Upvote:3
Can my father enter the UK as an EEA family member?
Because your father depends on you, yes, he can.
Can he visit the UK without a visa?
Probably. The card in the image is not a "common format" card, and I recall having seen that listed as a requirement for visa-free travel, but the requirement is absent both from the uk.gov information page and from the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2016 (see regulation 11).
In order for your father to use that card to enter the UK without a visa, you must be in the UK, and, because you've been there for longer than three months, you must be a "qualified person." In other words, you must be either (as defined in regulation 6)
- (a) a jobseeker;
- (b) a worker;
- (c) a self-employed person;
- (d) a self-sufficient person; or
- (e) a student;
You also ask:
What documents does he need for travel?
He should of course bring his passport and his residence card. The immigration officer could ask him to prove any of the following:
That you are in the UK. Perhaps the best way to do that is for you to be at the airport when he arrives, with your mobile phone fully charged.
That you are his son. A copy of your birth certificate would be best.
That you are an EEA national. He should have a copy of your passport or national ID card, and you should bring the original with you.
That he depends on you. They probably won't ask about this given the Italian residence card, but they might.
I suppose there's a small chance that the validity of his residence card could be challenged because you have been absent from Italy for so long. To avoid that potential problem, your father could apply for an EEA family permit.