Does the spouse of British national with UK permanent residence need a Schengen visa

[malct]

Hi All, Has anyone taken there Asian Spouse to a European country without having applied for a Schengen Visa.

Looking to book a late summer holiday and looking at my options, Also who would i need to contact to get the official OK!!! I dont want to chance it if it all goes wrong after we land, Or even at the UK Airports where i have had issues in the past going to Turkey and the Dominican Republic and the check in staff saying that my wife can't travel because she didn't have a Visa  

Am am a UK citizen married to my Thai Wife  

 

Found this on https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/apply-from-uk/

Does the spouse of British national with UK permanent residence need a Schengen visa?

Yes, the non-EU spouse of a UK national requires a visa to travel to the Schengen Area. However, if the following conditions are met then they are not required a visa:

• The spouse holds a UK Residence Permit that states that the holder is a family member of an EU/EEA National.
• Travelling with or joining the EEA/EU spouse.

[Donutz]

A UK national with a Thai spouse who has a regular UK residence permit (temp or indefinite) needs a Schengen visa. It's best to apply at an embassy in advance via the accelerated and simplified procedure for a free Schengen visa. In theory you can also get the visa at the border, but good luck boarding an airplane or such, most company staff would refuse you.

 

If you for the Sirinder Sighn route (also known as EU route), the Thai spouse will have a residence card that clearly says 'family member of an EU/EEA national's, in which case a visa is not required. 

 

See Schengen sticky topic near the top of this forum for details about the Schengen visa. 

[malct]

Thank you for your reply.

It looks like its going to be Turkey again since its a lot of hassle and expense travelling for a Visa since i live in Cumbria.

 

Its very confusing that it states the following 

Yes, the non-EU spouse of a UK national requires a visa to travel to the Schengen Area. However, if the following conditions are met then they are not required a visa:

• The spouse holds a UK Residence Permit that states that the holder is a family member of an EU/EEA National.
• Travelling with or joining the EEA/EU spouse.

 

I would not chance it without having something in writing , But i might contact The Schengen Visa people for more information by email, Then i will have a written response, Will let you know how i get on 

 

[Pilotman]

Yes,  A UK permanent 'leave to remain' stamp in a foreign passport is not the same as a UK passport and does not confer the same privileges, so your spouse needs a visa to visit another country, dependant on her Citizenship. Certainly It makes an application to visit another country a fairly easy process. Before my Thai born wife became a British Citizen, with a UK passport, we visited the US, Canada and a lot of European countries, obtaining visas on her Thai passport.  We  didn't encounter any issues having them granted, provided she was returning to the UK after each visit abroad.  That was the only proviso. 

[rasg]

 

57 minutes ago, malct said:

Its very confusing that it states the following 

Yes, the non-EU spouse of a UK national requires a visa to travel to the Schengen Area. However, if the following conditions are met then they are not required a visa:

• The spouse holds a UK Residence Permit that states that the holder is a family member of an EU/EEA National.
• Travelling with or joining the EEA/EU spouse.

Not that confusing as a UK BRP doesn't have that same wording. I looked at doing the same thing with my wife a couple of years when she first got FLR but only on a day trip to France where we wouldn’t be out by much cash of we were refused at the port. I've read about a few people who tried it and were successful but they are few and far between. Getting closer and closer to Brexit and I think it will be more and more difficult. We went on honeymoon to Jersey.

[durhamboy]

Malct, I have just been through this process so please refer to my recent thread "Visa Free Travel in the EU".

 

Actually it is not that easy to do for the reasons I detailed in the thread. Your main problem is the time and expense as you live in Cumbria especially if there is no VAC in the North which your wife would have to attend in person for biometrics to be taken etc.

[7by7]

9 hours ago, malct said:

 

Its very confusing that it states the following 

Yes, the non-EU spouse of a UK national requires a visa to travel to the Schengen Area. However, if the following conditions are met then they are not required a visa:

• The spouse holds a UK Residence Permit that states that the holder is a family member of an EU/EEA National.
• Travelling with or joining the EEA/EU spouse.

 I'm sorry; but it's not that confusing at all.

 

The regulations, which you have quoted, clearly state "The spouse holds a UK Residence Permit that states that the holder is a family member of an EU/EEA National"

 

Your wife's UK resident permit either contains the words "family member of an EU/EEA national" or it doesn't.

 

If it does, she does not need a visa to visit any other EU/EEA state, provided she is travelling with or to join her EU/EEA spouse, i.e. you.

 

If it doesn't, then she needs a visa. As @Donutz says, because you are British and so, at present, an EU nationals this should be free of charge and issued with the minimum of delay. But as @durhamboy says, she will still have to attend either the country's visa application centre or their embassy to have her biometrics taken.

 

8 hours ago, rasg said:

Getting closer and closer to Brexit and I think it will be more and more difficult.

If we leave the EU then we cannot expect to continue receiving the benefits of EU membership, such as free and expedited visa applications for our non British/EU/EEA national spouses.

