Spanish long term visa Thai wife

[grankboy]

Hello,

A friend of mine is thinking of going to Spain for a year plus, he is British living in Thailand and has a Thai wife of 6 years, they also have a child together holding a British & Thai passport. What's the best visa for his wife to get and will she be able to travel around Europe and the U.K. If needed.

Many thanks for your help.

[beano2274]

His wife can get a Visitors visa and then apply for a Residence Card whilst there, this is what my wife did but in Germany. Although some Embassies prefer the wife to have a National Visa and then register in the local Government offices in the European Country, then apply for a Residence card. If the card is stamped with "Family member of an EU Citizen" then she can travel to the UK without requiring a UK Visa.

[lostinisaan]

His wife can get a Visitors visa and then apply for a Residence Card whilst there, this is what my wife did but in Germany. Although some Embassies prefer the wife to have a National Visa and then register in the local Government offices in the European Country, then apply for a Residence card. If the card is stamped with "Family member of an EU Citizen" then she can travel to the UK without requiring a UK Visa.

How difficult was it to get your wife to Germany? Sorry, not wanting to hijack this thread.

[grankboy]

Great seems straight forward, is it standard for them to issue a residence card, and how easy it is to get the family member part? Reading other info on the Internet the uk don't like the family member visa and decline huge amount of them.

[beano2274]

Great seems straight forward, is it standard for them to issue a residence card, and how easy it is to get the family member part? Reading other info on the Internet the uk don't like the family member visa and decline huge amount of them.

it is standard to apply for a Residence card within so many weeks of arrival, in Germany I believe 4 weeks. Spain unsure. You do not need to apply for a visa for the UK, the Residence Card from Spain is enough so long that the wording "Family Member of a EU Citizen" is clearly printed on the card.

[beano2274]

His wife can get a Visitors visa and then apply for a Residence Card whilst there, this is what my wife did but in Germany. Although some Embassies prefer the wife to have a National Visa and then register in the local Government offices in the European Country, then apply for a Residence card. If the card is stamped with "Family member of an EU Citizen" then she can travel to the UK without requiring a UK Visa.

How difficult was it to get your wife to Germany? Sorry, not wanting to hijack this thread.

was not difficult at all, she had a tourist visa for Schengen, I was registered in Germany, she arrived, took her to the local Burgerbuero (Register her), then a few weeks later to the KVR Muenchen (Where all foreigners must register) with a few documents and applied for her Residents card. For my mother in law we tried the same thing but as she did not have a German recognized Health Insurance they rejected the application for the Residence Card but no issue.

[Donutz]

I suggest reading the sticky topic on Schengen visas aswell as other recent topics in this forum on going on holiday or relocating in the EU:

- http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/724180-schengen-visa-faq-when-applying-from-thailand/

- http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/925698-relocating-with-thai-wife-to-europe/

- http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/924821-schengen-visa-for-my-thai-wife/

In a nut shell both a holiday and relocating should be easy, as the freedom of movement directive (2004/38) gives an EU/EEA national the right to have their family join them in any other member state (except the state that they are a national of) for short or long term if they ofcourse manage to show a family relation and are not a burden or a threat to the member state. The Spaniards do however not enforce this directive properly and are known to ask for some sort of evidence or confirmation that the marriage is know (accepted?) by UK authorities. Other then that, getting the Schengen visa should be straigh forward, with minimal documentation and entirely for free. Not sure about what steps to follow once in Spain though, I'd take a legalized Thai birth certificate and (English) legalized translation with me aswell. Together with passports and translated plus legalized marriage papers they should be good to go.

[kopite]

It won't be a 4 week process to apply for a residence card in Spain. It was a six month process for us, however that was 7 years ago. We moved to Italy, and reapplied for residence as my wife's residence had expired. We are still 1 month away from receiving her card and we applied 7 months ago. In Spain everything moves 10 times slower.

Feel free to pm me for any advice. I'd go anywhere but Spain given the choice.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[kopite]

Only presenting the documents for residence, to receiving the appointment for application to receive the card was a 2 month wait. Today we went to our appointment to present her photos, fingerprints etc.. "Come back 25, 26 next month (July).

Another thing they won't help you one bit. Zero info if you ask. In Alicante if you speak Spanish (castellano) they will then speak to you in valencian dialect. Every step is a battle!

Edited June 22, 2016 by kopite

[kannot]

I suggest reading the sticky topic on Schengen visas aswell as other recent topics in this forum on going on holiday or relocating in the EU:

- http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/724180-schengen-visa-faq-when-applying-from-thailand/

- http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/925698-relocating-with-thai-wife-to-europe/

- http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/924821-schengen-visa-for-my-thai-wife/

In a nut shell both a holiday and relocating should be easy, as the freedom of movement directive (2004/38) gives an EU/EEA national the right to have their family join them in any other member state (except the state that they are a national of) for short or long term if they ofcourse manage to show a family relation and are not a burden or a threat to the member state. The Spaniards do however not enforce this directive properly and are known to ask for some sort of evidence or confirmation that the marriage is know (accepted?) by UK authorities. Other then that, getting the Schengen visa should be straigh forward, with minimal documentation and entirely for free. Not sure about what steps to follow once in Spain though, I'd take a legalized Thai birth certificate and (English) legalized translation with me aswell. Together with passports and translated plus legalized marriage papers they should be good to go.

But be warned some embassies havent a clue about the Eu non national married to an Eu national and the right to this Schengen visa and are dreaming up pathetic excuses such as the marriage MUST be registered in the EU partners country which there is NO requirement for

[beano2274]

for my wifes Residence card in Germany it took two weeks from application to receiving it in the Post