Residence visa for foreign non EU wife

Hello Analyn.

Welcome to Expat.com!

You can read this article on Visas and residence for NON EU. It can help.

Thank you,
Aurélie

hi analynk

you can apply for a longstay visa directly, regardless of the fact that you did not marry in the UK. Your husband's stay in the country is a sufficient ground for your request. I think you will need some supportive letter from the company he works for.

go for it, this could take some time.

Hi and thank you for your reply. The embassy here is sticking to the rules, A long stay visa...only for business, scientific studies or student. So my husband thinks it is better that he comes over, opens a bank account finds somewhere to live and gets his residence permit. We would just like to know if that makes it easier for me. He is retired so will get a retirement permit. We wanted to come over together to save some money as we are traveling from South Africa. But it does not seem possible.

Thank so much for your help.

Analyn

Hi, my wife is Russian and we had the same problem. There is a website called Solvit that is really good. They advised me that, should my wife come here on a Visa C, (I was already renting an apartment here), then we should go to immigration and tell them she is going to stay here. They kicked up one hell of a fuss and said they would remove her when the Visa C expired, but we stuck to our guns. EU law states quite clearly that, no matter HOW he or she gets into the country, legally or otherwise, they cannot be removed as they are the legal spouse of an EU member. You may ask Solvit for advice and they will contact you with a named advisor who will see you through the process. Good Luck!!!!!!

There is a web site named Solvit that can answer all your questions concerning any country within the EU. They will also provide a named advisor, with a contact email address, to advise you personally. They are extremely good. I live in Bulgaria, am British, and my wife is Russian. We had similar problems and Solvit advised us. My wife joined me a couple of weeks after, thanks to their advice. Good luck.

Non-EU family members
Do they a need a visa?
If you are an EU national but you have family members who are not, they can accompany or join you in another EU country.

They must carry a valid passport at all times and, depending on the country they are from, may also have to show an entry visa at the border.

Your non-EU spouse, (grand)parents or (grand)children do not need to get a visa from the country they are travelling to if:

the country they are travelling to belongs to the passport-free Schengen area (see list below) and they have a residence permit or visa from another country in that area, or
they are travelling with you or travelling to join you and have a residence card issued by any EU country (except the country you are a national of).

The residence card should clearly state that the holder is a family member of an EU national.
Passport free Schengen area
Austria

Hungary

Norway

Belgium

Iceland

Poland

Czech Republic

Italy

Portugal

Denmark

Latvia

Slovakia

Estonia

Liechtenstein

Slovenia

Finland

Lithuania

Spain

France

Luxembourg

Sweden

Germany

Malta

Switzerland.

Greece

Netherlands

Your registered partner and extended family - siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, and so on – can ask the authorities in an EU country to officially recognise them as family members of an EU national. EU countries do not have to recognise them as your family members but they do at least have to consider the request.

To avoid problems, contact the consulate or embassy of the country to which you are travelling well in advance to find out which documents your non-EU family member will be asked to present at the border. Be aware that some countries may fail to apply EU law correctly and your non-EU family members may be denied some of their rights, as described here.

If you have problems, you can always contact our assistance services.

Applying for a visa
If your non-EU family members need an entry visa, they should apply for one in advance from the consulate or embassy of the country they wish to travel to. Their application should be processed quickly and free of charge.

Countries which are members of the passport-free Schengen area should issue visas within 15 days, except in rare cases, when the authorities should provide an explanation of their decision.
All other countries (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland, Romania, UK) – as quickly as possible.
The documents your family members need to include in their visa application may vary from country to country. Before travelling, check which these are with the consulate or embassy of the destination country.

Visas issued by a country belonging to the passport-free Schengen area are valid for all countries in that area.
Sample story

Marriage certificate enough to get a visa

Thomas is Irish and lives in Belarus with his wife Delia, a Belarusian national. When they wanted to visit Thomas's mother, now living in Spain, they applied for an entry visa for Delia.

She included their marriage certificate in the application, but the Spanish authorities also asked for proof of hotel accommodation in Spain and sickness insurance before they would issue the visa.

However, when Delia pointed out that no such additional documents were required under EU law, the Spanish authorities apologised for their mistake and immediately issued her entry visa.

Arriving at the border without an entry visa
It's always best for your non-EU family members to be well informed in advance and have all the necessary documents before starting their journey.

However, if they arrive at the border without an entry visa, the border authorities should give them the opportunity to prove by any means that they are your family members. If they manage to prove it, they should be issued with an entry visa on the spot.

Some countries may fail to apply EU law correctly, and your family members may be denied their rights. If your family members are having difficulties getting a visa, you can contact our assistance services.

Entry refusal
In very rare cases, an EU country can refuse entry to you or your family members for reasons of "public policy, public security or public health".

