Schengen Visa for non-EU Spouse

Dear All,

I am British, living in the UK with my non-EU spouse who has a residence permit for 2 years following their FLR(M) application. The card doesn't state my name on it. We want to go to France on holiday, and from everything I've read on the TLS website I understand we will need to pay for a Schengen visa.

There is alot of information here but it's difficult to see what applies to us. Some of you here are talking about a 'free' Schengen visa for spouses of British citizens - do we qualify?

Thanks for any help in advance.

kid13 wrote:Dear All,

do we qualify?

Thanks for any help in advance.

Yes you do qualify to be issued a Schengen visa for France free of charge, on top of that, you do not need to submit other than copy of your passport, your marriage certificate and your spouses passport. Perhaps evidence that you will be travelling together might be required, you can just book your flight, this will suffice for the application.

Thanks for the confirmation.

I don't want to book flights until I'm sure we get the visa - do you think it will be enough to hand in the passports, marriage certificate and application form?

We expect to visit Europe a lot - any idea what the longest visa is they'd issue for a first application?

kid13 wrote:Thanks for the confirmation.

I don't want to book flights until I'm sure we get the visa - do you think it will be enough to hand in the passports, marriage certificate and application form?

We expect to visit Europe a lot - any idea what the longest visa is they'd issue for a first application?

First time would be 3 months multiple, they may require that they need proof that she will be travelling with you, and ticket confirmation would be the easiest way of doing so, they have no reason by law to refuse the visa anyway unless your spouse poses a present and serious threat to the security of France.

Thanks. Would travel insurance be a requirement?

kid13 wrote:Thanks. Would travel insurance be a requirement?

No, it is not required for the visa (but it is advisable to consider it for your own purposes).

kid13 wrote:Dear All,

I am British, living in the UK with my non-EU spouse who has a residence permit for 2 years following their FLR(M) application. The card doesn't state my name on it. We want to go to France on holiday, and from everything I've read on the TLS website I understand we will need to pay for a Schengen visa.

There is alot of information here but it's difficult to see what applies to us. Some of you here are talking about a 'free' Schengen visa for spouses of British citizens - do we qualify?

Thanks for any help in advance.

Directive 2004/38/EC will apply to you if you travel together. The document held is a residence permit and not a residence card, therefore a visa will be required. It will be free and should be issued on a priority basis.

(The permit should state that you are a family member according to the regulations, but the UK don't appear to be following the regulation to the letter).

Thanks guys, very much appreciated.

If I book tickets before we apply for the visa, can anyone help with timescales? I've read that visas are generally processed within 2 weeks - is that true? Can it take longer depending on the non-EU spouse's nationality?

kid13 wrote:Thanks guys, very much appreciated.

If I book tickets before we apply for the visa, can anyone help with timescales? I've read that visas are generally processed within 2 weeks - is that true? Can it take longer depending on the non-EU spouse's nationality?

Delays of more than three weeks are considered to be unreasonable. For a normal visa, nationality can delay matters, but for the spouse of an EU national, that should not be the case.