Dependent spouse visa Marriage certificate

[ss3000]

My parents have been in the UK for over 30 years, my dad is naturalised and holds a British passport, whilst my mother has an Indian passport with an indefinite leave stamp.

We wish to visit the Schengen region next month and wanted to get a spouse visa for my mother, however upon going to TLS (French embassy) to submit documentation for the visa, there was an issue with the marriage certificate.

My parents married in India, but the certificate has not been notarized/ authenticated by the Indian embassy in London as there was never a need to do so. Upon reading up from the HCI London website, they state that for the marriage certificate to be authenticated in the UK, it needs to be signed by the MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) office in Delhi, India.

Now we have made bookings and arrangements to travel next month. Is there no existing option to apply for a visa to visit France without having a notarized marriage certificate?
Do my parents really have to go to India first and get their certificate signed by the MEA and then signed here before they can even consider applying for a visa to visit the Schengen region?


Can someone please help and shed some insight on what we should do.

Thanks

[chaoclive]

Sorry, I'm not sure but I wouldn't think it should be necessary. What if you were to apply via another Embassy? I know that the Netherlands and Germany are relatively open. She is the spouse of an EEA citizen after all!

Just out of interest, is there any reason why she doesn't naturalize too? Does she need to hold her Indian citizenship for some reason?

[CR001]

She can apply for a Schengen visa as a general tourist and pay the relevant fee and provide all the required documents for accommodation, travel insurance, etc etc. If she is visiting France, she should apply to the French embassy.

I too am married to a British Citizen and had to do this to travel to Spain as my marriage certificate is not Apostilled in terms of the Hague convention or notarised.

I would also be interested to know why she has not naturalised as a BC after living in the UK for so many years??

[ss3000]

Many thanks for the reply. There is no general reason for not naturalising, guess as we travel to india quite a bit, its been a reason for her to hold on to the Indian passport, but now I guess its time to apply for the naturalisation process.

My mother had an appointment at TLS Contact yesterday and they turned her away on the basis that the marriage certificate was not authenticated. Will try calling them up on Monday to speak to them regarding this.

Just a quick google for french tourist visa requirements (http://www.visafrance.co.uk/frenchTouristVisa.php) and they state

"Non UK marriage certificates should be legalised/authenticated at the respective embassy in the UK irrespective of the written language."

This is getting confusing.

[CR001]

Non UK marriage certificates should be legalised/authenticated at the respective embassy in the UK irrespective of the written language

Does not apply if your mother submits an application as a general visitor, ie not as a spouse of EU/UK person and she will have to pay the full visa fee if she does it as a general visitor/tourist visa.

[ss3000]

Thanks for the reply CR001, are you sure? My mother is a housewife and hence dependent on my father. Wouldn't she still need to provide an authenticated marriage certificate?

- S

[CR001]

I cannot see it being an if she is a housewife as long as the trip is paid for and she has proof of accommodation etc, she has travel insurance and she can show sufficient funds for her holiday, ie with a bank statement even if it is joint account with her husband.

However, in saying that, I am not sure if the requirements have changed in the 3 years since I did my Schengen visa.

http://www.visafrance.co.uk/frenchTouristVisa.php

[rdg128]

Hi,
I am stuck in a similar situation personally. Any advice or help will be greatly appreciated.