Travel via France on EEA Family Permit

I am a Dutch national and I hold a Dutch passport my wife is Turkish and she holds a Turkish passport with a UK EEA(2) 'Residence Card of a Family Member of an EEA National' and we currently live in the UK.

I have contacted the Dutch embassy and they have explained to me that since July 2008 under Directive 2004/38/EC you can now travel to The Netherlands directly if you hold a 'Residence Card of a Family Member of an EEA National' without a Schengen Visa (as long as the EEA National you are dependent on travels with you)

We want to go to The Netherlands now, but we want to travel via France (by train) to The Netherlands, however I cannot find anything on the French embassy website if they also have adapted this Directive.

Does anyone have any experience with this if this is possible ?


Ref: http://www.netherlands-embassy.org.uk/p ... .php?i=261

guido wrote:We want to go to The Netherlands now, but we want to travel via France (by train) to The Netherlands, however I cannot find anything on the French embassy website if they also have adapted this Directive.

That is a good question. If in doubt, I would apply for a visa to France.

Does anyone have any experience with this if this is possible

France is yet to implement the Directive in this respect. Therefore your wife would have to apply to the French embassy for a Schengen visa (transit if only passing through) as the spouse of a EU national. The visa is issued free of charge.

guido wrote:I am a Dutch national and I hold a Dutch passport my wife is Turkish and she holds a Turkish passport with a UK EEA(2) 'Residence Card of a Family Member of an EEA National' and we currently live in the UK.

I have contacted the Dutch embassy and they have explained to me that since July 2008 under Directive 2004/38/EC you can now travel to The Netherlands directly if you hold a 'Residence Card of a Family Member of an EEA National' without a Schengen Visa (as long as the EEA National you are dependent on travels with you)

We want to go to The Netherlands now, but we want to travel via France (by train) to The Netherlands, however I cannot find anything on the French embassy website if they also have adapted this Directive.

Does anyone have any experience with this if this is possible ?


Ref: http://www.netherlands-embassy.org.uk/p ... .php?i=261

Apply for a transit visa from French Embassy. If you read properly under this section, you will notice that it says if you are passing through France by train, car, whatever; you can apply for a transit visa. Unlike the Netherlands Embassy, they issue Schengen visas even if you have a UK Residence Card. So maybe better to go for that one. Good Luck!

Thank you for all the replies.

Further to my original post above, I note that France has now implemented this directive (Directive 2004/38/EC). It now clearly states on their Consulate General's website;

The foreign spouse of a EU national (except French national) may enter France without visa if holding:

• A valid travel document;
  A valid UK residence permit with the endorsement "family member of EEA national" (this endorsement is compulsory to be visa exempted);
  and if they are joining or travelling with the EU national.

...

Source: http://ambafrance-uk.org/Visa-for-family-of-an-European

She obviously would be able to travel to France with me if she still had her Residence Documentation (Type of Document: "Residence Card of a Family Member of an EEA National") which, unfortunately, has expired previously and when we were about to apply for a British passport she had to leave the UK because of a family emergency (typical!) and could not re-enter the UK again until she would be issued with a UK Entry Clearance Visa.

The situation I am now in is that my wife currently holds a "UK Entry Clearance" Visa (received through the EEA1 route) with a stamp endorsed on her Visa noting under "Type:" "Visa EEA FP: Family Member [My Full Name and DOB]" and which is valid for 6 months.

[on a side note, some people might find it interesting to know that she was issued with this Visa within 8 working days! (via Worldbridge in Istanbul, Turkey) Must be some kind of record!]

Having said all that, my question now is that I am not sure if she can travel to France from the UK with the type of Visa she currently holds. I am afraid that my current understanding is, from reading the forums, that she cannot travel to France on this Visa. However, I would love for someone to tell me otherwise of course!

Any assistance or clarification would be greatly appreciated.

[edit: @mods this thread might need to be moved to a difference category now since I originally posted this (?)]

If you take the ferry to France, it is very unlikely that anyone is even awake in the French immigration booth.

But in any case, ferry/train is an ideal situation for: http://eumovement.wordpress.com/2010/08 ... to-travel/

Read through very carefully. And be sure to travel with your marriage certificate.

Many thanks for your reply "Directive/2004/38/EC", the blog post you referred to is most helpful and interesting.

I am now considering to take a ferry to The Netherlands directly, I was only ever intending to travel through France, as I am more confident that I can resolve any issues with Dutch immigration directly, also seeing that the website of the Dutch Embassy clearly states:

".. The above rules for holders of a residence card also apply to holders of an EEA family permit issued under the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2000 (a stamp endorsed in the holder's valid passport)."

