UK citizen wants to visit Spain with EU citizen spouse

[JuliJ]

I am just trying to find out more about Schengen visas and what I might need.

My spouse has an Irish passport, I have a British passport and we live in the UK. We are looking to visit Spain in September for a week or so in order to look for a short term let for the winter - 3 months or more. However, I don't think I can do that as I would only be allowed to stay for 90 days.

So, first question - if we head to Spain for a week in September, will I need a Schengen visa?

If so, will it remain valid to cover me for 2 months and 3 weeks (or whatever would take me up near the 90 day mark) if we then return to Spain in mid-December?

And, finally, am I safe in assuming that I really can't stay for more than 90 days even though I am married to an EU national? I'm guessing this is the case since he doesn't/we don't actually live in an EU country, but the rules are confusing me.

Thanks, any thoughts, ideas are much appreciated!

[meself2]

So, first question - if we head to Spain for a week in September, will I need a Schengen visa?

No need, since you're British - 90 days visa free.

And, finally, am I safe in assuming that I really can't stay for more than 90 days even though I am married to an EU national? I'm guessing this is the case since he doesn't/we don't actually live in an EU country, but the rules are confusing me.

Yes. You'd have to apply for a long term visa, as over 90 days is considered a long term stay (and even a usual Schengen visit visa would only give you 90 days' permission out of 180 days).
Your marriage to Irish citizen doesn't give you an automatic right to stay in the country however long you want, you would have to apply for a residence permit, which I don't think you need as you don't plan to live in Spain.

[JuliJ]

Many thanks for your response. It gave me the nudge I needed to do some research and has confirmed that I don't qualify for any of the long term visas, and that we will just alter our plans for Spain to stay within the 90 day guidelines...

[ALKB]

And, finally, am I safe in assuming that I really can't stay for more than 90 days even though I am married to an EU national? I'm guessing this is the case since he doesn't/we don't actually live in an EU country, but the rules are confusing me.

You can stay longer in Spain if your EU citizen spouse registers their residence in Spain, exercises EU treaty rights (being employed, self-employed, or in full time higher education in Spain) and you apply for a residence card as the family member of an EU national.

I am not sure what your plans are regarding your winter stay, but if you intend to work remotely (which you are not allowed to do on your Schengen tourist status), registering will open up all sorts of tax, social contribution and health care issues.

So if you really just want to visit and do not plan to relocate, it´s probably not worth trying to extend beyond 90 days.

[meself2]

You can, of course, apply for some other visas, but that's a lot of hassle that will probably not be worth it for you.

[vinny]

If you are travelling with your Irish spouse, then you can exercise free movement rights. Brexit probably deters Irexit.

[meself2]

If you are travelling with your Irish spouse, then you can exercise free movement rights. Brexit probably deters Irexit.

They can, but it won't give any extra benefit past three months unless they'll apply for a residence card (which would probably not make sense, as they don't plan to live here).

[vinny]

A residence card is actually not compulsory under Article 25.

[JuliJ]

Thanks everyone for all of the interesting responses!

We (the spouse and I) are actually retiring this year and are not looking to relocate, so as someone else mentioned, using any of the other visa options to stay beyond 90 days just seems like a lot of hassle. We are altering our plans accordingly, since we may want to visit France during the summer once I'm out of Europe for the necessary 180 days.

[whiskeypause]

We (the spouse and I) are actually retiring this year and are not looking to relocate, so as someone else mentioned, using any of the other visa options to stay beyond 90 days just seems like a lot of hassle. We are altering our plans accordingly, since we may want to visit France during the summer once I'm out of Europe for the necessary 180 days.

Your comment doesn’t seem to indicate that you are aware that when you are travelling with your EU citizen spouse those days you spend in the EU don’t count towards the 90/180 rule only those days you are travelling on your own count - apologies if I misunderstood you.

What doesn’t change for you (or your Irish spouse) is any requirement to register for residency in any individual county, which for Spain is if you are spending more than a continuous three months there.

So as the spouse of an EU (Irish) citizen you can spend an awful long time in the EU with your spouse without any issue, far longer than a UK citizen that doesn’t have an EU citizen spouse.