Travel with Residence Card - Success Stories

[imbik]

Hi all,
I would like to share my recent story and get some advice, please.

Me( Slovakian citizen) living and working in the UK traveling with my husband( Egyptian) holding a valid Residence Card of a family member of an EEA national ( issued by UK). We traveled together for a holiday from Slovakia to Bulgaria. They have refused my husband at the Bulgarian border and holding his passport for 1 hour. Reason: not having a visa as Bulgaria is not in Schengen area. Bulgarian border officer refused him to enter the country and he must return back. This was midnight and we have been left in the street in the middle of the night, our travel agency bus left us too. Nightmare experience. Is this even allowed to be treated like this?
I would like some advice please on this situation so I can avoid this in the future.
Also, can he travel accompanied by my self in all EU countries or only Schengen areas? Does he need a visa for entering the non-Schengen country ( such as Bulgaria)?
Thank you all,
Lucia

Without modesty, it is simply disgusting and what you should normally expect from Bulgaria. My wife is a dual citizen (Bulgarian and Turkish) and we need to go to Sofia 2 months later. We all have (our 2 children and me) a valid residence card issued in the UK.

It is obvious that we can enter Bulgaria as a family with no visa whether if it is in shengen area or not, moreover my wife has got a Bulgarian passport. Unfortunately we still have outdated political problems between TR and BG, so they know my wife is originally Turkish and when we humbly asked to Bulgarian consulate in London to confirm if we can enter Bulgaria without visa, they shared the most nonsense information to force us for a visa application.

If being not in shengen area is a problem, what about this;

I need to go to Ireland (which is not in shengen area either) next month. I emailed Irish consulate and asked if I could enter the country by my UK residence card. They replied in 24 hours and said that no visa was required. They even didn't say I should go with my EU citizen wife (that I actually should).

I am pretty sure that we will have serious problems in Sofia airport even they know that their attitude will be against the Directive 2004/38/EC. But we are ready, it will not be our first time

[dan1988uk]

Our success story:

I am an Italian citizen working in the UK, my wife is from the Philippines and she is holding a Residence Card of a Family member of a Union Citizen issued on August 2017. My wife's passport has two expired Schengen Visas and an expired EEA Family Permit.

22nd of February:
Ryanair flight from East Midlands to Italy (my own country) airport Milano Bergamo: my wife's boarding pass has the space for the stamp to "confirm the visa" according to Ryanair policy. Arrived at the airport we didn't have any check in baggage so we went to the Ryanair help desk and I told them that my wife needed a stamp. The lady asked if my wife is holding an Italian ID, I said that she is holding an European Residence Card and I was about to show her the Card. The lady didn't even take a look at the card and she just asked me if I am travelling with my wife, I said yes and she stamped her boarding pass.
No questions at all at the security checks or at the boarding gate.

Arrived in Milano Bergamo we queued in the "EU/EEA/CH" line and at the border I showed to the italian police officer our passports and her Residence Card telling him "she is my wife". Without saying a word the officer put the Card in a reading machine, stamped my wife's passport and let us in.

23rd of February:

Ryanair national flight from Milano Bergamo to Napoli: no request of stamp from Ryanair being that a national flight, no questions at the security checks or at the boarding gate.

27th of February:

Easyjet flight from Napoli to London Luton: automatic check in at the machine, no one asked anything to my wife. No problems at the security checks. At the border checks I told the officer that my wife is not European so he told me to come there instead of following the line at the automatic checks. I told him that she is my wife and he asked me if she had Italian residence permit, I told him that we have European Residence Card and we live in the UK, he said ok and stamped her passport.

At the boarding gate the lady, after scanned my wife's boarding pass, asked her if she had any visa to UK, we showed again the Residence Card and she let us board the plane.

At the UK border in Luton we queued in the EU/EEA line and we showed our passports and the Residence Card to the officer, he probably checked my wife's name on the computer and asked her to scan her fingerprints. After that he let us in without even stamp my wife's passport.

Conclusion:

Before this travel I was afraid because I have read a lot of stories of people having problems while travelling to Schengen with a non EEA spouse holding a Residence Card, I don't know if we have been lucky but it went all smooth for us. No one caused us problems, no one asked for marriage certificate or any other proofs.

[mgb]

Arrived in Milano Bergamo we queued in the "EU/EEA/CH" line and at the border I showed to the italian police officer our passports and her Residence Card telling him "she is my wife". Without saying a word the officer put the Card in a reading machine, stamped my wife's passport and let us in.

