Expired EEA family permit for extended family members

Question

I am EEA national sponsoring my sister and her daughter, they came to the UK on an EEA family permit valid for six months, I did read around that it's not a requirment for non-EEA family members to apply for a residence card, but in some links I found that extended family members who are not EEA nationals would be considered overstayers!

I would apply for them but my original ID card along with every evidence I have for me living and working in the UK was sent to the home office along with my dependent mother's application for residence card and I need to wait until they return it so I can use the same to apply for my sister and niece, who also need to renew their expired passports.

My question is: dose the non EEA extended family member of an EEA citizen have the obligation to apply for a residence card before or after the expiry of their EEA family permit or they enjoy the same status as the non-EEA citizen who are family members of an EEA national?

Answer 1

The official gov.uk website is quite clear:

‘Extended’ EEA family members

You must apply for a residence card if you’re the ‘extended’ family member of an EEA national and want to stay in the UK after your EEA family permit has expired.

Note that the previous section listed all the people who are eligible to remain in the UK without residence card and only mentioned “family members” whereas the overview mentioned “the family member or ‘extended’ family member” of EEA citizens.

So the phrase “family members” in the “Stay after your EEA family permit expires” section really means just that and does not include extended family members. The rules are indeed different for them.