If this happens, the authorities must prove that you or your family members pose a "genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat".

You are entitled to receive this decision in writing, stating all the grounds, and specifying how you can appeal and by when.

http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/tr … dex_en.htm

Dear IvorjHall,

In regards to your previous comment:

"EU law states quite clearly that, no matter HOW he or she gets into the country, legally or otherwise, they cannot be removed as they are the legal spouse of an EU member."

Do you know if this applies to myself (Australian citizen) for staying in Bulgaria? I am married to a Bulgarian citizen. We will arrive in Bulgaria tomorrow on a short stay issued by the Border Police, since the Bulgarian Embassy in Greece refused to accept my application for visa. We have 1 week to find a solution. We are currently speaking with laywers and solvit, but still uncertain of the actual law I can use to claim my right to be with my husband.

I left other posts here with further details. Have not received any replies as yet.

Hoping you might be better informed on Bulgarian laws in regards to this situation.

Solvit can not treat you, EU law applies for cross borders. As your spouse is Bulgarian national and you are being dealt in Bulgaria, you will follow Bulgarian legislation, that states you must enter under Visa D (marriage). If you have this... I didn't read all the details, sorry, then you are fine, you don't need solvit. They will force the legislation upon them.  I have an important post for those who are interested in reading, feel free to comment and leave remarks it's quite bizzare how I Feel consuls are failing to apply their legislation act.

I think you should contact the ministry of foreigner affairs or the department of immigration I guess they will give you a useful information  more than the embassy

Hello Analyn;

Kamusta po? Im a Filipino Citizen as well married with the Spanish Citizen - or called EU citizen ..I applied for Schengen visa to travel to spain first but since Bulgaria is not part of a Schengen country yet i have checked with the embassy if i could travel to BG without a problem and i have read many articles that if you are holding a Schengen Visa then you could still travel to Bulgaria without any problem and Thanks God i have entered BG without any troubles.

When i first arrived in Bulgaria i thought i could just apply a residence card but when i went to the immigration office they require a Marriage Certificate Stamp legalized, translated to English as we are holding a Spanish Marriage Certificate with apostille Stamp and with the Schengen Visa i cannot able to apply for residence card in BG - they require me to get the Residence Card issued from Spain as my husband is a Spanish Citizen.
So i went back to Spain and applied for this Residence card for Non EU family Member valid for 5 years.

So ive gone to Spain and got this Family card issued from Spain. i travelled back to BG to complete the requirement of getting the residence card here.
at BG Imigration Office below are the requirement
They qill give you a form to be completed and below are the documents you will require to complete.
1.) Your passport
2.) Residence Card for NON EU Family Member Issued from EU country.
3.) Your husband Passport/ his Residence Card in BG
4.) Proof of accomodation notorized.
5.) Bank account statement
6.) Marriage Certificate translated and legalized has to be with apostile stamp.

Once your husband arrived in BG he just need to registered his passport and address to the immigration office to apply for residence card and later on you could apply with him as a family member.

Please note: If you are holders of a residence card issued from UK then you want to apply for residence card in BG then your residence card in Uk will automatically removed but i guess you could always apply for this residence card anytime as long that your marriage with him are registered and legalized in the UK.

So if you are in South Africa with him at the moment and planning to move to BG with him,Since that you are not married in the UK with your husband i think the first thing you should do is to legalized and registered your marriage with your husband in the UK so that later you could always apply for residence card in the Uk or in any other EU country with him.

because non-nationals who are family members of a Union citizen and holders
of a document called “Residence card of a family member of a Union
citizen”, as referred to in Article 10 of the Directive of 2004
can travel visa free in any EU country..

i hope this information could help you because i knew that all this paper work and visa issue is a big headcahe for us a Filipino.. Goodluck all the best.

Email me at Leah_1911@yahoo.com
is you need any help and advise.

hello i need help
friend of my holding a non eu passport is from africa
is married and lived in france for about 7 years
so now he went for a football competion in bulgaria with visa
he didn't know that bulgaria not part of scheighen so now on his return he got stock in austria because is visa are not scheighen
is been 2 weeks iss in detention in a airport Vienne because they wanted to return him to bulgaria and he dose'nt want that he wanted to go to france were he lived and married

he wanted to apply for a visa to any eu country
please is someone have any idea to help this poor guy:(

Hello;

If your friend is NOn eu National and married from France, If he have a Residence card issued from france then he dont have to ask for visa to travel to any EU country like Bulgaria and Vienna

As far as i know, through experienced of entering Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, etc. as Non EU national - they didnt require a visa from me, because residence card from Spain are valid like visa to travel free to any EU country for 30 days.

- Family member of Eu Citizen have the same right to travel free to Any EU country as long that he hold a valid Residence card and passport... In some EU country they still have restriction from non EU natioanal from Africa, Nigeria, and etc.