eu Family permit issued in greece

[xhesika]

My Albanian husband and I have been living in Greece.He has been there since 2006, I have been there since January 2007, I have my yellow residence card dated Feb 2008 so this is proof of my residence, well at least since Feb 2008, I am British.

We are currently gathering together all the papers required by the greek authorities in order for my husband to apply for a EU family permit WHICH we have been told is for 10 years?>> is this true?

Does this entitle us to travel to any EU country or must he apply at each and every countries embassy?

Which route would be best for him to come to UK after our baby is born? EU OR UK LAW? What would we require in order for the application to be successful? (he has been refused 2 visit visas and 2 spouse visas to uk in the past (see my other posts) )

I am no longer in Greece, I am 7 months pregnant so have come back to UK for the birth.

Our baby will have a british birth certificate.

How can we register our babies birth in Albania seeing as my husband in in greece and I am here? must I register in London or athens at the albanian embassy or must we register the birth together?

Its kind of a mixed post but hoping someone can help as currently going out of my mind again!

[xhesika]

anybody ? please ? any info on any of the above would be great, doesn't have to be a complete solution!

[86ti]

We are currently gathering together all the papers required by the greek authorities in order for my husband to apply for a EU family permit WHICH we have been told is for 10 years?>> is this true?

Not sure what you exactly mean here. Why greek authorities?

The UK EEA family permit is valid for six months. After arrival you would apply for a residence card which is valid for up to five years.

Does this entitle us to travel to any EU country or must he apply at each and every countries embassy?

The EEA family permit is a entry clearance for the UK. Why would it entitle you to travel anywhere else? If your husband is legally resident in Greece he must have a proper residence title which should entitle him to travel freely within the Schengen area.

Which route would be best for him to come to UK after our baby is born? EU OR UK LAW?

EEA route is free of charge, UK route costs money. But eventually it may simply boil down to the question whether your husband wants to obtain UK citizenship. The UK route is faster. Probably also after the changes to the law currently discussed.

[xhesika]

We are currently gathering together all the papers required by the greek authorities in order for my husband to apply for a EU family permit WHICH we have been told is for 10 years?>> is this true?

Not sure what you exactly mean here. Why greek authorities?

The UK EEA family permit is valid for six months. After arrival you would apply for a residence card which is valid for up to five years.

Does this entitle us to travel to any EU country or must he apply at each and every countries embassy?

The EEA family permit is a entry clearance for the UK. Why would it entitle you to travel anywhere else? If your husband is legally resident in Greece he must have a proper residence title which should entitle him to travel freely within the Schengen area.

Which route would be best for him to come to UK after our baby is born? EU OR UK LAW?

EEA route is free of charge, UK route costs money. But eventually it may simply boil down to the question whether your husband wants to obtain UK citizenship. The UK route is faster. Probably also after the changes to the law currently discussed.

The Greek authorities i.e Council/visa issuing offices have said this visa that my husband will be applying for will be valid for 10 years, this is an EU permit that will give my husband residence in Greece for ten years on the basis that I am an EU citizen and he is married to me and I have been exercising my treaty rights in Greece..............Apparently!

I mean if the above is true, CAN my husband travel to any other shengen area with the above residence card/visa?

At the minute neither me nor my husband are bothered about him getting UK citizenship, we never have been, we are just bothered about being back together and being able to enjoy ours and now our son's (unborn) life together, not apart.......

Its hard to explain to people that we would quite happily live in Greece if it wasn't for the inadequate and very expensive healthcare that is provided there not to mention the language barrier.....3 obs/gyn appts in Greece and none spoke English.....4 neurologist appts and just one old doctor spoke very broken English !

I also need an employer who can't sack me if I need to sit for 5mins because I'm dizzy etc....there are no human rights in Greece, I worked from 8am-8pm without a break, drinks ok, no food and definately no sitting! I can't physically do that due to health problems.....OTHERWISE we WOULD live in Greece, the money my husband could earn there is the same money as he could earn here, the houses are much cheaper to rent and the weather is lovely BUT its not practical nor a safe bet.....but the Uk citizenship bit can wait!

( I dont even know the answers to most of the citizenship test questions, so how immigrants are supposed to know them I have no idea! yes ok they learn them but isn't it the same as reading a book from front to back and then being asked to point out certain things? this test in my opinion is the wrong way to gain citizenship. )

When our baby is born I will register him here in the UK but how can we register his birth in ALBANIA?

Anyway thankyou for your reply and if you or anyone else can help with anything I would be very grateful!

[86ti]

The Greek authorities i.e Council/visa issuing offices have said this visa that my husband will be applying for will be valid for 10 years, this is an EU permit that will give my husband residence in Greece for ten years on the basis that I am an EU citizen and he is married to me and I have been exercising my treaty rights in Greece..............Apparently!

I mean if the above is true, CAN my husband travel to any other shengen area with the above residence card/visa?

Oh, you were talking about a Greek residence permit. I don't know anything about that. EU law only requires it to be valid for up to 5 years. A residence permit, however, is just a confirmation of rights and in principle it shouldn't be necessary to apply for one, except for obvious practical purposes. After 5 years of continuoulsy exercising your treaty rights he will obtain permanent residence anyway. So it doesn't make sense to me to issue a 10 year's permit.

