Dutch national in UK - How can I bring Mexican wife to UK?

RobskiG wrote: ...I am positively sure that you are right about this. However, isn't it so that if, for some unexplainable reason, her family permit gets denied we can always go by this way?

Yes or pop to the UK via France, your future wife won't require a Schengen visa either.

RobskiG wrote: This is the piece of information that just saved me from booking a ticket and wasting a complete day in the U.K. for that passport copy. I'll just copy the picture & signature page of my passport then? I reckon this is the page required for her application? In my passport it's the first page (hard plastic thingie) whereas in the U.K. it's one of the last pages right?

Thank you !!!

I gave my wife a copy (of the page with my photo) and to be sure also my actual passport when she went to apply for the fp.
I don't know if the copy was ok or if they made a fresh copy during the application. Anyway, my passport was not taken in as supporting document.

I am not sure if the uk visa application centre in mexico will also not demand an "endorsed" copy. I would ask them to be sure.
This is how I asked (dug up from my mail archives):

My wife will apply for a Family Permit so we can travel together to England. According to the information on the UKBA website, one of the supporting documents we have to submit is:
"a copy of the EEA national's passport, endorsed by the EEA national's embassy in the country of application"

May we instead not submit my original passport itself? It seems a bit silly we have to visit the Dutch embassy to buy a stamp on a copy of my passport while I could simply submit my passport instead of the endorsed copy.

I hope the mexican uk visa office will be as friendly as the taiwanese one.

In your first post you were praying for an option to skip the requirement for a visa. Now you seem to prefer to apply for one. Personally, if I had to choose between travelling together with my wife after our honeymoon without a visa or having her to deal alone with the bureaucracy of a visa, I would choose the former.

sc2012uk wrote:I hope the mexican uk visa office will be as friendly as the taiwanese one.

Guys, if you read the post i made a couple of posts back, other than the website, it does not appear to say that an endorsed passport copy is required.

I got the same email from UKBA when I asked (different country). Any problems refer them to the guidance document I gave the link for earlier.

Jambo wrote:In your first post you were praying for an option to skip the requirement for a visa. Now you seem to prefer to apply for one. Personally, if I had to choose between travelling together with my wife after our honeymoon without a visa or having her to deal alone with the bureaucracy of a visa, I would choose the former.

I forgot mentioning the following . I will actually go and visit my fiancée end of this month so I figured we might as well get married by law. This leaves her with almost 1,5 months until our HM. So then I figured, why not apply for the VISA? This way she can have her passport back AND have her VISA before we even go on our HM. That is basically the reason why I prefer to actually try and get the VISA as she will still be able to travel to the U.K. with me after our HM.

If for some reason they will not give her the VISA I'll just take her through the EU gate at the airport for the stamp. I think this should be waterproof to ensure her successful entry.

@ sc2012uk: Thank you for the information about the endorsed passport copy. I'll send a similar mail to the application center in Mexico and do hope they are as kind as the Taiwanese were for you!

Best of luck with plans.

If you apply just a few days after the marriage, I suggest you provide with the application evidence of your relationship. Otherwise, they might suspect of a marriage for immigration purposes.

looking back, i think we never needed my wife's FP.
I doubt they will (be able to) stop you guys at the eu gate with your proof of marriage (edit: and the above mentioned proof of relationship) and your passport.

( and if your wife does get the shiney new FP in her passport...great, then one day you can show your grandchildren that trophy. They will be hard to impress because they may own 3 passports themselves: dutch + mexican + british )

sc2012uk wrote:looking back, i think we never needed my wife's FP.
I doubt they will (be able to) stop you guys at the eu gate with your proof of marriage (edit: and the above mentioned proof of relationship) and your passport.

( and if your wife does get the shiney new FP in her passport...great, then one day you can show your grandchildren that trophy. They will be hard to impress because they may own 3 passports themselves: dutch + mexican + british )

Hahaha yeah mate, I think they won't be easily impressed but they should be forever grateful for the effort made by their pops as growing up in Mexico isn't all that good looking at the current state of (drug war) affairs in the North.