Not good.

Schengen borders code article 11 stamping travel documents
.
.
3. No entry or exit stamp shall be affixed:
.
(g) to the travel documents of nationals of third countries who present a residence card provided for in Directive 2004/38/EC.
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/ ... 32016R0399

[dan1988uk]

Arrived in Milano Bergamo we queued in the "EU/EEA/CH" line and at the border I showed to the italian police officer our passports and her Residence Card telling him "she is my wife". Without saying a word the officer put the Card in a reading machine, stamped my wife's passport and let us in.

Not good.

Schengen borders code article 11 stamping travel documents
.
.
3. No entry or exit stamp shall be affixed:
.
(g) to the travel documents of nationals of third countries who present a residence card provided for in Directive 2004/38/EC.
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/ ... 32016R0399

I have read about people who had to argue for hours before being admitted, people sent back and even one accused of helping illegal immigration because his wife didn’t have a Schengen visa: stamp wasn’t a problem.

[jul1]

we went to uk and spain already with the irish article 10 card, no issues at all

we were told to queue in the eu line , that is faster than non-eu at passport checks

they dont even ask for the marriage cert, but that is one official requirement to carry when travelling like this

[boneskiller]

I'd like to ask a question from the opposite side, not from the UK to schengen area but from Spain to the UK with a residence card of a family member of a union citizen.

I'm a non EEA national and I have a residence card of a family member of a union citizen from Spain because I'm married with a spanish citizen. We'd like to travel to the UK together for a short holiday and I'm a bit confused if I need to get a visa or not and british consulate doesn't respond to any e-mail like any ordinary consulate

I've found some information here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... dence-card

But it's a bit confusing because all the information given about living in a different country other than eea national's own country. An example, the non-EEA spouse of a French national who is living and working in Italy may be issued with an Article 10 residence card by the Italian authorities. In this case spouse can travel but another example, a non-EEA spouse of a German national living in Germany will usually hold a residence permit issued under German domestic law. Therefore, a United Kingdom EEA family permit is required for travel and entry to the UK.

Seems in Germany non EEA spouses hold a different thing but in Spain I hold a card written residence card of a family member of a union citizen with the identity number of my partner on the back side of the card.

So do I need a visa or no? Any ideas or experiences?

Depends if its a domestic card or Article 10 card.
if living in Spain with Spanish sponsor how did you get such a card?

See https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/eu-rights-clin ... pril-2015/

I'm not sure if the card was issued under article 10 but you can see the image of the card on this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residence ... on_citizen

So I'm not sure if this could work or not.

Italian authorities also issue residence card of a family member of a union citizen to Italian nationals non EEA family members.

[boneskiller]

My residence permit was issued to me by italian authories since my mother is an italian citizen,on my permit is written "residence card of a family member of a union citizen".I was so worried because my mum is an italian citizen and italian authories issued the card to me.
There was no problem with the airline and the italian immigration service.We arrived at Leeds Bradford airport and my mum showed her id card and i showed my residence card and passport.The officer just stamped my passport with a 6 months visa.I'm in UK now

[miamiheat]

My non-EU girlfriend (not married) has an Irish residence card.
In the last 3 years we have traveled to:

- Spain multiple times never an issue (one time the officer took 2 minutes to go ask a question)
- France at least 4 times by plane and ferry. We were held up 15 minutes once in Toulouse the time they went and checked.
- Germany, once we were held up 30 minutes in Cologne, we were taken to airport police: I explained our situation and had all the documents at hand. The main officer said she believed us, she didn't want to spend hours checking but she was certain my GF represented no threat (we were going 3 days for a trade show).
- Italy Milan once: no issue
- Poland once no issue

I think that covers it.

NOTE: I think ALL places have stamped her passport although they should NOT, I have explained that 2 or 3 times but they still prefer to stamp. So I let them stamp. I actually think it helps in a certain way because any new place she goes to they see stamps all over and assume it all OK (of course it is).

During most of these travels, I carried a folder with the letter from Irish immigration granting her resident status and full of EU directives etc highlighted in the key sections so that any officer asking questions and with a minimum of good will could at least get a clear explanation to start from. Also a couple of times the officer was confused and mentioning Schengen all the time: I told them this has nothing to do with Schengen it is EU rules.


We have now emigrated to Spain and she had to go through the whole process again so after 9 months she will get her Spanish residence card. Real pain the Spanish immigration they will ask you documents that are not listed in their own printed instructions.

