Obtaining an EEA card as a UK Resident

[Lyttonwolf]

Hi
I'm a UK National and my wife is a Zimbabwean National with a UK Residence permit (leave to remain as a spouse until 2016). She is currently working full time and we have a 2 year old daughter (UK National with British passport).
We want a weeks holiday in Spain but trying to get a Schengen Visa for my wife has been an expensive nightmare and looking at the alternatives on the UK Home Office website has confused us more.
Some questions:
1) Can she apply for an EEA card which refers to her as the family member of an EEA National?
2) Will this help her get into Spain and other Euro countries with less hassle?
3) How long does it currently take to get this card?
Thanks for your help
Richard

[Jambo]

1. No. This is for non UK EEA citizens or returning UK citizens who worked in the EEA and are returning home.

The Schengen visa should be free and should be easy to obtain (although I agree the Spanish consulate is not fun to deal with. Maybe apply for a visa from a different Schengen member).

[Lyttonwolf]

Thanks, Schengen Visa has so far cost us £80 plus travel to London. And they want us to pay for our holiday in full with no guarantee that we will get a visa at the end of it. Not sure if we should take the risk!

[Choc-Ice]

Hi,

I am currently in the same situation as you and I have already paid for the holiday in July (Spain)..I hold a UK resident permit, My Son and Partner are both British.I haven't applied for the VISA (Schengen) yet but I have checked the application form which seems straight forward but they advise leave enough time I intend to apply to apply 2 months before the holiday..I have trolled the internet for related topics but nothing concrete!

Will like to know how you get onn..

[chaoclive]

The visa should be free!

Remind the Embassy that the applicant is the spouse of an EEA national. Here is a post on the Danish Embassy website:
http://storbritannien.um.dk/en/travel-a ... nationals/

"Holders of Residence Permit on the basis of being married to/partner of a UK national travelling with spouse/prtner: visa required (free of charge)
Documentation required: Proof of family relationship with UK national (Original Marriage or Birth Certificate and passport of UK national (photocopies not accepted), family members other that spouse and children: proof of dependency on UK national or his/her spouse/partner."

[netqueen]

I have a question
If you happen to have derivative residence card granted based on a Zambrano application and want to travel to other European countries say Belgium or Germany, do you follow the same route outlined above, and is it very necessary to include your child in the travel as well. I am of the view that if you have a derivative residence card issued in your passport and want to travel to other EU states briefly and come back (during school time that my daughter cannot come as well) I should be able to do that.
Any ideas on that or any guidelines will be appreciated.


Netqueen

[Lyttonwolf]

Thanks All.
chaoclive - that makes sense but the Spanish have said that my wifes UK Residence Permit was issued under UK law and not European Law and therefore she needs the Schengen visa. I was hoping that maybe the EEA card would mean she can travel more easily because that is issued under European Law. But I'm not sure if she is able to apply for that.

netqueen - thanks, that is a possibility I will look into it.

Choc-Ice - good luck! If/when you make the application in person take your partners British passport. My wife was told on the day that had she taken my passport with her it would only have cost £18 and a lot less hassle. Having said that the girl dealing with her application was more interested in flirting with the bloke at the next desk so she had no great faith in what she was being told! We are still waiting for the visa, hopefully we will get it.

[chaoclive]

It's right that she needs the visa but the visa should be free!

Can you apply to the embassy of another country and then just enter through that country? Although, I'm not sure how strict they are checking on this stuff.