@Jumbo: We will definitely gather some evidence to proof our relationship. We've been together for almost three years now and we've travelled all over Europe and Latin-America so pictures etc. the plenty. What kind of relationship proof would you recommend aside from pictures?

RobskiG wrote:...What kind of relationship proof would you recommend aside from pictures...

Theoretically no evidence is required, but if it's easy, you could provide evidence that you have met and have been in a relationship before now. Use your judgement.

BTW, do you know that after working in the UK, you can settle back in Holland under EU law?

RobskiG wrote:@Jumbo: We will definitely gather some evidence to proof our relationship. We've been together for almost three years now and we've travelled all over Europe and Latin-America so pictures etc. the plenty. What kind of relationship proof would you recommend aside from pictures?

Although as EUsmileWEallsmile said, theoretically no evidence is required, I would think that if you don't provide additional information proving the relationship is genuine, it will get refused (a Dutch person living in the UK coming to Mexico to marry a local girl which applies a week after to move to the UK - too easy for them to refuse).

Best would be evidence you lived together or having children.

Failing that then proof that your relationship has some history. You said you travelled together - copies of your flights tickets, pictures from the past, phone calls record when you were apart, travel record of you visiting her before etc.

....or skip the whole process...and just turn up!

[quote="EUsmileWEallsmile"]....or skip the whole process...and just turn up![/quote]

Best advice from Jambo and Eusmile as I am in the same situation with my Mexican partner. We applied for an unmarried partner FP and got refused, and although we have appealed it, seems like turning up at the border with a marriage certificate will be much quicker in order for us to be together as appeals can take up to 6 months....by the way, we included just a copy of my bio data page of passport to the Mexican Embassy and it was just fine!

But like Jambo said, make sure you have proof of your relationship prior to the wedding as they will find anything to pick on to refuse.

Very well written Jambo!

Dear Applicant,

Thank you for contacting WorldBridge Service, The UK Border Agency's Commercial Partner. We appreciate your patience regarding the response to your enquiry as WorldBridge strives to provide the most accurate responses to all enquiries. Below you will find the response to that enquiry.


Per the information given,


Those are the only 2 options you have whather you send original passport or a certified copy

This is their reply to my e-mail regarding the endorsed passport. I can't believe this (#*@ seriously. The Dutch Embassy works with some kind of electronic appointment system and are booked full until July. There goes my great plan. I am thinking of leaving my dutch ID card with my fiancée instead of of course they won't accept that as valid. Even though it would grant me access to the U.K.

gonna give the embassy a call on monday see if they can see me on tuesday on some kind of exception. fingers crossed.

With all the posts coming at a similar time, perhaps you did not notice this:

A straight photocopy of the biometrics page should be sufficient in most cases.

I know it says this on the website http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/eucit ... documents/

Quote:
a copy of the EEA national's passport, endorsed by the EEA national's embassy in the country of application)


However, in this document http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... permit.pdf

it says this

Quote:
Evidence of your sponsor’s nationality
This could be copies of:
bio-data pages from their passport
their national identity document
their residence permit


I'm not sure what evidence the UKBA expects to see for spouse visas, but suspect that they don't ask for a certified photocopy of the British citizen's passport.

RobskiG wrote:

Dear Applicant,

Thank you for contacting WorldBridge Service, The UK Border Agency's Commercial Partner. We appreciate your patience regarding the response to your enquiry as WorldBridge strives to provide the most accurate responses to all enquiries. Below you will find the response to that enquiry.


Per the information given,


Those are the only 2 options you have whather you send original passport or a certified copy

This information was written by Worldbrige, who are not the UKBA.

If you want an email, email UKBA direct, you might get the right answer you might not. At least three people have independently either made applications without the endorsed passport in different locations.

Relax.

EUsmileWEallsmile wrote:

RobskiG wrote:

Dear Applicant,

Thank you for contacting WorldBridge Service, The UK Border Agency's Commercial Partner. We appreciate your patience regarding the response to your enquiry as WorldBridge strives to provide the most accurate responses to all enquiries. Below you will find the response to that enquiry.


