European Economic Area Family Permit

A European Economic Area Family Permit (short: EEA family permit) is an immigration document that assists the holder to enter the United Kingdom as a family member of a citizen of a contracting state to the European Economic Area agreement or a Swiss citizen. They are issued by the UK immigration authorities under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 (UK).

In theory, possession of a family permit is not mandatory and permission to enter the UK can still be sought at the frontier, but non-EEA nationals who neither possess a visa nor a family permit will find it difficult to arrive at the UK border as many carriers will refuse boarding to passengers who do not hold a family permit, as they may be fined by the British authorities for carrying a visa-required national without a visa or family permit. In addition, family members are sometimes refused entry to the UK for failure to have a family permit.

A family permit can be issued for a short visit or to enable the holder to take up residence in the UK. As the document is valid only for six months, a person seeking to enter the UK after that will need to apply for a new one.

The Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 extend visa free travel to third country nationals in possession of residence cards and permanent residence cards but this exception is limited to those cards issued by the UK government itself. Residence cards issued by other EEA states and Switzerland are not recognised under UK law and holders of same may apply for a family permit prior to leaving for the UK.

This is despite a provision of the EU's free movement directive which states:

The legality of the requirement by the UK to require EEA family members a hold a family permit to enter the UK has long been disputed by the European Commission and is currently before the European Court of Justice. The UK defends the requirement on the basis of its opt-out from the Schengen Area which provides that:

EEA family permits are available from any entry clearance issuing post (most embassies and consulates) outside the UK, and are issued for six months at a time. A family member who wishes to stay in the UK for more than six months can apply for a residence card to formalise their right of abode (or for a family member residence stamp in the first 12 months where the EEA national family member is a national of a newly joined member state for which transitional restrictions on the freedom of movement of persons still apply).

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