Spouse Schengen Visa - Germany

[philster678]

I plan to travel to Germany next month with my wife who lives with me in the UK. She has a Chinese passport and "Indefinite Leave to Remain" in the UK.

I understood that a "Spouse Schengen Visa" would be advisable and that it would be issued free of charge.

My wife therefore completed the Schengen Visa application form and we posted it to the German Embassy in London. It has today been returned unprocessed with a standard covering letter telling us to apply to the "German Visa Application Centre" in Manchester which is run by VFS.

According to the VFS website: "A service charge of £14.60 is applicable for every application." This means that whilst the visa itself might be free, a charge is still payable which seems unacceptable to me. We have also already had to pay for postage, printing and photographs for something which is supposed to be free.

Can you confirm whether the German Embassy is acting legally by forcing EU citizens with non-EU spouses to use their outsourcing agent to handle the processing? Is it legal to force us to pay a charge for this service? Shouldn't they offer a route which is truly "free of charge"?

Are we within our rights simply to travel to Germany with our passports and marriage certificate? Would my wife be denied entry at the border?

I would welcome your opinion on this matter.

[Wanderer]

I
Can you confirm whether the German Embassy is acting legally by forcing EU citizens with non-EU spouses to use their outsourcing agent to handle the processing? Is it legal to force us to pay a charge for this service? Shouldn't they offer a route which is truly "free of charge"?

Are we within our rights simply to travel to Germany with our passports and marriage certificate? Would my wife be denied entry at the border?

You could challenge it but at considerable cost in time and money.

Re: second point it would the carrier who would want to see a proper visa, and most likely deny boarding.