Schengen Visa(France) For My Thai Wife - I'M Eu National

[tebee]

I'm applying for a short stay Schengen visa for my Thai wife , I'm a British citizen living and working in France.

Have just got a message from TLScontact to asking for "Proof of lodging" which as she is staying with me would I presume be an "Attestation d'Accueil" .

Now I though this was not required for a family member of EAA/EU citizen and as far as i know can only be obtained from the Mairie in my home town which is a little difficult as I'm in Thailand and all the papers I would need for this are back in France.

In fact there is a page on the TLScontact website which says it is not needed

The "Attestation d'Accueil" is not required for:

• EU and EEA citizens and their family members
  

From page https://www.tlsconta...station_accueil

They say this request has come from the French Consulate in Bangkok - how do I argue this short of going into the office with a print of the page from their own website ?

[msg362]

Can't you email/ phone them and point out the relevant phrase in their own document? Can you provide a verified translation of your marriage certificate too? assuming a Thai certificate). When my wife and I went to France ( we live inThailand) I can't recall being asked for a copy of the house book, but a copy of the marriage certificate was needed if I remember correctly. ( But this was Chiang Mai and the consul there is really helpful, he does however have to follow the rules set by Bangkok)

[beano2274]

You should not need it as she has freedom of movement when married to you however, you need to prove your marriage by having the marriage certificate translated and certified by one of the translations services used by that Embassy, this might help you if you have not done it already. Other wise she will require the aforementioned certificate.

[tebee]

Marriage certificate and translation has been checked and legalized by the British Embassy in Bangkok. - this is the English translation - I have a French translation too, but can only get the translation of that certified as the French embassy can't legalize a marriage to a British citizen and the British embassy can't legalize a document in French ! Used the English translation for this application.

Have not been able to get through to TLScontact to confirm what bit of paper they want yet. When they rang my wife yesterday they told her to look on the website to see what was needed, which in our case should be nothing ! If she was not family member the only relevant document would seem to be Attestation d'Accueil.

[bobrussell]

Marriage certificate and translation has been checked and legalized by the British Embassy in Bangkok. - this is the English translation - I have a French translation too, but can only get the translation of that certified as the French embassy can't legalize a marriage to a British citizen and the British embassy can't legalize a document in French ! Used the English translation for this application.

Have not been able to get through to TLScontact to confirm what bit of paper they want yet. When they rang my wife yesterday they told her to look on the website to see what was needed, which in our case should be nothing ! If she was not family member the only relevant document would seem to be Attestation d'Accueil.

Reply to the email (if you can) and just remind the ECO that you are married therefore this is not a requirement under EU law!

[tebee]

Well finally got through to TLSconect and they said they knew they could not ask for the Attestation d'Accueil, but what the wanted to see was the deeds of my house in France ! Now firstly I'm not in the habit carrying my house deeds round with me when I'm on holiday and secondly they are around 60 pages of A4 paper - they detail not just that I own the house, but have details of every transaction done on the land, in my case, going back to 1892.

They also asked for a utility bill less than 3 months old to prove I still lived there and again I pointed out that I'd been here for 3 months already this time so any I had brought out with me would now be out of date and pointed out the fact that my utility companies only bill me every 6 months now ( though I pay monthly by direct debit) so there was only a 50% chance I would have one less that 3 months old.

In the end they settled for a statement that I did not have these documents available and giving my address. We shall see if the Embassy accepts these !