EEA Residence Card

If you are a family member of an EEA national and you are already in the UK, you can apply to stay in the UK under EU Settlement scheme. You do not need to apply for a residence card as a family member of an EEA or Swiss national, but it can apply in order to re-enter the country more quickly and easily if you travel abroad. It will also be easier to show employers that you’re allowed to work in the UK and it can help prove that you qualify for certain benefits and services. However, You must apply for a residence card if you’re an extended family member.

Eligibility

– Your family member is an EEA national in the UK (but not a British citizen).
– You are the ‘family member’ or an ‘extended family member’ of an EEA national.
– The EEA national is a qualified person – someone who is exercising Treaty rights or has the right of permanent residence.

You must be a family member or extended family member of the EEA national:

A ‘family member’ includes:
– A spouse or civil partner of an EEA national.
– A child of an EEA national or his/her spouse or civil partner who is under 21.
– A child of an EEA national or his/her spouse or civil partner, aged over 21 and who is dependent on the EEA national or his/her spouse or civil partner.
– A parent or grandparent who is dependent on the EEA national or his/her spouse.

An ‘extended family member’ is someone who does not fall within the above, and includes:
– An unmarried partner who is in a ‘durable relationship’.
– Other family members, such as brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins who are dependent on the EEA national or his/her spouse or civil partner. Dependency can be established by showing that you were dependent on the EEA national in their country before moving to the UK, or you formed part of the EEA national’s household in that country before moving to the UK and you continue to be dependent on the EEA national or continue to form part of the EEA national’s household in the UK.
– A relative of an EEA national or his/her spouse or civil partner who requires personal care from the EEA national on serious health grounds.

The EEA national must be exercising Treaty rights:
– As a jobseeker.
– As a worker.
– As a self-employed person.
– As a self-sufficient person with health insurance.
– As a student with health insurance (please note that if your family member is exercising Treaty rights as a student then you must be their child or their spouse or civil partner).
– Or be someone who has already acquired the right of permanent residence.

You may also apply for an EEA Residence Card on the basis of having a ‘retained right of residence’ if your relationship with the EEA national has ended.

It is possible for a non-EEA national to retain a right of residence where:
– The relationship with your EEA national spouse or civil partner has ended with a divorce, dissolution or annulment. You must have been married for at least three years and have spent at least one year in the UK (if you separate but do not divorce, then under EEA law you remain a family member of an EEA national and therefore your right of residence may continue on this basis).
– Your EEA national family member has died.
– You are a non-EEA national parent with custody of a child who has a right of residence in the UK.
– You are the child of an EEA national who has died or left the UK.