Schengen Visa Application Issues…(France)

[richard_smith237]

Schengen Visa Application issues…

My Wife and I are going for our annual Ski trip, this year to France.

This will be her 4^th Schengen Visa (2 of them previously for France, 1 for Austria)

We are flying from the UK, she has a 5 year UK Visa.

She is MD of her own company with a 20MB plus turnover with records to confirm.

Her bank book confirms her income from this.

The issue upon application at the VFS for France.

• They would not accept the flight information into France (from the UK), it’s Travel Agent Voucher with an ATOL Certificate (that guarantees return travel if the agent we are going with collapses) – I’ve since e-mailed and asked the travel agent for an e-ticket.
  

• They would not accept the booking information of the French Chalet, again an Agent Voucher / Confirmation.
  

• They would not accept photo copies of my Wife’s Bank Book as the ‘Bank and ID stamp is only on the First page’ not every page (this is new to us).
  

My impression is that my Wife spoke with a girl who was on somewhat of a power trip and was particularly difficult.

My Wifes Passport is riddled with Visas from her various travels, which of course doesn’t automatically give her right to future travel, however we’ve met the same requirements this year as any previous year.

It is understood that we must meet requirements and jump through the correct hoops so that a box checker can check the correct boxes before forwarding on the application of the French Consulate.

We’ve provided everything according to their website but a girl at the VFS has refused to accept my Wifes application…

Thus my question is: Has anything significantly changed since in the last 12 months?

My wife takes care of the application, I’ve never even had to help, I’m guessing she’s provided exactly the same information as in previous years…

[cooked]

France has a new president. To quote: Francois Hollande vowed Friday to crack down on illegal immigration..... maybe they haven't sorted things out yet. I had heard that France was one of the easier ones.

[MaprangHolmes]

This is what Thai visa Express wrote about schengen visas if is of any help.

They should recognize your wife as a family member as the the spouse of an EEA national just present your marriage certificate.

As far as I am aware under EEA Law that's all they require & you should point this out to the relevant embassy.

[beano2274]

I heard that the French were the worst ones for giving a Schengen Visa.

[richard_smith237]

This is what Thai visa Express wrote about schengen visas if is of any help.

They should recognize your wife as a family member as the the spouse of an EEA national just present your marriage certificate.

As far as I am aware under EEA Law that's all they require & you should point this out to the relevant embassy.

http://www.thaivisa....hengen-visa-uk/

As I am a UK citizen all my Wife needs to show is our Marriage certificate?? No need for Business and Bank Statements etc ?

How about bookings ?...

We provided:

Marriage Certification.

Return flight e-ticket to the BKK - UK.

Return flight 'Voucher' from the Agent (not an e-ticket) for flights from UK to France.

ATOL Certification.

Chalet Booking (Confirmation voucher from the Agent).

Travel Insurance (for covering the duration of stay in France).

BUPA International Medical Insurance.

Personal Bank Statements.

Business Bank Statements.

Letter from my Wife identifying that her Brother (Also MD) will Run the business in her absence.

Letter from myself identifying that while my Wife is financially independent and the trip to France is prepaid and all inclusive I will also act as Guarantor for the duration of our stay.

I'm not sure how many hoops there are left to jump through... We've never experienced an issue like this while applying for a visa. My wife has always had the correct documentation and the visa is usually processed quickly within a handful of days.

I really do suspect that my wife was unfortunate enough to deal with someone who simply decided she didn't like her and became a little bitchy... (I suspect we all fall victim to this sometimes* ) I suspect this is the case here, when my Wife pointed out that this isn't her first application and that all the correct documentation was present the VFS girl informed her that she'd tick the box identifying 'incomplete documentation' and the visa would automatically be rejected on those grounds (I don't buy that they would reject it on a ticked box).

(*Sometimes when we are in a shop etc or usually when someone is in the position to exercise a little power they momentarily decide if they want to be helpful or not. In 99% of cases the person we are dealing with is helpful, but on that 1% of occasions we'll experience someone who for whatever reason is having a bad day and will be so unhelpful and bloody minded it can make our blood boil...)

[Hawkinschris]

Is she applying as a tourist, or as the wife of an EU Citizen/National?

If she is applying as the wife of an EU Citizen/National then this is all she requires

Visa application form with colour photo

EU-national's passport + copy

Applicant’s passport + copy

Marriage certificate + copy

Possible service charge fee

Edited October 22, 2012 by Hawkinschris

[richard_smith237]

Is she apply as a tourist, or as the wife of an EU Citizen?

As a tourist (90 days, even though we'll only be there for a week).

Its also a little strange as 10 days in Austria last year was free.

But the option through the French VFS gives 90 days for THB 3600.

[Hawkinschris]

this is where you could be going wrong

a visa for the spouse of an EU Citizen/National is free of charge (as long as you travel together)

[MidoriApple]

Umm..wish I could help, but this you mean to apply Schengen Visa from French Embassy in UK?

I got only experiences to apply in Schengen in Bangkok only and were from Germany Consulate.

better I say nothing infos, don't want to make more complicated.

But may be your wife can search infos from a Thai website called Pantip.com

its webboard same like here but for Thai people, and this Klaibann (ไกลบ้าน) forum for all everything about living abroad, visa, education in foreign countries.

the BluePlanet Forum, is to discuss all about traveling.

Hope this can help

Edited October 22, 2012 by Rimmer
Links to another Forum removed as per TV rules

[7by7]

As you talk about a fee in baht, I assume that she is applying in Thailand and that her 5 year UK visa is a visit one and that you will be traveling to the before entering France.

Doesn't make much difference, as she is the spouse of an EU national and traveling with her EU national spouse the application should be simple and free; no matter why she is traveling to the Schengen area.

Most of the questions on the application form, anything marked with an asterisk, need not be answered and the documents you listed earlier are not required; all she needs to do is prove that she is the spouse of an EU national by providing the documents listed by Hawkinschris above.

The visa should be free in these circumstances, but embassies are allowed to charge an admin fee, especially if, as France has done, they have outsourced the application processing. But 3600 baht does seem a bit excessive for this.

Maybe, because your wife filled in the entire form and provided documents she didn't need, the clerk didn't check properly and failed to notice she is the wife of an EU national and would be traveling with her husband?

Edited October 22, 2012 by 7by7

[silverdales]

We have done this several times from the TLS contact centre in London to France, very slick and quick operation.

nice staff and helpful but it sounds like the op is in BKK.

[richard_smith237]

Thanks for all the feed back.

I've now realised that my wife had been applying for a Tourist Visa when she could have been applying as the Spouse of an EU citizen.

Two mistakes: One on the part of my wife applying for the Tourist Visa, and a Mistake by the girl at the visa centre who should / could have recognised this and instead of rejecting the application on some very questionable grounds she could have been much more helpful and pointed my wife in the direction of applying for the spouse visa.

I've gone through all the documentation my Wife had, everything is there for both the Tourist Visa and the Spouse Visa. The person she dealt with at the Visa Centre was obviously on a power trip of some sort.

It all comes down to a wasted trip to but no harm done as we have applied with plenty of time and can go back.

[goatfarmer]

The visa should be free in these circumstances, but embassies are allowed to charge an admin fee, especially if, as France has done, they have outsourced the application processing.

The use of a service provider should be optional. The applicant should have the option of applying directly at the consulate and thereby avoiding the payment of a fee.

See my reply to Beano's post: