# Residence card - Certificate of application no right to work



## Joseph3003 (Nov 10, 2015)

Hello,

I am French and after expiration of its EEA Family Permit, we made an application for a Residence Card for my US partner. We submitted the file on 11th of December and received the biometrics one month later on January 11th.

To our surprise, along the biometrics was the certificace of application that said that my partner did not have the right to work based on lack of original evidence for our relationship but that submission was still gonna be reviewed.

We phoned the home office and there were as surprised as us that COA was sent along Biometrics. They advised us to write a letter to the officer in charge of our submission that signed the letter to the Liverpool offices adress that appeared in the letter as well. 

They were quite hopeful that this situation should be sorted out promptly, either that a new COA will be on its way as part of the regular process, or that they could reissue a COA with right to work.

I wanted to check with members of this forum if this situation happened to them as well if they were able to resolve them and if there is something else we should do. For him not being able to work for 6 months puts us in a precarious situation and we hope to be able to resolve this quickly.

Thank you,


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

If you are unmarried partners, then it's usual not to give work eligibility on COA.


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## Joseph3003 (Nov 10, 2015)

This is correct we applied as unmarried partners, we were not aware of this possibility that there will be a risk of not be able to work while application was being reviewed, since we had the right to work with the EEA Family Permit.

When we phoned home office about this situation, they told us it could happen indeed but 9 out of 10 people had the right to work.

I don't understand as well why they would be accepting the application to consider my partner the right to work for 5 years but would not grant him this right while we're awaiting the decision, this puts us in dire straits and any suggestions on course of action or testimonies with applicants that had been through similar situations but were able to solve it would be welcome.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

The thing is, EU regulations say nothing about unmarried partners - 'family members' in their definition are married spouses, children or parents. National regulations may confer similar right to unmarried partners, but that's at their absolute discretion and are not bound by EU. So it's the practice of Home Office not to give work endorsement with COA until they have concluded their application processing and decide to issue residence card. Yes, you can work with EEA family permit but as it's only good for 6 months, there is no real harm done to the government if the applicant subsequently fails to get residence card. If you get married now, they may re-issue COA with work endorsement.
BTW, don't rely on what you are told on phone inquiry service. They are often wrong.


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## Joseph3003 (Nov 10, 2015)

Thank you for your answer and your clarifications Joppa.

When you say that my partner can work with the EEA Family permit, it means that even if the EEA Family Permit is expired, he can still legally worked based on this expired visa waiting for the decision on certificate of application?


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Yes, in theory but he has no documentary evidence/proof of his permission to work, and most employers won't be happy with that (there's a fine of £20,000 for hiring an illegal worker).


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## Joseph3003 (Nov 10, 2015)

Ok, thank you, this is very interesting, so it would be legal for him to work with the expired visa and the COA we received to prove that he is applying for a residency card and if the employer calls the home office they will confirm them he has the right to work based on this visa while his application is being decided?


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

They may but what employers want is documentary evidence such as COA with work endorsement or residence card, which specifically states you can work or run a business. So it's up to his employer whether he will be kept on or not. My experience is that while a few employers are happy with that, most are not.


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## Joseph3003 (Nov 10, 2015)

Thank you, this is interesting because his current employer put him on hold while he was waiting for his certificate of application, if its existing visa and proof of application is enough for him to work then depending on the reply we received from the letter we sent to home office, it is very useful to know that he can legally resume work right now, without putting him or his employer to any legal risk. 

If any other applicants for an Unmarried partner residency card had the same experience, any advice or testimony is most welcome.


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## cypher6 (Nov 14, 2014)

Hi Joseph,

We have the same problem. We wrote a letter to the home office . Did you do the same?


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## Joseph3003 (Nov 10, 2015)

Yes, we did to the contact that sent us the letter and we actually received today a new certificate of application with right to work, so I am hopeful for you, that you should get a certificate reissued as well.


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## cypher6 (Nov 14, 2014)

thanks Joseph, there's a hope after all. I just wonder how did you figure out the address. Is it the same address as the one that you have in the Original Certificate of Application? Also when did you send the letter and what timeline are we looking for.


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## 99visaproblems (May 14, 2016)

Joseph3003 said:


> Yes, we did to the contact that sent us the letter and we actually received today a new certificate of application with right to work, so I am hopeful for you, that you should get a certificate reissued as well.


Hi Joseph,

I was also wondering how you got a reverse on your COA with no right to work? Who did you write and what reasoning did you use? I am the unmarried partner of a Swiss citizen and we have just gotten a COA with no right to work.


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