Your considered opinions please.

My wife - a Thai national - has been living in Ireland with full "right to reside" since September last. I am an Irish National.

We would like to visit London for a long weekend - maybe next month.

What should we apply for - a UK visitor visa or an EEA Family Permit ?

I had a look at the website and it looks like they require the same paperwork for a visitor visa as if she was residing in Thailand. Is this the case. I thought I read somewhere that she has a right to travel to the anywhere in the EU as long as she travels with me ?

Does anybody know - categorically - what is the situation ?

Many thanks

Owen

She will need a visa Owen, but I know nothing of the Family Permit, so I can only suggest the Visit Visa option.

Moss

After a full two weeks of banging my head against the wall, trying to understand the UK Visa website, trying unsuccessfully to get through on the (expensive - E2.16 per min) phone line and trying to assemble the documents required to attend the (also expensive EUR90) interview - we eventually gave up trying to visit London for my 40th birthday.

Instead - I rang the Swedish embassy here - talked to an actual person and arranged everything is about 3 minutes. We called in to the embassy last Friday to complete the paperwork and I am popping back next Thursday to collect the visas. Everything FREE and easy - because we're married.

Now here's the question. The lady in the Swedish embassy said that ACTUALLY we could have traveled to Sweden without a my wife getting Swedish Visa - on the basis of the "Right to Reside" stamp in my Wifes Thai Passport together with her GNIB (Irish Police) Card - AS LONG AS she is traveling with me. Is this also the case for the UK ????

Answers on a postcard please to the usual address

Owen

See also Travel rights for non-EU nationals closely defined (The residence permit as an alternative to the visa?)

If she travels with you, then she may also apply for an EEA family permit for the UK.

See also Travel rights for non-EU nationals closely defined (The residence permit as an alternative to the visa?)

If she travels with you, then she may also apply for an EEA family permit for the UK.

Vinny, Thanks for the excellent website. Funnily enough - it states

"Thus, a third-country national presenting his/her passport and a valid residence permit issued by a Schengen State can be allowed to enter another Schengen State for a short stay without needing a visa. This equivalence does not apply to residence permits issued by the United Kingdom and Ireland, since they do not apply the Schengen acquis."

Does this mean the lady in the embassy was mistaken ?? Can anyone shed any light on this matter.

Also - does anyone know - how long does an EEA Family Permit application take to process ??

Owen

Owen,

Your wife can apply for a UK family permit. This is considered free of charge by the British embassy in Dublin. Technically, it is possible for you and your wife to just turn up at a UK immigration officer's desk without a visa and show that you are an EEA citizen and that the Thai woman is your wife. However, if you chose the latter course, the carrying ferry company/airline may refuse to allow your wife to board.

Scouse.