Eligibility

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You can apply for a residence card if you’re both:

• from outside the European Economic Area (EEA)

• the family member, or extended family member, of an EEA national who is a permanent resident or ‘qualified person’

 

You may also be eligible for a residence card if you have a ‘retained right of residence’ or make a ‘Surinder Singh’ application.

A qualified person is someone who is in the UK and one of the following applies:

• they’re working

• they’re self-employed

• they’re self-sufficient

• they’re studying

• they’re looking for work (only if they meet certain conditions)

 

Family members of EEA citizens

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You can apply as a direct family member if you’re related to the EEA national as:

• their spouse or civil partner

• their (or their spouse or civil partner’s) child or grandchild who is under 21 or a dependant

• their (or their spouse or civil partner’s) dependent parent or grandparent

 

If the EEA national is a student, you can only qualify as their family member if you’re:

• their spouse or civil partner

• their (or their spouse or civil partner’s) dependent child

Other relatives of students must qualify as extended family members.

 

Extended family members

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You can apply as an extended family member if you’re either:

• the unmarried partner of the EEA national and you’re in a lasting relationship with them that’s similar to a marriage or civil partnership

• a relative of the EEA national (or of their spouse or civil partner) but you do not qualify as their family member

 

Relatives include brothers or sisters, aunts or uncles, nephews or nieces and cousins. Relatives can also include grandchildren, parents and grandparents if the EEA national only has the right to reside as a student.

 

As well as being a relative of the EEA national, one of the following must be true:

• before coming to the UK you were dependent on the EEA national, or were a member of the EEA national’s household, and you’re still dependent on them or are still a member of their household

• you need the personal care of the EEA national (or of their spouse or civil partner) on serious health grounds

 

Extended family members must have a valid EEA permit or residence card to stay in the UK.

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For More details, please contact our expert immigration adviser. 

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