Hi Everyone,
I'm new to the forum so please bear with me.
I am Canadian and my husband is Italian. My husband is living and working in the UK. I have a EEA Family Permit refused on Dec 4th, with an appeal option, with the ECO stating that they were not convinced that my EEA national husband is a qualified person in accordance with Regulation 6 of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016. I have decided to both appeal and reapply for the permit. I will load the appeal and application with a lot more supporting evidence.
I haven't been contacted by anyone regarding the return of my Passport or documents. My appeal doesn't require me to send in my original Passport and all documents had an email submission option, which I have completed.
My questions relate to the Reapplication for the EEA Family Permit:
- Do I need to submit my biometric data again even though my fingerprints and photo were taken on Nov 17 2018? I would need to buy a flight to attend a VFS center and I'd like to save this money. If I don't need to resubmit my biometrics, can I post my supporting evidence (documents) instead of attending the VFS center? What address do I use?
- They haven't returned my Passport. It reasons that I should be able to submit my new EEA Family Permit application without adding my original Passport, technically they are already have possession of my Passport. Is this correct?
- If I need to RE-submit my Passport, then how do I initiate its return to me? I have emailed and called the UK VISAs and Immigration center. The lady I spoke to said that I would be contacted within two business days after the refusal (dated Dec 4th 2018 via email). Also, no response to my questions despite emailing them three times.
Please feel free to ask for additional information.
Dear livetolovelife24
If you are still looking for the answers to your questions, then I have answered them below:
Yes, you need to submit your biometric data again with the re-application. You will have to attend the VFS office in-person to submit your biometric data and the supporting documents.
Usually, the Passport is always returned when an application is refused outside the UK. You should check with the VFS office as to why the passport has not been returned or has it been misplaced.
The VFS is not allowed to retain passports of applicants, irrespective of whether the application is approved or rejected. In order to trace your passport, you may contact the UK Visas and Immigration, details are at https://www.gov.uk/contact-ukvi-inside-outside-uk
Also, your appeal may take a long time to be listed for a Tribunal hearing, sometimes even upto 1 year for oral hearing and upto 3 months for a paper hearing. Most of the EEA Family permit application issues with reasons of "Not enough evidence of exercising treaty rights" can be solved by filing another application with the appropriate evidence.