Long Stay Visas France & Italy for Non EU Spouse

Hi,

I'm traveling from Australia with a NZ passport with my Spouse and children who are all EU citizens. I have been rather laid back about this whole thing, thinking I could just turn up (I don't require a Schengen visa if staying for less than 90 days). And then if we decide to stay in either France or Italy, I would simply need to apply for a resident card once we are there.

However, since rechecking this it would appear that I can not apply for a resident card unless I have first applied for a long stay visa, and that I can only do this from my country of residence; Australia. Not only that, but the French Embassy site advises that people entering for tourist visits may be required to show a return ticket - of which I will not have.

Is it absolutely true that these countries will not issue a resident card if I don't have a long stay visa first? Is this allowed? Is it possible I will be turned away at the border if I only have a one way ticket? We don't know which country we may stay in, which is why I have not applied for any long visas. We are mildly freaked out as we don't know what flexibility we will have in terms of being able to chase work in other countries if need be. BTW; this five year Resident Card, what is it exactly - and do you have to apply to each EU country that you live in for their version?

Thanks for anything advice you might offer.

Rachel

I can tell you that for Italy you do not need any visa to apply for the residence card. They only ask for family reunion visas from visa nationals. I doubt the Italians would even give you such a visa anyway. What you will need is to have proof of your marriage, which will need to be translated and certified so that it is valid in Italy. I would ask the Italian consulate in New Zealand about that.

There will be some other bureaucratic things to do.

Your family cannot be turned back if they have a one-way ticket: why would you be?

I seem to understand you have not even decided if you want to stay in the EU or not. In any case, in Italy you will have 90 days within which you will need to apply for your residence card.

For France remember they are talking about ordinary tourists and not about family members of EU citizens.

What does it take Richard to apply for a 2-3-5 yrs Schengen visa ? must be a family members I guess which I am and what else?

The long-stay visas are issued to people who travel frequently to a Schengen country. You normally need some justification to apply for this. You might get it, for example, if you are a Frenchman living in the UK with your Serbian wife and travel frequently to France. Other cases are those of businessmen (I know a Russian who received a two-year Schengen visa for business, because he goes to Milan three or more times a year.

Oh I see, Then one cant just get it without having a prove for business or maybe related with a family within the Schengen region, cus the fact going with the family card is not being possible or easy alone then one might need a long term Schengen visa for some personal and individual business.