# Family Permit for EEA FM Residence Card



## SabzViGa (Feb 11, 2015)

Hi,

I’m Australian living with my Spanish boyfriend here in the UK. We are going to get married soon, and then I will apply for the EEA FM UK Residence Card. 
I’ve been given incorrect information from the UKVI before, so I was just hoping to check a couple of things I was told this morning:

1.)	Before I can apply for the EEA FM I need to switch to European Law by applying for a Family Permit (though I’ve made previous phone calls about this before, this was the first time I’d been told this). I need to do this outside the UK. It will be valid for 6 months, in which I can still work, and then apply for the Residence Card before it expires. Without the Family Permit, I cannot apply for the Residence Card – even if I’m already living here with my partner. 

2.)	It doesn’t matter how long we’ve been married for before applying for the Family Permit or the Residence Card (though I still believe we should provide evidence of our relationship)

3.)	The time period to apply for a new visa before your current visa expires, is 28 days before the expiry date – my visa expires in early July, and I was told I should apply for a new one (the Family permit) in June, but not before (for e.g, we are spending 2 weeks in Spain with family at the end of March, but I was told this was too early to apply) 

4.)	As an Australian Citizen I do not need a Certificate of No Impediment to marry here in the UK

Thanks very much, just trying to make sure we have all the right information.


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

What visa are you on now?


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## SabzViGa (Feb 11, 2015)

Tier 5 - Youth Mobility visa


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

You can marry in the UK on a Tier 5 and then apply for an EEA2 which is a residence permit as long as your partner is exercising treaty rights. You can apply as Soo. As you are married as long as you meet the requirements.


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## imwt (Mar 13, 2015)

Hi SabzViGa,

Sounds like we're both in really similar situations! I'm also Australian, recently married to my Spanish husband exercising his treaty rights as a worker, and also here on a Tier 5 Youth Mobility visa that expires in early July. 

I had also contacted the UKVI and received information that contradicted what I'd seen online - e.g. needing to apply for a Family Permit before applying for an EEA2 Residence Card, and being able to apply for it while in the UK (although the gov.uk site specifically says that you can only apply for it outside of the UK).

Prior to hearing that, I'd been planning to apply for the EEA2 (with my husband applying for the EEA1 in parallel). I'd never heard about needing a Family Permit first and can't find information about this anywhere.

The UKVI representative had told me that a Family Permit application would take about 3-6 weeks to process, and that I could apply for this at any time while my current visa was valid, but I'm a bit iffy about being able to apply for it while in the UK.

I'd be interested to hear about your experience, and what you've decided to do. Hopefully between us we can figure out the right answer! 

Cheers


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