Visa To Uk - Can Go Other European Countires ?

[CharlieH]

If my wife gets a visa to the UK, and as the UK is part of the European Union, can she then visit other member countires on that visa or does she have to get seperate visas for each one ?

If anyone else has done similiar please tell about your experience.

Thanks in advance

[ThaiVisaExpress]

Your wife will require a Schengen Visa to visit the EU.

[CharlieH]

Your wife will require a Schengen Visa to visit the EU.

What is that and where do you apply for it ?

[7by7]

Schengen Area

The UK is not a member of the Schengen area, so a UK visa is not valid for entry to a Schengen state and a Schengen visa is not valid for entry to the UK.

One should apply for a Schengen visa to the embassy of the state you are visiting, or if touring round several the state one intends to enter first. The application must be made in one's country of residence, so if your wife is resident in Thailand and her UK visa is a visit one then she must apply there; however if her UK visa is for settlement and she resides in the UK she can apply in the UK.

Either way, if she is the spouse of an EU citizen (are you an EU citizen?) then most of the questions on the application wont apply to her and the visa will be free.

[CharlieH]

Schengen Area

The UK is not a member of the Schengen area, so a UK visa is not valid for entry to a Schengen state and a Schengen visa is not valid for entry to the UK.

One should apply for a Schengen visa to the embassy of the state you are visiting, or if touring round several the state one intends to enter first. The application must be made in one's country of residence, so if your wife is resident in Thailand and her UK visa is a visit one then she must apply there; however if her UK visa is for settlement and she resides in the UK she can apply in the UK.

Either way, if she is the spouse of an EU citizen (are you an EU citizen?) then most of the questions on the application wont apply to her and the visa will be free.

Ok, thanks for the reply, I am a UK citizen, wife is Thai, if I understand you correctly, we get the UK visa (which we do every year) for visiting family) then SHE has to apply for the Schengen Visa here in Thailnd to one of the Schengen states i.e Greece , is that correct ? if we want to go see family then travel to a Greek island before returning to UK and both returning to Thailand.

[7by7]

Correct.

See Greek embassy, Schengen visas.

[Orac]

She may be able to visit switzerland on a UK visa as they accept the UK visa in some cases.

Before anyone mentions it I do know Switzerland is not in the EU, just giving the OP a suggestion on somewhere that can be visited without too much hassle.

[7by7]

Switzerland used to allow holders of a UK settlement visa entry for up to 3 months, but Switzerland signed up to the Schengen Agreement in December 2008 so I don't think this is still possible*.

Moot point anyway as the OP's wife doesn't have a UK settlement visa.

*Edit:

It is no longer possible, see Do I require a visa for Switzerland?

Edited December 24, 2010 by 7by7

[Orac]

Switzerland used to allow holders of a UK settlement visa entry for up to 3 months, but Switzerland signed up to the Schengen Agreement in December 2008 so I don't think this is still possible.

Moot point anyway as the OP's wife doesn't have a UK settlement visa.

Thanks for the correction - saved me a bit of embarrassment as I was planning on taking the wife there again in few months!

[CharlieH]

Correct.

See Greek embassy, Schengen visas.

Thanks very much for the help, very much appreciated.

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