Source: http://www.dutchembassyuk.org/consular/index.php?i=261

At the same time it is relatively cheap to book a ferry ticket and the port from which I intend to travel is not too far from where I live. Worst case scenario I will only lose a single ferry ticket to The Netherlands (and a bit of my pride I guess).

For anyone who is interested, I have also checked Belgium's VFS Global website and found a PDF which also clearly shows you can enter Belgium with a Residence Permit:

Source: http://www.vfs-be-uk.com/pdf/Directive_0905.pdf

Although the document lacks the same statement as it does on the Dutch Embassy's website that the same rules apply for a EEA Family Permit.

guido wrote: Although the document lacks the same statement as it does on the Dutch Embassy's website that the same rules apply for a EEA Family Permit.

Careful, this only applies to family permits issued under the previous (2000) regulations.

guido wrote:Thank you for all the replies.

Further to my original post above, I note that France has now implemented this directive (Directive 2004/38/EC). It now clearly states on their Consulate General's website;

Things have moved on since you first posted all that time back. All EU countries, except the UK now recognise article 10 residence cards.

This thread may interest you.

http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=98029

EUsmileWEallsmile wrote:

guido wrote: Although the document lacks the same statement as it does on the Dutch Embassy's website that the same rules apply for a EEA Family Permit.

Careful, this only applies to family permits issued under the previous (2000) regulations.

Hmm.. I guess that is out of the window then. I might just give the Dutch Embassy a call tomorrow morning to see what they have to say.

EUsmileWEallsmile wrote:

guido wrote:Thank you for all the replies.

Further to my original post above, I note that France has now implemented this directive (Directive 2004/38/EC). It now clearly states on their Consulate General's website;

Things have moved on since you first posted all that time back. All EU countries, except the UK now recognise article 10 residence cards.

This thread may interest you.

http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=98029

Thank you, I will have a look.

This post is unrelated to your question and current problem.

You might want to apply for a Permanent Residence Card for your partner. That is free. I would include a cover letter that indicates you wish the application to be evaluated for the period from [start date] to [end date], where those are the earliest possible 5 year period of residence.

Then it is a very straight forward application for citizenship. (That is not free).

I think of it as a no cost document checking service.

Directive/2004/38/EC wrote:This post is unrelated to your question and current problem.

You might want to apply for a Permanent Residence Card for your partner. That is free. I would include a cover letter that indicates you wish the application to be evaluated for the period from [start date] to [end date], where those are the earliest possible 5 year period of residence.

Then it is a very straight forward application for citizenship. (That is not free).

I think of it as a no cost document checking service.

Thank you for your suggestion. I have considered to go down the EEA4 route as well for my wife especially seeing that it is free, but we will probably apply for a British Passport (she has been living here in the UK since 2006). As it will probably have more benefits in the long run.

guido wrote:

EUsmileWEallsmile wrote:

guido wrote: Although the document lacks the same statement as it does on the Dutch Embassy's website that the same rules apply for a EEA Family Permit.

Careful, this only applies to family permits issued under the previous (2000) regulations.

Hmm.. I guess that is out of the window then. I might just give the Dutch Embassy a call tomorrow morning to see what they have to say.

I doubt that your wife has a family permit issued under the 2000 regs and so it is unlikely to be of relevance.

In your initial post, you stated that your wife has a residence card.

EUsmileWEallsmile wrote:

guido wrote:

EUsmileWEallsmile wrote:

guido wrote: Although the document lacks the same statement as it does on the Dutch Embassy's website that the same rules apply for a EEA Family Permit.

Careful, this only applies to family permits issued under the previous (2000) regulations.

Hmm.. I guess that is out of the window then. I might just give the Dutch Embassy a call tomorrow morning to see what they have to say.

I doubt that your wife has a family permit issued under the 2000 regs and so it is unlikely to be of relevance.

In your initial post, you stated that your wife has a residence card.

Yes, unfortunately that seems to be the case.

She used to have a Residence Card but as noted in one of my earlier posts "She obviously would be able to travel to France with me if she still had her Residence Documentation (Type of Document: "Residence Card of a Family Member of an EEA National") which, unfortunately, has expired previously and when we were about to apply for a British passport she had to leave the UK because of a family emergency (typical!) and could not re-enter the UK again until she would be issued with a UK Entry Clearance Visa."

I just contacted the Dutch Embassy and they explained to me that she cannot travel to The Netherlands on a EEA Family Permit as this Visa has been issued by the UK Embassy in Turkey and not the Home Office here in the UK. Annoyingly I forgot to ask them about the freedom of movement directive...