 

[theoldgit]

10 hours ago, 7by7 said:

But as @durhamboy says, she will still have to attend either the country's visa application centre or their embassy to have her biometrics taken.

In most cases yes, however, if an applicant has already submitted their fingerprints, within the last 59 months, with any of the Schengen Countries, they can submit their application via a third party (relatives, friends, agents), the application form must be signed by the applicant in person (for minors: signed by both parents or legal guardian). The signature must be the same as the one on the passport. Third parties applying on behalf of the applicants must showcase a copy of their Passport first page or ID card and an authorization letter written and signed by the applicant in original.

[durhamboy]

Yes o.g. that is a good point about the 59 month rule. My wife just got her schengen visa from the Belgian Embassy (via the VAC). If, for example, we went to Spain next year can she skip the biometrics when applying to the Spanish authorities? Btw, that is assuming the status quo is maintained i.e. no Brexit. Thanks.

[Jip99]

2 hours ago, durhamboy said:

Yes o.g. that is a good point about the 59 month rule. My wife just got her schengen visa from the Belgian Embassy (via the VAC). If, for example, we went to Spain next year can she skip the biometrics when applying to the Spanish authorities? Btw, that is assuming the status quo is maintained i.e. no Brexit. Thanks.

 

 

Why do you think BREXIT will change it.

 

Nothing to do with Schengen.

[theoldgit]

3 minutes ago, Jip99 said:

Why do you think BREXIT will change it.

Nothing to do with Schengen.

As this thread is about spouses of EU Nationals and their right to free movement in the rest of the EU it has everything to do with Brexit.
If and when the UK leaves the EU, spouses of UK nationals will no longer be entitled to free movement and will have to jump through the same hoops as other third country nationals.
I posted a note recently that the German Embassy have been giving to applicants married to UK nationals,  but I'll add it again though of course it will need the date updating.  

[BritManToo]

7 minutes ago, theoldgit said:

If and when the UK leaves the EU, spouses of UK nationals will no longer be entitled to free movement and will have to jump through the same hoops as other third country nationals.

Freedom of movement for spouse/family is an EEA agreement, Brexit probably won't effect it.

There are countries outside the EU that are also part of this agreement.

Not that Brexit is ever likely to be allowed to happen.

It's already past March 29 2019, nobodies VISA was cancelled.

[theoldgit]

It's already past March 29 2019, nobodies VISA was cancelled.

Yes, but as I say they date was put back since the German Consulate started handing these notes to applicants.

[BritManToo]

25 minutes ago, theoldgit said:

Yes, but as I say they date was put back since the German Consulate started handing these notes to applicants.

Project fear in action unilaterally by the Germans, not that any Brits wants to holiday in Germany.

I'm betting Spain, France and Italy wouldn't go along with unilaterally cancelling EEA agreements, no matter how much the Germans threatened them.

Can you imagine all the Med. holiday resorts losing their Brit customers for a summer while everything was sorted out? Not to mention all the airlines going broke.

It's never gonna happen.

[7by7]

4 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Freedom of movement for spouse/family is an EEA agreement, Brexit probably won't effect it.

There are countries outside the EU that are also part of this agreement.

 The Freedom of Movement Directive (Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council) is not an EEA directive; it is an EU directive which EEA countries, and Switzerland, have signed up to and agreed to be bound by in full or in part.

 

If the UK leaves the EU then we will no longer be bound by, and able to benefit from, any EU directive, including this one.

 

The free European Health Insurance Card when on holiday in the EU is another one which we'll lose.

 

Unless Boris is able to include the benefits of EU membership without the responsibilities in the new deal he's promised us!

 

3 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Project fear in action unilaterally by the Germans, not that any Brits wants to holiday in Germany.

I'm betting Spain, France and Italy wouldn't go along with unilaterally cancelling EEA agreements, no matter how much the Germans threatened them.

Can you imagine all the Med. holiday resorts losing their Brit customers for a summer while everything was sorted out? Not to mention all the airlines going broke.

It's never gonna happen.

Not  project fear by anyone, project ignorance by the Brexiteers. I repeat, the FoM is an EU directive, not an EEA one.

 

You can't leave a club but still enjoy the benefits of membership; despite what the Leave campaign told us!

 

The only way we will be able to still benefit from the FoM post Brexit is if we allow EU, EEA and Swiss nationals to continue to do the same in the UK. As EU immigration was a major plank of the Leave campaign and a major reason for people voting Leave, to do that would be extremely unpopular. It wasn't in May's deal, do you really think Boris will include it in his?

 

Of course, most Brits almost certainly won't be affected by this, neither will the European holiday resorts they go to nor the airlines they use to get there. It is extremely likely that even if we leave with no deal British nationals will still be able to enter the EU, EEA and Switzerland as visitors for up to three months without a visa, as many others such as Americans, but not Thais, can do at present.

[malct]

Just to update you , My wifes card DOES NOT have EU, EEA on her card, So looks like its going to be Turkey for a October Holiday.

 

Its the only issue about living in Cumbria, Miles away from consulates.

 

Thank you for your replys

 

Malc