Schengen visa (France) for Thai wife

[rasg]

5 hours ago, Kalasin Jo said:

You are entitled to ask the French Embassy Bangkok but they prefer you to use  THEIR official agency as many countries do now. This is also n Bangkok. You start online at TLS CONTACT hen assemble the paperwork, then take an appointment at TLS office to hand over copies of what is wanted which are checked against originals. After that it takes about a week and they can post it to you.

The thing is TLS will charge a "handling fee". Going direct to the Embassy it is free. As we live in the UK I applied for an EHIC card for my wife and they renewed mine at the same time. No travel insurance needed and the letter was handy for FLR too.

 

It's a huge help having a UK marriage certificate and marrying in the UK was a factor when we made the decision.

[LukKrueng]

2 hours ago, keithcresswell said:

We actually went to Spain as well with no problem. 

once you get a schengen visa you can go to any schengen country. The rules say you should apply for the visa from the country you'll spend the longest time at, or your first schengen destination if you dived your time equally in more than one country

[edgarfriendly]

TRYING TO APPLY for missus NOW BUT BAFFLED BY THIS;

 

If you are planning to travel with family members (parents, spouse, children), it is mandatory to have each person in registered the same group. This also applies to unrelated persons who plan to travel together on the same itinerary.

 

sorry if sounds like shouting, im not.

 

 

Do I and the kids need to be 'Applicants' despite being 'EU' citizens?

 

 

[Donutz]

They probably mean they just want all applicants who are are connected together to apply at the same time. That way the applications can all be reviewed in one go and linked together.

 

Under the Schengen  rules it cannot mean that they all need to make the exact same type of application. Say you are German with a Thai wife, one German-Thai child  , a Thai chilf and a Thai friend. Then it would make sense to all apply at the same time, but the wife would apply under the relaxed 'family member of EU/EEA national' rules, the kid with the German passport would need no visa and thus no application at all, the Thai only kid would apply under the relaxed EU rules and the friend that is coming along would apply under the regular Schengen rules. But by those who need a visa applying in one go, the visa officer can simply deal with and check all paperwork in one go to see if all checks out.

[edgarfriendly]

9 hours ago, Donutz said:

They probably mean they just want all applicants who are are connected together to apply at the same time. That way the applications can all be reviewed in one go and linked together.

 

Under the Schengen  rules it cannot mean that they all need to make the exact same type of application. Say you are German with a Thai wife, one German-Thai child  , a Thai chilf and a Thai friend. Then it would make sense to all apply at the same time, but the wife would apply under the relaxed 'family member of EU/EEA national' rules, the kid with the German passport would need no visa and thus no application at all, the Thai only kid would apply under the relaxed EU rules and the friend that is coming along would apply under the regular Schengen rules. But by those who need a visa applying in one go, the visa officer can simply deal with and check all paperwork in one go to see if all checks out.

Really appreciate the reply, i still dont feel 100% confident with the explanation though.

 

to clarify we are an unmarried british father, thai mother, dual nationality child (uk/thai passports)

 

my logic suggests as uk pp holders the father and child do not need visas (yet) but do need to be included in the mothers application.

 

I added all of us to the application as it repeatedly warns that it is mandatory if travelling together.

 

[edgarfriendly]

7 hours ago, edgarfriendly said:

Really appreciate the reply, i still dont feel 100% confident with the explanation though.

 

to clarify we are an unmarried british father, thai mother, dual nationality child (uk/thai passports)

 

my logic suggests as uk pp holders the father and child do not need visas (yet) but do need to be included in the mothers application.

 

I added all of us to the application as it repeatedly warns that it is mandatory if travelling together.

 

and now finally its asking me to pay 2900 thb per person for visa fees.

 

which cant be right as father & child do not need visas for European travel.

[Donutz]

Father and child, having an EU/EEA nationality, indeed don't need a visa. They also not need to be present at the desk where the application is handed in. Some embassies and the external service providers (VFS, TLS etc) do not even allow people other than the applicant to enter theur office.

 

The person who needs a visa may have refered to their EU/EEA family so a copy of the ID (passport) these mentioned family members will have to be included in the application of those who do require a visa.  If you are a Briton with a Thai wife, then the wife can apply under freedom of movement: a free visa issued ASAP with relaxed rules under EU directive 2004/38.  A copy of the certified marriage certificate (and certified translation in a language the embassy understands) will also have to be included. See the earlier posts for details. 

[theoldgit]

I am aware of, at least, one Embassy who, when processing a visa under the FoM Directive which should be issued free of charge, require that the standard application fee is paid, the online application won't proceed until the fee is paid, then say they will refund the fee when the application is processed.

