Visa For Thai Wife To Norway....

[meithai]

What would be the likely result in terms of a Norwegian visa for my Thai wife?

Myself a UK citizen who is returning to Norway after 8 years to work, a job has no been secured yet although with my qualifications & connections wouldn't take me long to secure.

We are newly married so she would be applying for her Norwegian visa after only 2 weeks of marriage although, we have known each other for 2 years.

[sreiter]

I can not answer your question. Norway is not part of the EU I think- and you must be working in the oil business???. However, I can tell you what I did in similar circumstances:

I am German national but worked in the UK for 15 years- not resident in Germany at all. I planned to get married to my Thai girlfriend after two years of meeting her, to resign from work and live with her in Greece where I have a house. As soon as I could I got a "green card" from Greece which means it proves that I am resident there. I got eventually married in Bangkok, went to the Greek consulate in Bangkok a few days later and applied for "family reunion" in the EU- which I could not have done without evidence that I was resident in Greece. She got a single entry visa into Greece and we applied there for residency- which she got after 8 month of waiting.

So- my gut feeling is:

1.) EU or not EU- I think you must be able to show you are resident in Norway- why would they otherwise give her a visa to Norway if you are a UK citizen and not living there ?

2.) Married for 2 days or two years- I do not think it makes any difference, it is the lagality of the act that counts- surely somewhere along the lines you will need a translation and legalisation of those documents. In our case we got an English translation of our marriage documents from Thailand with an official stamp from the ministery of foreign affairs in Thailand. (Arranged by the office on the left when you are about to enter the UK visa office in Bangkok). This was legalised by the Greek embassador in Bangkok in 5 minutes flat (50 euro). This again was needed in Greece to get an official translation from English to Greek by the Greek ministery for foreign affairs....

3. Again- I have no idea about Norway, but you might want to find out if it would not be easier to get her residency in the UK- and from there try to migrate to Norway together??

4. There are lawyers specialised in migration law in Europe-some of them advice over the internet for a modest fee. I could recommend a German lady in Hamburg who has numerous Thai clients too. Not sure how much she knows about Norway though..

Good luck Stefan

[CharlieB]

Norway is not part of EU, but participates in many European initiatives, including EEA visas as it is part of the EEA. This link might help. I am sure they would be able to help you further if you contact them and put your particular cirumstances to them.

Edited January 13, 2009 by CharlieB