Schengen visa appl. for EEA family member travelling alone

I think that has been discussed here a few times already but I would like to ask once again for clarfication.

My wife plans on travelling to the Netherlands alone. I just called the local Dutch consulate and they told me that she would have to apply for a Schengen visa on her own and not as an EEA family member.

My interpretation of the CCI VII. 4 regarding charges would be that she would not have to pay for the visa because of the relationship. No mentioning of travelling together.

Does this mean she cannot apply as a family member and has to pay?

I initially thought that a non-EEA family member travelling to a schengen state without his/her EU spouse would ned to qualify for a schengen visa on individual merit = filling the application for in full, providing a mass of documentary evidence & paying the full fee.

Somewhere on this forum (I forget which thread) I was advised that this is not the case and that the visa would be issued free of charge because of the non-EEA family member status.

I still have my doubts...

A visa is issued free of charge for a family member of the EU citizen once they can prove they are a family member i.e marriage certificate!

Here is the directive below check out page 5 article 4 read carefully! And also page 2 no. 8!!!


http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/sit ... 350048.pdf

In writing, yes, but what about in practice?

Anyone with 1st hand experience: Non-EEA family member travelling solo within the EU, applied for Schengen visa, declared they were travelling WITHOUT EU family member and got visa free of charge?

The non-EU spouse or family member of an EU citizen has a right of free movement in the EU which is ever bit as powerful as the EU citizen, but it is "contingent" on travelling with (or to join) the EU citizen.

A member state can, but is not required to, grant the free movement right to the non-EU family member when they are not travelling with the EU family member. If they are travelling together, the member state does not have a choice.