Taking my Thai Wife to France

[kjhbigv]

I am in the UK with my Thai wife and dual nationality (Thai/English) baby.

If I wanted to do a few days in France, does my wife (who is in the UK on a 6mth tourist Visa) need a visa to enter France on say Eurotunnel/Eurostar with no issues or does she need a visa?

With everything going on here in Kent, UK, I would imagine they have bigger things to worry about!

Anyone done it?

[theoldgit]

In theory your wife could present herself at the French Juxtaposed Border Control, at either Ashford or Folkestone depending on how you intend travelling, with evidence that she's the spouse of a UK Citizen and as such should be allowed to travel to France under EU Free Movement rules. That's the theory, though it doesn't always work and maybe she would have been better applying for a Schengen Visa in Bangkok before she left.

She could apply for a visa in London, but they would probably say she should have applied in Bangkok and may not process without evidence of a pressing need to travel.

We travelled from Ashford last year and the French Immigration Police were pretty relaxed, though my partner did have a visa, Eurostar don't, or at least didn't then, check her passport.

A couple of weeks ago we travelled from St Pancras and noticed that the French were being far more robust with their checks, we were actually advised by Eurostar by email to allow more time to clear French Immigration.

[luxoretired]

as she does not have uk residency she will need a visa.for same reason this has to applied for in thailand. although the rules allow her to apply in uk " goodwill" which is abstract has to be available.its unlikely to find goodwill anywhere involved with a visa.

[Donutz]

She could apply for a visa in London, but they would probably say she should have applied in Bangkok

They would be wrong if they said that. The non-EU spouse (family member) of an EU/EEA national should be able to apply for a free, accelerated, minimum hassle/documentation visa from anywhere in the world. So it would be possible to apply via the French embassy in London. They use an outsourced company (TLS), but they are optional. An application at the embassy itself must be given ASAP (max. 2 weeks) and no service fee or visa fee can be charged.

More info can be found in the Schengen sticky near the top of the forum, even though it's geared towards applications from Thailand.

@Luxoretired: UK ressidency is irrelevant, those would need a Schengen visa aswell! But such a visa would need to be issued without any costs, ASAP and with minimal hassle/documents (proof of marriage, proof of ID of the couple, proof of thr non EU national joining the EU national which could be something as simple as a written statement from the British spouse). Only those who did or are doing the Surinder Singh route can travel visa free across the EU/EEA as their residence card states "family member of an EU/EEA national".

[a99az]

She should have a visa or a UK residents card.

[edhart]

she needs a shagen visa for europe

[elgordo38]

Never take the Thai out of Thailand. I took the Mexican out of Mexico and regretted it ever since. As much as I heard this saying circulated in Mexico I ignored it at my peril.

Edited August 24, 2015 by elgordo38

[smotherb]

Never take the Thai out of Thailand. I took the Mexican out of Mexico and regretted it ever since. As much as I heard this saying circulated in Mexico I ignored it at my peril.

Never you say. I have to argue this point. All women of any nationality are not the same. I believe you are better off taking your foreign spouses out of their environments, just to acclimate them with the world. If you want to keep them ignorant, you will suffer the consequences. Of course, some of you may be intimidated by a spouse with some knowledge.

[MaeJoMTB]

If she is your wife and travels with you, the French authorities will be required to issue her with a VISA on the spot.

If they check ....... I'm guessing they wouldn't want to go to the trouble.

Under EEC freedom of movement regulations.

Edited August 24, 2015 by MaeJoMTB

[Mudcrab]

she needs a shagen visa for europe

Sounds like a visa more suited to men going to Thailand

[bkk_mike]

If she is your wife and travels with you, the French authorities will be required to issue her with a VISA on the spot.

If they check ....... I'm guessing they wouldn't want to go to the trouble.

Under EEC freedom of movement regulations.

That would be true if she was in the UK on a settlement visa (or ILR/FLR) as it relates to free movement of residents, not free movement of tourists.

I don't believe it still holds true if she's in the UK on a tourist visa.

However, as the spouse of an EU national - the visa for France would be free. I've seen the embassy in the past let people in (often held up and let through after some of the rest of the queue) who were obviously travelling, and applying from a country other than the one they live in (i.e. residency or home nation), and they did get seen. But it's at the discretion of the staff, so you would want to be polite. (This was quite a while ago though - before the Surinder Singh ruling - so they might have tightened up on that.)

[Donutz]

If she is your wife and travels with you, the French authorities will be required to issue her with a VISA on the spot.

If they check ....... I'm guessing they wouldn't want to go to the trouble.

Under EEC freedom of movement regulations.

That would be true if she was in the UK on a settlement visa (or ILR/FLR) as it relates to free movement of residents, not free movement of tourists.

The EU/EEA freedom of movement applies regardless of visa or residency status. Freedom of Movement rights apply for both short (90 days or less) and long stays in any EU/EEA country except the countrty that the EU national is a citizen of.

A Thai national married to a Britton can (regardless of having or not having a UK visa or residence permit):

- apply for a free, minimum hassle/paperwork visa from BKK

- apply for a free, minimum hassle/paperwork visa from the UK

- apply for entry upon arrival at the border (not adviced, since if the borderguards are not convinced that the couple is infact legally and genuinly married -by presenting a marriage certificate-, they may refuse entry!).

So it's best to apply in advance at the embassy and preferably do not let yourself be sent to the useless and entirely optional external party (VFS, TLS) as their service and knowledge isn't that good (it should be just as good as the embassy but in practice it sure is not!! So a direct application to which any applicant is entitled saves you a service fee at the benefit of more experienced and knowledgeable staff).

All this can be found in the Schengen sticky.

[bobrussell]

The rules are very clear and applications may (as stated above) be done anywhere in the world (including at the border).

In the real world proper knowledge and understanding of the rules can be very limited by the authorities!

[Tigger01]

It is best to get a schengen visa from French embassy for free but you will need to visit twice, once to apply and then again to collect passport. I made this mistake last year so had 2 trips to London. In future I would pay for an appointment at TLS and visit London once as TLS will post the passport back! You will need to book travel and accommodation in France to apply along with marriage certificate etc.

[Donutz]

It is best to get a schengen visa from French embassy for free but you will need to visit twice, once to apply and then again to collect passport. I made this mistake last year so had 2 trips to London. In future I would pay for an appointment at TLS and visit London once as TLS will post the passport back! You will need to book travel and accommodation in France to apply along with marriage certificate etc.

Many embassies allow for returning the passport per courier service eve when they have an outsourced party if you provide them with a return envelop (with adress label) and the courier fee. Don't know if the French do this, they may not if they are really trying badly to get people to bugger off to TLS.

Also, the French should not be demanding travel and accomodationpapers. The applicationform has fields marked with an * that can be skipped to make this clear, but some embassies such as the French don't give a damn. It's best to comply if it's not too much hassle but you may wish to inform Solvit/EU Commission since strictly they are asking too much (check the cited pages from the EU Handbook in the Schengen sticky on how it should be done in theory -and if people complain in large numbers embassies may finally apply this theory correctly!! Staying silent certainly won't change anything).