 

This won't of course apply to the OP's family who is, currently, an EU National so doesn't even need his application processed.

 

It's worth reminding ourselves that when the UK crashes out of the EU then, providing it's with a deal, there's a transition period until the end of December 2020 during which it's status quo, after which UK Nationals have their wish and no longer qualify for free movement for themselves or their families, and whilst it's unlikely they'll need a visa themselves, though probably at ETIAS, their spouses who are not UK Nationals will certainly require one. 

[edgarfriendly]

we arranged the uk visa so easily, it was issued and returned in 4 days.

 

the french/schengen version of the process is considerably more demanding.

 

hotel bookings (despite us touring in a motorhome)

 

travel insurance although it is cheap as chips

 

itinerary.... zzzzzz, i dunno what im doing today, let alone 6 weeks from now

 

 

[Donutz]

14 hours ago, edgarfriendly said:

we arranged the uk visa so easily, it was issued and returned in 4 days.

 

the french/schengen version of the process is considerably more demanding.

 

hotel bookings (despite us touring in a motorhome)

 

travel insurance although it is cheap as chips

 

itinerary.... zzzzzz, i dunno what im doing today, let alone 6 weeks from now

 

 

The Thai spouse of an EU/EEA national doesn't have to supply hotel bookings, itinerary etc 

[Kalasin Jo]

On 7/14/2018 at 1:30 PM, jimn said:

Donutz is the recognised expert on this forum so follow his advice. For your information I am a UK national and I have 3 times via the freedom of movement directive gained a free of charge visa in the last 4 years. The first was from The Netherlads for 3 months the second and third was from the Swedish emabassy. Once for 4 months and the other with a year validity. All I had to show was (1) Intended travel dates (copy of proposed intiniary) (2) Proof of marriage (Marriage document and translation. Legalised by the Thai MFA. Not UK. (3) Copy of passports in same name. (4) Proof that you were travelling together. Sworn letter from me. 

The French cannot under the directive demand anything more. In fact The British Embassy Bangkok will not legalise a Thai marriage certificate because it recognises it already. It should however be legalised by the Thai MFA. Although not a requirement under the Freedom of Movement directive it does help.

The other misconception is about registering a marriage in Thailand in the UK. This is not now possible as a legal Thai Amphur marriage is recognised in the UK.

I hope this helps.

For British Nationals living in France who want to bring a Thai wife who you married in Thailand on a short stay Schengen EU famille visa you need your Thai marriage certificate legalised. A 2 stage process. First go to Thai MoFA Bangkok and get the marriage certificate AND an official translation ( English) approved as genuine. Stamps and signatures affixed. Then take to British Embassy for legalisation. The BE will legalise the MFA stamps and signatures as genuine. The French Embassy Bangkok will only accept a BE legalised document. I was given the run around by the BE who said they do not legalise Thai marriage certificates...but they will legalise any document that has first been " seen" , signed and stamped by a MoFA official. I had to dig deep to find that out.

[Donutz]

5 hours ago, Kalasin Jo said:

First go to Thai MoFA Bangkok and get the marriage certificate AND an official translation ( English) approved as genuine. Stamps and signatures affixed. Then take to British Embassy for legalisation. The BE will legalise the MFA stamps and signatures as genuine. The French Embassy Bangkok will only accept a BE legalised document.

The second half is already a violation of EU rules, the steps should be: take the Thai document (plus translation in a language that the French can read) and have the legalisation from the Thai MFA legalized by the French.  There is no need for the British embassy to get involved. 

[Kalasin Jo]

On 1/5/2020 at 2:54 PM, Donutz said:

The second half is already a violation of EU rules, the steps should be: take the Thai document (plus translation in a language that the French can read) and have the legalisation from the Thai MFA legalized by the French.  There is no need for the British embassy to get involved. 

Indeed. I did all this around 6 years ago. You only need to do it once as long as you don't lose the document!. Then the French Embassy, in various emails between us insisted that the second stage of legalisation had to be done by the Embassy of the country of which I was a citizen, so UK, even with my home being in France. They would only legalise for their own citizens. Whether that has changed I cannot say except that it states this, or still did last August, on france-visas. My wife currently has a Schengen multiple entry EU famille visa valid until August 2020. I have been unable to establish whether Brexit after any agreed transition period will mean the end of Schengen EU famille short stay visas ( or similar) for thai spouses of British citizens living in the EU. It certainly would have done without the Withdrawal Agreement now passing through the UK parliament unimpeded. And I can't see anything about temporary visits in the WA. I have asked high and low but not got any answers at all. If it does  that would require a major rethink for us.