Schengen Visa for my Thai Wife

[mgb]

There are embassies of schengen countries who deny a visa for the family member of a eu citizen if their country is not the entry country.

And they are right if they point to article 5 section 2.

[Donutz]

There are embassies of schengen countries who deny a visa for the family member of a eu citizen if their country is not the entry country.

And they are right if they point to article 5 section 2.

There I disagree, aticle 5.2 of Directive 2004/38 reads:

"Article 5, paragraph 2. Family members who are not nationals of a Member State shall only be required to have an entry visa in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 or, where appropriate, with national law. For the purposes of this Directive, possession of the valid residence card referred to in Article 10 shall exempt such family members from the visa requirement. Member States shall grant such persons every facility to obtain the necessary visas. Such visas shall be issued free of charge as soon as possible and on the basis of an accelerated procedure."

- Any Schengen visa would be a valid visa. It only says you need a valid (entry) visa, not that the country in questions needs to be the first country to be entered or is the first destination, Or even that it applies to where you will cross the external border (after which you could directly cross into any other member state to reach your actual destination, or the country of first entry could be a -temporary- destination for the time being).

- The embassy cannot demand tickets or bookings, so they cannot check what the intended country of entry is. The appllicant needs to indicate this on the Schengen form, one questin being "country of destination" and the next question "country of (first) entry". If an embassy would say "hey your goal is Austria but you enter via Switserland, go to the Swiss", the applicant could simply change the answer in that last question (country of entry) to Austria... Which would be 2 seconds of work rather then being sent away and trying to get a visa elsewhere.

- It would be rather pointless to require people to ask a visa at the country where the alien will touch down, upon arrival at the border the alien would need to be granted access anyway if they proof their ID and genuine family relation to the EU citizen.

- It would eassily be abused, if one country applies the directive smoothly and a neighbouring country applies too much red tape, any sane person would just say they'd touch down in the country that supplies visas smoothly.

- It goes against the advice of a few Dutch immigration lawyers who I've seen suggesting in particular (Dutch) EU nationals with a Maroccan spouse to apply for a Luxembourg visa. Luxembourg being represented by NL in Marocco. Obvious benefits being able to supply Dutch documents, appeals via NL etc. Entry being possible via Belgium or other countries (lacking international flights directly to Lux). Now the Dutch authorities are not keen on this sort of thing but they have no ground denying such a visa, they would if they could based on the claim that say BE is the country where the plane touches down. They'd happily tell applicants to bugger off to the Belgium embassy.

- In no EU website or document does it say that non EU family members must apply at the country of first entry. The handbook for embassy staff (with a dedicated chapter on freedom of movement) found on EU home affairs, the webpage on travel documents for non EU family members etc. non mention such a thing. I'd expect this to be a frequently asked question or frequently made mistake if one could only apply at the country of first entry!!

I may not be an immigration lawyer but as far as I can tell you should be just fine applying at the country that is the main destination (least chanche of arguments) and also at the country of first entry if you plan to visit various member states.

[mgb]

If a visa is only necessary for crossing the border all other schengen countries have nothing to do with this border crossing. The other countries can issue a visa but there is no obligation.

[7by7]

There are embassies of schengen countries who deny a visa for the family member of a eu citizen if their country is not the entry country.

And they are right if they point to article 5 section 2.

As Donutz shows; your cited source does not say this. Neither does any other official source,

Indeed, the recent experience of one British member and his partner directly contradicts your assertion!

She encountered a problem with her second French application as they had calculated that we would be spending a few hours longer on Italian soil than French, though we were entering and departing Schengen via Paris, twice.

(7by7 emphasis)

(Edited to add link)

Edited June 17, 2016 by 7by7

[grankboy]

My mate from over the road has asked if he wants to move to Spain long term how could he get his Thai wife a year plus visa, is it the as a holiday visa ?

[7by7]

Assuming he is British his wife has the same EEA freedom of movement rights as he does; providing she is travelling with or to join him.

She should apply to the Spanish embassy for a Schengen visa to enter Spain and once there apply for a Spanish residence card within three months.

In both cases there will be no fee and minimal documentation is required. Although if married outside the EEA the Spanish insist on some form of confirmation from the UK authorities that their marriage is legal in the UK; which is difficult to get and also an illegal requirement!

The embassy may tell her she has to apply via VFS and pay a handling charge; but as the spouse of an EEA national she has the right to apply directly to the embassy and pay no fee.

There are British members here who do live, or have lived, in Spain with their Thai wives; maybe if you start a new topic you will get their attention.

Edit:-

Just reread your OP and realised that you don't live in the UK anymore so your mate over the road may not be British!

The above applies, though, if he is any EEA national; except Spanish.

Assuming you and he are in Thailand, if he is Spanish then his wife will have to apply under the Spanish immigration rules, not the EEA regulations.

If he is not an EEA national then both he and his wife will need to apply under the Spanish immigration rules.

Edited June 19, 2016 by 7by7