Can I send an EEA national certified copy of passport instead of the original for an EEA Family Permit?

Question

I'm an extended family member of an EEA national (Italy). We are partners, we currently live together in Uruguay with our son.

She's accepting a job offer in the UK and we are relocating. My son is an EEA national so there is no problem for him. We are all traveling together.

I'm applying for a Family Permit, but in the process i have to deliver my partner's Italian passport to prove she is an EEA national. The thing is, if the Family Permit takes long she can't travel, at least not as an EEA national, and she can get in trouble with the company that's hiring her, even lose the opportunity.

As I understand I could deliver a certified copy of her passport and my son's passport instead of the real ones. Is this correct?

If this is correct, does anyone have any idea, what does a certified copy of her passport mean? How and where do you usually get it?

Answer 1

As I understand I could deilver a certified copy of her passport and my son's passport instead of the real ones, is this correct?

Yes. See https://www.gov.uk/family-permit/documents-you-must-provide, which says in part that you must provide

your family member’s valid passport or national identity card (or a certified copy if you can’t provide the original).

You also ask:

If this is correct do anyone has any idea what is a certified copy of her passport means? how and where do you usually get it?

See https://www.gov.uk/certifying-a-document:

Certifying a document

Certify a document as a true copy of the original by getting it signed and dated by a professional person, like a solicitor.

...

Who can certify a document

To certify documents, ask a professional person or someone well-respected in your community (‘of good standing’) like a:

• bank or building society official
• councillor
• minister of religion
• dentist
• chartered accountant
• solicitor or notary
• teacher or lecturer

The person you ask shouldn’t be:

• related to you
• living at the same address
• in a relationship with you

Check with the organisation that needs the certified copy - they may have specific rules for who can certify a document.