Norwegian Embassy

[toves]

Hi

Does anyone have any experience with the Norwegian Embassy in London?
I am a Norwegian exercising my rights in UK, living here with my Nigerian husband. He has not got a RC yet.
We have decided to move to Norway and today I called the Norwegian Embassy because my husband needs a visa to travel to Norway with me.

According to the EU law a visa should be issued immedeately, however the Norwegian embassy have 6 weeks waiting time only to accept the application because they need to interview all applicants that apply for a Schengen visa the first time!! Then its about two weeks processing time.

When I talked to the embassy, they say he need a guarantour or sufficient fund by bank statements......informed them that this is not correct. He dont need anything except marriage certificate, my passport and proof that I am excersising treathy rights...correct?

Is there any way to walk around this?

[ca.funke]

Does anyone have any experience with the Norwegian Embassy in London?

• • Not specifically with the Norwegian Embassy, so I can only give general information.

I am a Norwegian exercising my rights in UK, living here with my Nigerian husband. He has not got a RC yet.
We have decided to move to Norway and today I called the Norwegian Embassy because my husband needs a visa to travel to Norway with me.

• • Your husband does not necessarily need a visa to travel with you, see >>here<< (scroll down to "EEA family member without Residence Card (Part 2)")

According to the EU law a visa should be issued immedeately, however the Norwegian embassy have 6 weeks waiting time only to accept the application because they need to interview all applicants that apply for a Schengen visa the first time!! Then its about two weeks processing time.

• CHAPTER II
  Application
  Article 9
  Practical modalities for lodging an application
  
  1. Applications shall be lodged no more than three months
  before the start of the intended visit. Holders of a multiple-entry
  visa may lodge the application before the expiry of the visa
  valid for a period of at least six months.
  
  2. Applicants may be required to obtain an appointment for
  the lodging of an application. The appointment shall, as a rule,
  take place within a period of two weeks from the date when the
  appointment was requested.

  Article 5
  Right of entry
  (...)
  2. Family members who are not nationals of a Member State
  shall only be required to have an entry visa in accordance with
  Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 or, where appropriate, with
  national law. For the purposes of this Directive, possession of
  the valid residence card referred to in Article 10 shall exempt
  such family members from the visa requirement.
  Member States shall grant such persons every facility to obtain
  the necessary visas. Such visas shall be issued free of charge as
  soon as possible and on the basis of an accelerated procedure.

  • • If they need 6 weeks to offer an appointment, they would have to outline, in detail, why this is currently (and not normally) the case. They would have to demonstrate that application-numbers rose recently, significantly and unexpectedly, and they would have to justify why they didn´t have the time yet to adjust their staff-base accordingly. Everything else doesn´t justify the "as a rule" requirement in the law...

When I talked to the embassy, they say he need a guarantour or sufficient fund by bank statements......informed them that this is not correct. He dont need anything except marriage certificate, my passport and proof that I am excersising treathy rights...correct?

• • They have to accept that your application cannot be treated according to Norwegian national law, but has to be dealt with according to European law.
    
    As such your husband doesn´t even need a visa (see first link above).
    
    If you do want a visa (just to make sure this may be better), the application for any usual "entry-visa" has to be accepted within 2 weeks of applying for an appointment.
    
    For this application, all that can be demanded is:
    • Both your passports
    • the (legalised, apostilled and translated) marriage-certificate
    • proof that your were excercising treaty rights in the UK (this only because you´re Norwegian, wishing to return to Norway)
    An interview is not necessary, except if they suspect a "marriage of convenience". If this is what they suspect, they have to clearly state this fact and hence ask you for an interview... A "prophylactic" interview without reason is not allowed.

    Article 35
    Abuse of rights
    Member States may adopt the necessary measures to refuse,
    terminate or withdraw any right conferred by this Directive in
    the case of abuse of rights or fraud, such as marriages of conve-
    nience. Any such measure shall be proportionate and subject to
    the procedural safeguards provided for in Articles 30 and 31.

    • • In short, Article 30 and 31 describe that you have to be informed about measures taken against you, in writing.

Is there any way to walk around this?

• • Hope I described that, indeed, you have the law on your side...

Please let us know how it went!
Rgds & good luck,
Christian

[toves]

Thanks a lot
This is exactly what I taught.
The norwegian embassy had the same waiting time for an application in late October.We then checked if he could get a visa from the London Embassy so we could spend christmas in Norway.

On the 27th of October the earliest appointment date was 21st of December.

I asked the embassy today about their timeframe and the answer was: I am sorry, there is nothing we can do about it!!

I think I will write a letter to the Embassy qouting the rules, seem it can be rather much hassle going to Calais with only the papers. We are going to drive up to Norway

[toves]

One more thing

On the application form on the portal, its mandatory to fill in
host, person or company
who will cover the travel/living cost

This is information that shouldnt be necessary to submit, on the old paper application it said that if you are married to an EU national you should not fill in these fields.
I also doubt that they are allowed to charge the visa fee, even though it will be refunded.

[dasjoker]

Thanks a lot
This is exactly what I taught.
The norwegian embassy had the same waiting time for an application in late October.We then checked if he could get a visa from the London Embassy so we could spend christmas in Norway.

On the 27th of October the earliest appointment date was 21st of December.

I asked the embassy today about their timeframe and the answer was: I am sorry, there is nothing we can do about it!!

I think I will write a letter to the Embassy qouting the rules, seem it can be rather much hassle going to Calais with only the papers. We are going to drive up to Norway

How long you guys been married and been in the UK?

[toves]

We have been married 15 months, been in UK since December, before that we stayed in Ghana for some months.

[dasjoker]

We have been married 15 months, been in UK since December, before that we stayed in Ghana for some months.

I am not quite sure but your application might be under Norwegian law instead of EEA. Also I think it would be too risky to go without visa, in case of refusing on the border where you can go back with having RC in the UK?

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

http://eumovement.wordpress.com/other-schengen/ has a bunch of bright-yellow highlighted documents about how Schengen embassies are supposed to process family member visas. Worth reading through and quoting to the embassy.

Have you been working in the UK since December? Your right to return to Norway on the basis of EU law depends on you having worked in the host member state.

Also, have you considered getting a German schengen visa (by post!) and fly there on Ryanair for a quick weekend visit. Nice place and nice people. You can also visit other EU member states on the same visa. Ah, Norway!

[toves]

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Have you been working in the UK since December? Your right to return to Norway on the basis of EU law depends on you having worked in the host member state.

Also, have you considered getting a German schengen visa (by post!) and fly there on Ryanair for a quick weekend visit. Nice place and nice people. You can also visit other EU member states on the same visa. Ah, Norway!

I have been working since beginning of January, Germany is nice, but I have a teen age daughter that wants to go "home" to Norway.

Thanks I will read trough it

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

What exactly did they tell you?

http://www.norway.org.uk/Embassy/visas/visas/eea/

It is not necessary to submit any other documents, although the Embassy strongly recommends that you always travel with a valid travel insurance.

If I were you I would do the application by post, even though they say that is just for applicants who have previously had a visa. This forces them to refuse you in writing.

You will need a carefully written cover letter referring to the Singh ruling of the ECJ, and will have to include a UK pay slip. I would also explain in the cover letter that there are only three possible reasons for them to refuse the visa, none of which apply in this case, and that if they intend to refuse your application, that you want them to check with Norway.


Also see http://www.udi.no/Norwegian-Directorate ... nationals/ This applies to you because you have been living in the UK and have been working. This is the Singh ruling! I would also print this out and include it in the visa application!