# EEA2 residence card as jobseeker



## silvilunazul (Dec 27, 2013)

Dear all, 

I really hope I can get some feedback from this great forums.

Today I received a refusal notification for my application for a residence card as the spouse of a EEA citizen (Norway). My husband is a jobseeker and we sent his jobseekers agreement with jobcentre plus, and two emails that contained invitations for interviews to which he did attend. 

However the application was denied on the grounds that the jobseekers agreement is not sufficient evidence that he is actively looking for a job. What would that be? They said we should have sent a letter from the Work and Pensions Department, which we have no idea how to get.

They also said there is no evidence that he actually attended the job interviews. How could we prove that considering that you do not get certificates from every potential employer that invites you for an interview? 

Also, my husband has been a jobseeker since October 2013. How long is he allowed to be a jobseeker and still sponsor me for the residence card?

Should we appeal (we know that he is genuinely a jobseeker)? Or apply again all over? We have been told that it might be easier if he applied to be registered (a residence card for himself and our little son) at the same time as I apply for the residence card. Does this make sense, it is possible?

I will really appreciate any sort of help as I am feeling quite depressed and anxious, my EEA family permit expires in February 2014.

Thank you!


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

It's extremely difficult to be granted residence card if your EEA partner is a jobseeker (after 3 months in UK). So your best course of action is to wait till he gets a job - even part-time (minimum 15 hours/week), then one payslip should be sufficient for you to be issued residence card.


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## silvilunazul (Dec 27, 2013)

Thanks a lot for your answer. Yes, I imagined this much; however, will I have to leave the UK after February, which is when my EEA family permit entry clearance expires? Or could I "overstay" it until my husband gets a job?


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

You don't have to leave UK (even though they probably have told you to) provided you continue to be a family member of an EEA citizen. But clearly the sooner he gets the job, the better.


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## silvilunazul (Dec 27, 2013)

Sorry to bother you once more: does it make any difference if my husband applies for registration of his right to reside in the UK (EEA1 I believe)? Could they even refuse him that? He was thinking of applying with one dependan, our 2 year old who also has a Norwegian passport.

Provided he gets his own residence card, does it mean they will have to grant me one no matter what?


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

It may speed up your application but no, it doesn't guarantee you get your card.


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## silvilunazul (Dec 27, 2013)

*Appeal*

I have been thinking about the appeal. Would this be a good way to go? I suppose I can provide more evidence of my husband going to job interviews and all the recruitment agencies he's registered with. He is genuinely a job seeker so I would say at least theoretically that the refusal of my residence card was unlawful. But I don't really understand how the European law is applied here in the UK. Anyone who could give me some feedback on the appeal route?


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Don't bother with an appeal. Just apply when he has even a part-time job and one payslip. All you lose is £55 application fee, which is nothing.


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

silvilunazul said:


> I have been thinking about the appeal. Would this be a good way to go? I suppose I can provide more evidence of my husband going to job interviews and all the recruitment agencies he's registered with. He is genuinely a job seeker so I would say at least theoretically that the refusal of my residence card was unlawful. But I don't really understand how the European law is applied here in the UK. Anyone who could give me some feedback on the appeal route?


Is there any reason why, if your husband is finding it so difficult to find a job in the UK, that he does not try in his home country of Norway?

What type of work is he looking for?

According to statistics Norway has one of the lowest rates of unemployment in the EU - 3.3% 

Why would you continue to look for work in the UK with an unemployment rate of over 7%?


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## silvilunazul (Dec 27, 2013)

Well, the reason is that I am studying my PhD degree here. I should have applied for a student visa but at the time it looked like the EEA family permit was a reasonable way to go as it didn't cost me a fee and it didn't have restrictions like the Tier 4 visa. We need to be in the UK. If I was to apply for the student visa now I would have to go back to my home country and apply from there which would be really expensive.


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## Jrge (Mar 22, 2011)

Hi,


silvilunazul said:


> Well, the reason is that I am studying my PhD degree here. I should have applied for a student visa but at the time it looked like the EEA family permit was a reasonable way to go as it didn't cost me a fee and it didn't have restrictions like the Tier 4 visa. We need to be in the UK. If I was to apply for the student visa now I would have to go back to my home country and apply from there which would be really expensive.


Follow Joppa's advice and lodge a fresh application once your spouse has found at least a part-time job.

And just to reiterate, the minimum hours should be 15 per week in order to avoid another rejection.

Animo
(Cheers)


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## silvilunazul (Dec 27, 2013)

Thank you Jrge.

One more question if someone would kindly answer: if my husband does not find a job and my EEA family permit expires (that will happen in February), what will happen when he finds a job after that? Can I still apply for the EEA2 on grounds that my husband is a worker, even though I overstayed the family permit?

Thanks for your help, we are having a tough time trying to figure all these out.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

You can't overstay your EEA family permit. It isn't like a visa that gives you specific right - it's just a confirmation of your rights under the EU law. As you are still a family member of an EEA citizen exercising treaty rights by working, you can stay on in UK.


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## silvilunazul (Dec 27, 2013)

Hello again!

As you may imagine I have been thinking a lot about the residence card issue, and I tend to worry a lot, as most people I talk to don't seem to understand what the nature of the EEA family permit is, and I have even been told that I need to leave the UK once it expires. I have looked at the regulations though and I am aware that just because the expiration date passes, it doesn't mean I overstayed. Anyway... I would like you guys' opinion on the following, as I have found the information on this forum, the most helpful:

-Is it true that after the first three months in the UK you no longer qualify as jobseeker if you haven't been able to find a job? Where does this rule come from or where can I find it?

-We have been in the UK since mid August but my husband had to retrieve his national insurance number that he had lost from when he worked in the UK in the past, and was able to sign up with Jobcentre plus in the beginning of October. Does this make him a jobseeker from that date or since the day he entered the UK? If so, would it mean he's considered to have been looking for a job for more than 3 months and can still be considered a jobseeker?

-I thought maybe I could try to re-apply with my husband as jobseeker again and this time provide more evidence, like a letter from Jobcentre saying that he has been coming to the interviews and applying to jobs. Maybe also more e-mails from companies that have interviewed him. This is because I don't know for sure when he is going to get a job -he's had offers but too far from where we are to commute, and not much near Canterbury, where we are- and I feel stressed about not having the residence card after February (expiration of the family permit). Maybe I still have a chance?

-I also thought about the option of qualifying as self-sufficient: I am receiving an allowance from my home government as I am a research fellow, they are paying my tuition fees for the PhD, my health insurance and my living expenses. Since we're married my husband has access to these funds, but I am the only official recipient. Is this considered to make him self-sufficient? We also have some savings in different accounts, in UK, in Ecuador and Norway. Non of them are joint accounts though. We could also get letters from our parents in Norway and Ecuador stating that they are going to cover our expenses. Is this any good?

Finally, a recruitment agency has offered my husband a job where they hire him but he works for a third party, doing weekly jobs (surveys and things like that) every time this other company requires it. It would be more than 15 hours a month but I am not sure if he would get assignments every month (I yet have to look at the contract). Are there any special requirements for a job contract to make my husband a qualified person? Minimum wage, permanent job, and so on? I am not familiar with UK labour law but I thought it was a little bit of a peculiar contract, as apparently it will also say that either party is able to terminate it at any moment. I don't know if such arrangement will render my husband a qualified person.

I thank you in advance for taking the time to read my post. Any advice I can get will help lots!


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