Visa questions Romanian living in UK with Thai wife

mp274 wrote:

Hello expat fellows. Happy to seek common wisdom especially since Romanian formalities are so cumbersome.

I'm a Romanian citizen but I have been working as a professional in the UK for 3 years now and have pre-settled status. Brexit and the pandemic helped me decide to marry my girlfriend (let's call her Anna) and we're now married in the UK for a few months. She is a Thai national who was in the UK with the T4 VISA and now she has applied for EU settlement scheme as my wife to get pre-settled status. 4 weeks into that and waiting. My family is spread in Romania and France. We have several travel issues (besides the pandemic):
1. Anna traveling to Romania.
a. Should we apply for C/TU or C/VV or D/VF visa? What's the most recommended given the pandemic (!?tourist visa) and that I do not physically live in Romania.
a. D/VF visa - any way to get around that ?visit Romania more often, pay medical insurance, ?be employed in Romania.
2.  Anna traveling frequently to Romania and France. Every time she would need to obtain a VISA? Ideally, she should get a Romanian residence card to travel frequently to Romania and France and Europe, right? Can she had that and have UK pre-settled status at the same time?
3. Documents
a. We have a UK marriage certificate. It's enough to translate and apostolate it before submission?
b. If we travel together a simple declaration is required or do we need to "legalize" that as well? eviza.mae.ro says "Pentru străinul însoțit de cetățeanul român al cărui membru de familie este: Paşaportul sau actul de identitate al cetăţeanului român, în original, însoţit de declaraţia cetăţeanului român privind asigurarea condiţiilor de cazare;"
c. Medical insurance - should cover COVID19 infection as well. We both had the infection. Will get vaccinated soon.
d. My Romanian national ID (carte de identitate) is expired. Could we just use my passport in all cases or would I need to go back to Romania first to have it renewed (found out I cannot have that done at the consulate).

Thank you very much for your support! I had subscribed to expatcenter.ro and asked thes info but they were very scant in their advice.

1.  Considering you do not reside in Romania but in the UK, but presumably, Anna will be visiting your relatives in Romania?  If so, she would apply for the C/VV visa, sponsored by one of your relatives/friends in Romania.  The D/VF visa is for stays of longer than 90 days within a 180 day period, usually for the purposes of migration/establishing residence.  The C/TU is a tourist visa, which would require proof of hotel accommodation, proof of monetary support per day, and travel arrangements, among other things.  It's generally intended for tourists without ties in Romania whom could sponsor them.

Not sure what you mean by getting around the D/VF visa.  One does not "get around" visa requirements.

2.  If she's going to France and Romania, a Schengen visa from France might be preferable as it would also be accepted for Romania.  A Romanian residence card is for those RESIDING in Romania, and is not a travel document or visa substitute!  A lot of people get confused about this.  Seeing as she has applied for settlement in the UK, and in fact lives in the UK, she can not get a Romanian residence card; unless you're moving back to Romania and she gets the D/VF visa first.   You can't really/legally reside in 2 countries at once

3.a.  Submit the marriage certificate to whom?  Have you transcribed the marriage certificate in Romania to obtain a Romanian one?  You should do that within 6 months of the marriage, either at the Romanian consulate or your "home" city in Romania.
b.  The declaration is a declaration performed by a notary in Romania, yes it should be legalized as well.
c.  I cannot answer about medical insurance coverage.
d.  You should be able to use your Romanian passport, but you do need to renew your identity card.  You should be able to do that at the Romanian consulate, not sure why you were told you couldn't.  It's listed on the London embassy website as a service they perform for Romanian citizens.

Hope this has helped.
Romaniac