Family Permit For Spain

[Phil_ne_uk]

I'm a british citizen and my girlfriend is Thai. Last week we went to the Spanish embassy in BKK to ask for a family permit on the basis of our common law husband & wife status. I showed them printouts from various directives from the internet. I told them that the british embassy would provide me with a declaration of common law husband & wife status. They told me that no-one had applied for a Family permit on this basis before and that they would have to contact Madrid to verify if this is acceptable for a couple in a durable relationship.

After a right <deleted> about I got the letter from the british embassy after negotiating with them about what to write in the declaration which I had to write myself as they had no idea what to write which surprised me!

I faxed the Spanish embassy the declaration letter yesterday & phoned them to confirm if they got it ok. They said they couldnt check then so I said I would phone back today which I did and they did get the fax. They said the letter/declaration had been forwarded to the Spanish consul then they would consult Madrid which would take about 7 days. The lady told me to come into their office tomorrow with 3 completed "Application for Schengen visa"forms, 3 photos of my girlfriend and perhaps a letter from myself explaining the situation.

The question is, are the "Application for Schengen visa" forms the correct forms to use when applying for a Family permit for Spain? Surely there must be different forms for the family permit?

Also am I correct in understanding that ALL eea members must follow the same rules, or is it up to the individual host member country to decide if they will accept a common law husband & wife status?

Any help would be appreciated as we are expecting to go to the embassy tomorrow morning.

Phil

[the scouser]

Hi Phil,

The Schengen visa form is the correct one. Some questions do not need to be completed when applying for a family permit, so have a read of the form and see which ones do and don't need to be filled in.

Under European law, a directive is just that; i.e. it tells the national governments to do something and it has to be enacted in national law, so, yes, all member countries are bound by a directive (unless the directive stipulates that a particular country is exempt from its provisions).

However, with regard to common-law relationships, the directive in question left it to national law to determine what constitutes a durable relationship, so, in that respect, whether your girlfriend's application succeeds or fails will depend upon what makes a durable relationship under Spanish law.

Scouse.

[Phil_ne_uk]

Hi Scouse, thanks a lot for your quick reply. you're a life saver yet again! a question if I may. You wrote,

However, with regard to common-law relationships, the directive in question left it to national law to determine what constitutes a durable relationship, so, in that respect, whether your girlfriend's application succeeds or fails will depend upon what makes a durable relationship under Spanish law.

So it's just down to their interpretation of what classes as a durable relationship then, NOT whether or not they recognise the directive? I ask specifically because I've read so many times on website the following from this link, A new definition of the family

One of the main issue in this directive, is the definition of a 'family member' as it now includes a registered partner if the legislation of the host Member states considers registered partnership as equivalent to marriage in Art.2, 2b of the directive (which is the case in seven of the 25 member states: Denmark, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium and possibly Germany and France).

The next paragraph gives me the impression that they don't have a choice in the matter after all or am I misunderstanding what it means?

However, the directive further provides a provision that implies that the host member state must facilitate the entry and the residence of “the partner with whom the Union citizen has a durable relationship, duly attested” in Art. 3, 2b. This clause seemingly negates the previous passage of the directive that describes one of the family members as a partner in a registered partnership equivalent to marriage in the host member State.

Incidentally, when I asked the Thai lady at the Spanish embassy if the letter from the brit embassy was ok, she seemed to think it was. Then again I don;t know if it's up to her to say. But if they do accept/regognise our relationship as genuine then there shiouldn't be any problem?

[the scouser]

Hi Phil,

Ignore the bit about "registered partner" as, in your case, this is a red herring.

"Registered partner" refers to homosexual couples who are unable to marry but may, in some European countries, register their partnership and therefore be accorded many of the rights which go with heterosexual marriage.

Therefore the bit of the directive that applies to your situation is solely the bit about partners in a durable relationship.

Scouse.

[Phil_ne_uk]

Thanks again Scouse, I'll post the result when we get it. Although they said it would take 7 days, I don't know why as I've read your posts where you state that a family permit should be issued on the same day. I realise that our application is different so that must be why it takes longer.

Cheers,

Phil