Travel to France for non-EU citizen with EEA family permit but no residence card

[nicofr]

Hi,

I'm French, resident in the UK, and my wife is a non-EU citizen who recently received her EEA Family Permit, allowing her to travel to the UK to join me.
We would like to travel to France in 2 weeks, and cannot request a Shenghen Visa from the UK because she doesn't have a permanent resident card yet.

It looks like Directive 2004/38/EC may apply to us, but I'm not sure our documents will be accepted by the French border control; here's what makes me worried:

• We have a Hong Kong marriage certificate (in English), but haven't yet received the French transcription for it or the "Livret de famille" from the French consulate
• My wife has an "EEA Family Permit" entry clearance that says "EEA FP: FAMILY MEMBER To join <my name>", but she doesn't have a British Residence Permit yet

Does anyone know if these would be sufficient to be granted access to France under Directive 2004/38/EC?

Thanks,

Nicolas

[dan1988uk]

With a family permit she can request a Schengen visa. Only with a tourist visa is not possible, the German embassy in London confirmed this to me recently.

[nicofr]

Thanks for the reply dan1988uk. Last year my wife (then girlfriend) was in the UK under a short-term study Visa, and when we tried to get a Visa from the French Consulate we couldn't because my wife didn't have a British Residence Number.
So it could be they have different requirements than the German embassy. Or maybe now that she has an EEA Family Permit it might be enough?

If the Shenghen Visa route doesn't work, do you think Directive 2004/38/EC would apply to us though?

[dan1988uk]

Thanks for the reply dan1988uk. Last year my wife (then girlfriend) was in the UK under a short-term study Visa, and when we tried to get a Visa from the French Consulate we couldn't because my wife didn't have a British Residence Number.
So it could be they have different requirements than the German embassy. Or maybe now that she has an EEA Family Permit it might be enough?

If the Shenghen Visa route doesn't work, do you think Directive 2004/38/EC would apply to us though?

What is a “British residence number”?

[nicofr]

What is a “British residence number”?

Sorry, I wasn't clear. This below is the number I'm talking about, as described in the Shengen application form:
"Residence permit or equivalent N°"

Will an "EEA Family Permit number" be accepted for this field? What number would that be? I can see 2 numbers on my wife's EEA Permit.

[dan1988uk]

I put EEA FP number for my stepdaughter’s application.

[nicofr]

Thanks @dan1988uk. We'll try our luck with the EEA FP Number at the French application center, then.

Do you remember the number you used? Was it the VAF Number, or the reference number in red on the top right hand corner of the visa?

Thanks!

[dan1988uk]

Thanks @dan1988uk. We'll try our luck with the EEA FP Number at the French application center, then.

Do you remember the number you used? Was it the VAF Number, or the reference number in red on the top right hand corner of the visa?

Thanks!

The red one, we got her visa just today.