Per the information given,


Those are the only 2 options you have whather you send original passport or a certified copy

This information was written by Worldbrige, who are not the UKBA.

If you want an email, email UKBA direct, you might get the right answer you might not. At least three people have independently either made applications without the endorsed passport in different locations.

Relax.

You are right EUsmileWEallsmile, due to many posts at once I have missed your reply. I have also seen the PDF document only stating the bio-data pages as required. They are trying to mess with my mind over at WorldBridge.

The PDF file also contains many things that seem completely irrelevant to me. My fiancée had a good job but quit to prepare the wedding knowing that we are moving to the U.K. anyway. Thus, she cannot provide any documentation stating she is currently employed.

I'll try to bring as many of these documents as required (such as Dutch bank statements) showing I have sufficient funds to sustain for the first couple of months and a contract + letter of work showing that I will have more than sufficient funds available in the future. Even though it may not be required I hope it'll help!

If you are working, and I note that you will be from July, you don't need any evidence that you can support her.

If there's anything in the application form that is not relevant to the base case, you don't need to include it.

The base case is (for you):

EU is a worker (contract of employment)
You are EU (passport copy)
Non-EU passport (your wife's passport)
Marriage certificate
A statement from you that you will be traveling together or she will be joining you.

Hope this helps!

I agree. Make the application simple. You don't want to add some extra evidence that might confuse the ECO and used as an excuse for refusal (there have been such cases).

RobskiG wrote:

Dear Applicant,

Thank you for contacting WorldBridge Service, The UK Border Agency's Commercial Partner. We appreciate your patience regarding the response to your enquiry as WorldBridge strives to provide the most accurate responses to all enquiries. Below you will find the response to that enquiry.


Per the information given,


Those are the only 2 options you have whather you send original passport or a certified copy

This is their reply to my e-mail regarding the endorsed passport. I can't believe this (#*@ seriously. The Dutch Embassy works with some kind of electronic appointment system and are booked full until July. There goes my great plan. I am thinking of leaving my dutch ID card with my fiancée instead of of course they won't accept that as valid. Even though it would grant me access to the U.K.

gonna give the embassy a call on monday see if they can see me on tuesday on some kind of exception. fingers crossed.

They will definitely accept your Dutch ID card. No exception needed. It is in the law.

Directive/2004/38/EC wrote: They will definitely accept your Dutch ID card. No exception needed. It is in the law.

Correct, but equally a photocopy of it should be fine according to the pdf link I sent to the OP.

As I wrote much earlier in this thread:

fysicus wrote:If you are not a visa national, I would never consider to get an unnecessary EEA FP. Even though it is free, it is a lot of hassle. You grossly overestimate the probability that a non-visa national is denied entry to the UK.

Still not convinced?? How much time, effort and money have you spent already on something that is not needed??

Am I missing something?
With a EEA FP - the wife will be able to work as soon as she arrives in the UK.

Without the FP technically she will be able to work once she is married, but it's difficult to prove to a potential employer, so in practice she will have to wait months until the EEA2 is issued.
So it's not useless to apply for a Family Permit!

EUsmileWEallsmile wrote:With all the posts coming at a similar time, perhaps you did not notice this:

A straight photocopy of the biometrics page should be sufficient in most cases.

I know it says this on the website http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/eucit ... documents/

Quote:
a copy of the EEA national's passport, endorsed by the EEA national's embassy in the country of application)


However, in this document http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... permit.pdf

it says this

Quote:
Evidence of your sponsor’s nationality
This could be copies of:
bio-data pages from their passport
their national identity document
their residence permit


I'm not sure what evidence the UKBA expects to see for spouse visas, but suspect that they don't ask for a certified photocopy of the British citizen's passport.

why do you expect that they don't ask for a certifiied copy of the BC's passport - they do in many embassies. The practice does differ with some embassies accepting normal photocopies and others not. If Worldbridge have stated that it should be certified then for the sake of a tenner to have this done by a solicitor or notary public or an official at the Dutch embassy it is worthwhile