Family Permits
An EEA Family Permit is a document issued to non-EEA nationals living outside the European Union who would like to travel to the UK with an EEA national family member or join an EEA national family member in the UK.
What are the main eligibility requirements for an EEA Family Permit?
In order to qualify for an EEA Family Permit, you will need to satisfy UK Visas and Immigration that:
You are a citizen of a country outside the European Economic Area (EEA);
Your family member is an EEA national (but normally not British);
You are related to the EEA national in one of the following ways:
you are the family member of the EEA national such as their husband, wife, civil or unmarried partner, parent, grandparent, child or grandchild; or
you are an extended family member of the EEA national, for example, their unmarried partner in a durable relationship, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, cousin, etc.; or
you are the main carer of a British citizen or a child who is an EEA national;
Your EEA national family member is travelling with you to the UK; or
Your family member is in the UK and, if they have lived in the UK for more than three months, is exercising Treaty rights as a worker, self-employed person, student, self-sufficient person, or as a job seeker.
What else do I need to know about the EEA Family Permit?
An EEA Family Permit is valid for six months. EEA Family Permit holders are free to leave and enter the UK as many times as they wish within that six month period.
There is no fee payable to apply for an EEA Family Permit and the application will be given priority by UK Visas & Immigration.
At the end of the six month period as an EEA Family Permit holder, you may be eligible to apply for an EEA Residence Card as confirmation of your right of residence in the UK.