[ohmaz87]

Hi everyone, this is my first post here.
I just like to thank you to those who provide knowledge and information in here and for those who provide success stories. I've lurked here previously when I was applying for my partners EEA residence card.
I just have a question if anyone can answer and I'm not sure which thread to post it in.
My situation is I've a Swedish passport and my partner is a non EU with a British residence card, and her national passport can only be renewed whilst physically in Belgium (Brussels). They do not accept application from a person who is away.
The problem is that her passport expired just recently (June 2018, so it's expired for 5 months).
The UK Home Office offer a travel card however Belgium do not accept them. I've emailed the Belgium embassy but they're yet to email me back.

what alternatives do we have?

[secret.simon]

The problem is that her passport expired just recently (June 2018, so it's expired for 5 months).

Why was the passport not renewed earlier? Why can the passport not be renewed in the UK?

Directive 2004/38/EC does require a "valid passport" for entry to a Member-State.

1. Without prejudice to the provisions on travel documents applicable to national border controls, Member States shall grant Union citizens leave to enter their territory with a valid identity card or passport and shall grant family members who are not nationals of a Member State leave to enter their territory with a valid passport.

[ohmaz87]

The problem is that her passport expired just recently (June 2018, so it's expired for 5 months).

Why was the passport not renewed earlier? Why can the passport not be renewed in the UK?

Directive 2004/38/EC does require a "valid passport" for entry to a Member-State.

1. Without prejudice to the provisions on travel documents applicable to national border controls, Member States shall grant Union citizens leave to enter their territory with a valid identity card or passport and shall grant family members who are not nationals of a Member State leave to enter their territory with a valid passport.

Thanks for the reply. The passport being expired is due to a misreading the date previously. We dont tend to travel a lot and use the residence card as id instead.
Her national only have embassy in Belgium in Europe.

Anyways, is there a possibility for any room to negotiate, even for a day?

[secret.simon]

Anyways, is there a possibility for any room to negotiate, even for a day?

As getting access to Belgium gives the person access to the whole Schengen Zone, I think that the Belgian authorities may not allow access to the Schengen zone without a travel document (a Residence Card is not a travel document) to a non-EEA citizen.

Schengen Borders Code

If you are an EU national but you have family members who are not, they can accompany or join you in another EU country.

Your non-EU family members must carry a valid passport at all times and, depending on the country they are from, they may also have to show an entry visa at the border.

Your partner may be able to apply to the Home Office for a Certificate of Travel, but that is at the discretion of the Home Office.

If the country of her nationality does not have a diplomatic presence in the UK, it is possible that they have delegated consular assistance for their nationals in the UK to another country (such as between Canada and Australia or between all countries of the EU). It may be worth checking with the embassy of the country of your partner's nationality whether the passport application can be made in another embassy (or consulate) in London.

[ohmaz87]

Your non-EU family members must carry a valid passport at all times and, depending on the country they are from, they may also have to show an entry visa at the border.

Your partner may be able to apply to the Home Office for a Certificate of Travel, but that is at the discretion of the Home Office.

Thank you for the reply. I've applied for the CoT (black) and now just awaiting reply from HO.
Are there any success stories for someone who has family permit visa?

[Maidavale nick]

Hello everyone
I was wondering if someone could give me some advice.
I am iranian in an unmarried relationship with my Austrian partner living in London and I hold a EU residence card issued by the UK, valid for 5 years.

My partner and I have booked our holidays to go to Amsterdam for a weekend and then to Greece for a week, we have already booked our flights, hotelsand travel insurance.
I'd like to know if I n need a Schengen visa in order to enter Greece or the Netherlands ?

I have been searching online and it clearly says that if you are family member of an Eu citizen and you are travelling to a Schengen country with your partner together then you don't need a visa, but my concern is that we are not married and she is my unmarried partner through whom I have got my uk residence.

thanks for your help in advance.

[secret.simon]

Although you should be fine when travelling to the Netherlands, not all EEA member-states recognize an Article 10 Residence Card issued to unmarried couples, even though, according to Directive 2004/38/EC, they should.

[Maidavale nick]

Thanks for your reply.
I emailed the Dutch embassy in London and asked the same thing, they replied this :

Thank you for your message about travelling to the Netherlands.
In the link below you will read the requirements about when you are exempted from holding a visa for the Netherlands:

https://www.vfsglobal.com/Netherlands/U ... pouse.html

I trust to have informed you sufficiently and I hope you will have a nice time in Holland.

