copy. The application is free of charge, after all.
Your refusal even implies that you should do this (emphasis added):
whilst your application falls for refusal on the grounds of no sponsor ID I am satisfied that you are in a durable relationship akin to marriage in accordance with regulation 8 of the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2016.
It's basically saying that the only reason they refused the application was the absence of the passport copy.
You can also fly to the UK and present your evidence at the border, as you suggest. I suppose the chance of success is high, but the potential cost of failure is also high: you could be sent back to New Zealand. That's why it seems best to me to reapply.
To answer your specific questions:
As a New Zealand citizen, technically I can enter the UK for 6 months as a visitor. However, now I have been denied my EEA Family Permit, will this affect my right to enter?
Not automatically, but it could cause an immigration officer to doubt that you are a genuine visitor. And that's only reasonable, because you aren't; you intend to stay in the UK. Because you intend to stay in the UK, you shouldn't enter with the visa-free entry available to visitors; instead, you should enter as a partner of an EEA national. You can do that without an EEA family permit, by submitting the same evidence at the border. But, as mentioned above, this is somewhat more risky than just reapplying for the EEA family permit.
I know as the unmarried partner of an EEA National, I legally am not required to even obtain a EEA Family Permit to join him in the UK, however, a friend advised me to. Do you recommend I simply go on my booked flight as planned, with all of my evidence and a copy of his passport I failed to put inside and present my case at the border with all evidence and the previous letter? My partner will meet me at the airport anyway.
As mentioned above, you can do this, and it will probably work, but I can't see any good reason for doing so in the information you've posted. There could be factors that might tip the balance in favor of this approach, such as time constraints.
Is there a way to quickly appeal this decision? They state I have no right to appeal, but combing the forums, it says I have ‘a limited right to appeal’. How do I go about appealing? Do I simply resubmit a new form? I was told this would likely be denied if I didn’t follow the correct procedure, but after dozens of phone calls and much question asking, no one has given me a direct answer as to what the “correct” procedure is.
The point of an appeal is to overturn an incorrect decision. You can't usually introduce new evidence at an appeal. So an appeal of this decision would fail, because, in light of the missing passport copy, the decision was correct. On top of that, appeals cost money, while a new application would be free of charge.
The best course of action is to submit a new application.
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Can EEA Family Permit be refused?
In some cases, an EEA Family Permit application can be refused. In these cases, you may have the right to appeal to an independent tribunal if you believe you disagree with the Home Office decision. The cut-off point for most EEA applications was 31 December 2020.How long does EEA Family Permit appeal?
The processing times will vary depending on where the application for an EEA family permit is submitted. Standard processing times are up to 6 months. Most application are however decided in 1-3 months.How long does a UK visa take after a refusal decision is overturned?
Assuming your immigration appeal is successful, the judge will advise UKVI of the decision. It may take up to 12 weeks until after the appeal decision for this to be processed by UKVI.Can I still apply for EEA Family Permit after Brexit?
You can no longer apply for an EEA family permit. If you already have an EEA family permit, it stopped being valid after 30 June 2021. If you applied for an EEA family permit before 30 June 2021, you will get a decision on your application as soon as possible.UK EEA/EUSS Visa Application Criteria - EUSS Family Permit 2022 Update - Big Problem Solved|UK Visas
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