Transfer from EEA family permit to UK spouse visa for non-EEA spouse following naturalisation of EEA partner

The request was refused by Home Office.

Dear Home Office,

I understand that under current immigration rules the naturalisation of an EEA national, who following his naturalisation holds dual GB/EEA citizenship, has the result that the EEA national loses his right to exercise EU treaty rights with respect to EEA family residency for a non-EEA spouse. The consequence from that appears to be that a non-EEA spouse currently living in the UK with the naturalised partner on a 5-year EEA family residence card loses the right to remain in the UK and would have to apply for a different visa (e.g. UK spouse visa) instead.

On the basis of the above understanding, the questions I seek to answer are as follows:

1. Does the non-EEA spouse lose the right to remain in the UK immediately upon naturalisation of the EEA partner?
2. If the answer to question 1 above is “yes”,
a. Does the current EEA family resident card allow the non-EEA spouse to remain in the UK without any action required until the 5-year EEA family resident card expires and an application for a UK spouse visa becomes required?
b. Does the non-EEA spouse need to leave the UK immediately upon naturalisation of her partner even before she can apply for a UK spouse visa?
c. When can an application for a UK spouse visa be filed or, in other words, what is the time-frame from naturalisation until the application for the spouse visa would have to be filed before the right to remain of the non-EEA spouse expires due to naturalisation of the partner?
d. Does the application for a UK spouse visa need to be made from outside the UK or can it be done from within the UK?
e. Is there a special process for transferring from an EEA family residence card to a UK spouse visa?
f. If the answer to 2e is “no”, does the transfer from EEA family residence permit to UK spouse visa qualify as a new application, an extension or a switch as mentioned at https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/overvi...
3. If the answer to question 1 above is “no”,
a. When does the right to remain of the non-EEA spouse expire following naturalisation of the EEA dual citizen on the basis that the non-EEA spouse currently holds a 5-year EEA family residence card?
b. Are there any applications required to be filed with the Home Office until the current 5-year EEA family residence card expires?

Many thanks in advance for answering my questions.

Yours faithfully,
Martin [name removed]

FOI Requests, Home Office

Mr. [name removed],

Thank you for contacting the Home Office with your request.

This has been assigned to a caseworker (case ref 44850). We will aim to send you a full response by 30/08/2017 which is twenty working days from the date we received your request.

If you have any questions then please do not hesitate to contact us.

Thank you,

P. Zebedee
FOI Requests
Home Office

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FOI Responses, Home Office

Dear Mr [name removed]

 

 

Thank you for  contacting FOI Requests.

 

Your  FOI request dated 31 July  did not ask for recorded information and
therefore did not meet the criteria for a valid request under the Freedom
of Information Act 2000.

 

Your email is being answered outside of the Act and you will receive a
response in due course. As your email is not a valid FOI request it is not
subject to an Internal Review.

 

Please accept our apologies for not notifying you of this sooner.

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

BICS PSG Correspondence Team

 

 

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Dear FOI Responses,

The 20-day deadline has expired. Is there still going to be a response from the Home Office and, if so, what is the expected time-frame? Can I request an internal review even if my request appears to be outside FOI?

Yours sincerely,

Martin

FOI Responses, Home Office

This mailbox does not accept incoming messages. Any FOI requests or
inquiries should be sent to [1][Home Office request email].

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FOI Requests, Home Office

Dear Mr [name removed],

 

Unfortunately we cannot give you a specific date when you will receive a
response to your email. As it is not a valid FOI request it is not subject
to an Internal Review. We have notified the team dealing with your
original email of your concerns.

 

Regards

 

N McKenzie

FOI Team

 

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Dear FOI Requests,

Sorry, with "team" you mean the Home Office or the FOI team? Should I still be sending another message to the main FOI address for the Home Office as suggested before?

Yours sincerely,

Martin

FOI Requests, Home Office

Dear Mr. [name removed],

 

Thank you for contacting FOI Requests. Your original request did not ask
for recorded information and therefore did not meet the criteria for a
valid request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.  Therefore, your
email is being answered outside of the Act by the relevant Home Office
team.  You will receive a response in due course.

 

You do not have to send any further correspondance in relation to your
original email.

 

Kind regards

 

N McKenzie

 

FOI Team

 

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