Kind regards,


So I think it’s clear that I don’t need a visa to travel to Netherlands as long as I’m with my partner and have my residence card and Iranian passport with me.

But what do you guys think about Greece ? Do you think I should be able to enter Greece without a Schengen visa too ?
We can show them lots of evidence like tenancy agreement, joint bank statements, car insurance, full uk driving licence for both of us under the same address.

[Maidavale nick]

so i went to the greek embassy in London to apply for a Schengen visa as an Eu family resident card holder, they turned me away straight away, they didn't even let me explain myself, they basically said that we don't care about the Uk or Eu laws, we don't recognise unmarried partners therefore if you need a Schengen visa you need to book an appointment and pay the fees and it can take two or even three weeks.
I took our tenancy agreement, joint bank account, car inusrance and contract with our solicitor who sorted out my resident card but they didn't even have a look at any of them, he said the only thing we accept is a marriage certificate.
so I cancelled my Greece holiday and we are going to Turkey instead for one week, Iranian nationals don't need a visa for turkey, plus turkey has nice beaches, good food, hot sunshine and also a lot cheaper than Greece so we even got the difference in price refunded into our account by jet2holidays.
I could just try to fly to Greece with my resident card and I might've been able to get in but I didn't want to spend the next month worrying about my holiday instead of looking forward to it.
I am however going to try to travel to Amsterdam with my partner for a weekend without a visa and see what happens, I am confident that I will be let in since the Netherlands recognise unmarried partners.
lesson I learnt from this :

An EU resident card is pretty useless for travelling in Europe unless you are travelling with your partner, married and have a marriage certificate in hand.

[mezien]

My story is not about residence card but travel with EUSS Family Permit.

After my wife got her EUSSFP she flew over to UK to join me right away, like directly from TLS Contact to the airport. Our flight to Greece was scheduled to depart in 36 hours so this was literally the last minute.

As we didn't had time to request a visa to Greece but everything was already booked (very bad planning on our side), we decided to wing it and see what happens. Luckily Ryanair let us board the flight, the stewardess asked her colleage about the EUSSFP who replied something like 'Morocco is ok' and signed the boarding pass. Entering Greece was easy, the young immigration officer scratched his head, asked his colleague who nodded, so he stamped my wife's passport and let us enter.

Leaving Greece was slightly harder, the immigration officer kept telling us that my wife needs a visa or residence card and he can't understand how on earth we were allowed to enter Greece. He asked his colleague, called someone on his landline, then he issued the exit stamp still telling us that we do need a residence card. Luckly this took only like 5-10 minutes so we didn't lost the flight.

[Garry20g]

Your non-EU family members must carry a valid passport at all times and, depending on the country they are from, they may also have to show an entry visa at the border.

Your partner may be able to apply to the Home Office for a Certificate of Travel, but that is at the discretion of the Home Office.

Thank you for the reply. I've applied for the CoT (black) and now just awaiting reply from HO.
Are there any success stories for someone who has family permit visa?

Hi. How you solve your problem. Did you receive travel document.

[mkhan2525]

Thought I'd share what is our first and probably last experience using the Mrs EU residence card issued under the Surrinder Singh judgment to enter a schengen country.

We booked a trip to Algarve in Portugal via Ryan Air from East Midlands Airport (EMA). When arriving at EMA my wife had to get a visa check staff on her boarding pass which we got from the Ryan air ticket desk without difficulty when I mentioned to them that my wife had an EU family member residence card.

On arrival at Faro Airport in Portugal, I handed our passports and Mrs residence card to the immigration officer and he repeatedly looked at every page of her passport for a good five minutes before stamping it. We were asked no questions during the entire time. I know they were not suppose to stamp it according to the Directive, it is probably normal procedure because we also got an exit stamp on return from another immigration officer.

On return to the UK from Faro Airport, we had to go to the Ryan air ticket desk desk again to get a visa check stamp on Mrs boarding pass which was issued without any questions. This time we arrived at Birmingham Airport instead of East Midlands.

At Birmingham Airport we joined the EU line, handed our passports to the immigration officer and she asked my wife for two finger prints before stamping her passport. It appears she treated my wife as having a residence card under the UK immigration rules as opposed to EU law. When we arrived at Birmingham airport from a trip to Turkey last year her passport wasn't stamped and nor did they take any finger prints. Any how it didn't worry us as the main thing is that we had a pain free journey to and from Portugal.