I think this permit should be fine for all Schengen states and in principle for the whole EEA area but there are still problems, in particular with the UK and Ireland.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

Are you planning to stay in Greece?

Good news that the greeks will issue your husband a "Residence Card" for the family member of an EU citizen. Normally it is for 5 years, but 10 is just as good.

Is your intent that your husband be with you in the Uk for the birth of your baby? Are you planning to both move to the UK in the near future, or stay in (warm!) greece?

[xhesika]

Hi, No I would prefer to stay in UK as I have mentioned that the health system in Greece is not willing to welcome me with open arms without having to pay through the roof and I need regular health care which is not provided on the level that I need, costly or free, it is pointless.

I am now in Uk without my husband and shall be for some time, at least until end of April.

My husband has had to gather so many papers together for the "eu residence" that it has cost us MORE than his usual visa (a 2 year visa, regardless of being married to me) and now the Greek council to whom he has submitted his papers are saying that I must be there for an interview in order for them to grant him eu residence, which is pretty shite as I am now the size of a small house and am not allowed to fly until at least April!

We couldn't care less about my husband gainng citizenship we just want to be together, I know how hard it is without a dad, I don't want my son to go through the same as me.

The government seem hell bent on destroying our life, They have now raised the age limit of a spouse visa to 21 and I am not 21 until August ( yes I am young, but me and hubby have been together for nearly 6 years now and married for nearly 4.......unfortunately not been living in another eu country for 4 consecutive years in order to qualify for the 4 year citizenship rule! which is a huge bum! ) .....................

The point is...it is economically better for us to stay in Greece but they don't cater for my health......my husband earns same money in Greece as UK and has now passed his CAT C licence which will allow him to broaden his choice on work for the whole year.....

In 2008 he earnt €1400 per month for 6 months of the year (€300 a month of that pays for his insurance) and the other 6 months he spent earning €60 per day on average 4days per week AND we rented a house for less than €300 (incl elec+water) per month!

so in theory he earns more than uk and pays out less than uk.

it all seems so cruel to me that some people have to go through this kind of heartbreak, but what can we do except fight it and persevere>? ( it makes it slightly bearable when you get a nice post on here)

a sad and lonely penguin! x

[charles4u]

Hi, No I would prefer to stay in UK as I have mentioned that the health system in Greece is not willing to welcome me with open arms without having to pay through the roof and I need regular health care which is not provided on the level that I need, costly or free, it is pointless.

I am now in Uk without my husband and shall be for some time, at least until end of April.

My husband has had to gather so many papers together for the "eu residence" that it has cost us MORE than his usual visa (a 2 year visa, regardless of being married to me) and now the Greek council to whom he has submitted his papers are saying that I must be there for an interview in order for them to grant him eu residence, which is pretty shite as I am now the size of a small house and am not allowed to fly until at least April!

We couldn't care less about my husband gainng citizenship we just want to be together, I know how hard it is without a dad, I don't want my son to go through the same as me.

The government seem hell bent on destroying our life, They have now raised the age limit of a spouse visa to 21 and I am not 21 until August ( yes I am young, but me and hubby have been together for nearly 6 years now and married for nearly 4.......unfortunately not been living in another eu country for 4 consecutive years in order to qualify for the 4 year citizenship rule! which is a huge bum! ) .....................

The point is...it is economically better for us to stay in Greece but they don't cater for my health......my husband earns same money in Greece as UK and has now passed his CAT C licence which will allow him to broaden his choice on work for the whole year.....

In 2008 he earnt €1400 per month for 6 months of the year (€300 a month of that pays for his insurance) and the other 6 months he spent earning €60 per day on average 4days per week AND we rented a house for less than €300 (incl elec+water) per month!

so in theory he earns more than uk and pays out less than uk.

it all seems so cruel to me that some people have to go through this kind of heartbreak, but what can we do except fight it and persevere>? ( it makes it slightly bearable when you get a nice post on here)

a sad and lonely penguin! x

I'm sorry for your problems and I must tell you that you are not the only one in this similar problem.

I must also say its very prefarable to stay in a country atleast till he gains his citizenship then you can relocate if wanting to, also for the interview thing ...well thats 100% forsure you have to be there with him for the interview cus you are the one his getting his rights from asper the EU citizen. (My wife travelled from UK to Romania just for 1hr interview)

[86ti]

The Greek authorities i.e Council/visa issuing offices have said this visa that my husband will be applying for will be valid for 10 years, this is an EU permit that will give my husband residence in Greece for ten years on the basis that I am an EU citizen and he is married to me and I have been exercising my treaty rights in Greece..............Apparently!

I mean if the above is true, CAN my husband travel to any other shengen area with the above residence card/visa?

Oh, you were talking about a Greek residence permit. I don't know anything about that. EU law only requires it to be valid for up to 5 years. A residence permit, however, is just a confirmation of rights and in principle it shouldn't be necessary to apply for one, except for obvious practical purposes. After 5 years of continuoulsy exercising your treaty rights he will obtain permanent residence anyway. So it doesn't make sense to me to issue a 10 year's permit.

Not really relevant for this case but I just found out that Austria does the same, i.e. issue a first residence permit valid for 10 years.