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I'm confused. Basel is in Switzerland. Why would you fly to Basel, exit to France and return to Switzerland? By the way, your wife doesn't hold "A valid UK residence permit with the endorsement "family member of EEA national". She has a UK visa.gpm468 wrote:Ok so if we go direct to Zurich she needs a Schengen visa issued by Switzerland.
Given this from the French Consulate website
The foreign spouse of a EU national enter France without visa if holding:
- A valid travel document;
- A valid UK residence permit with the endorsement "family member of EEA national"
- and if they are joining or travelling with the EU national
the alternative is travelling to France (e.g. Basel) then on to Switzerland? (assuming she gets a UK residence card*). Would she be breaking the law by crossing the border from France to Switzerland?
(*this leads me to another question which is I'm sure covered in other postings, because I believe treaty rights allow my wife to travel with me (a UK citizen/resident) without her necessarily being a UK resident or even having permission to enter the UK)
She doesn't qualify for this residence card if you are British and you both are living in the UK under UK immigration law. This is applicable to EU citizens (excluding British citizens) who have non-EU spouses and use the EU Family Permit under the EU directive and the EU citizen exercise treaty rights in the UK.but I assume that if she applies and gets one (at the cost of £65)
I think you are confusing the freedom of movement within the EU with treaty rights. You can only exercise treaty rights by working, studying or proving self sufficient when you move to another EU state. Holidays are not included in treaty rights for the purpose you are asking about.BUT... don't the treaty rights allow me (as UK Citizen and resident) to travel to any EU country (except UK) with my wife, requiring only her valid travel document (passport) and proof of our marriage? The fact that she is currently a UK resident and visa holder doesn't take away this right?
For the purpose of the Schengen Agreement, Switzerland is indeed part of the EU. She will need a Schengen visa for both France and Switzerland. No, the airlines do not have to allow boarding and they would be well within their rights to refuse your wife to fly.Casa - Indeed I wouldn't expect an airline to allow boarding to a flight to Switzerland as it's not EU, but surely they have to allow boarding if we satisfy the treaty rights requirements for travel to an EU country?
The advise would be the same, to avoid delays and problems traveling, if the non-EU spouse would usually require a Schengen visa, it would be safer to apply for it rather than risk refusal to board an aircraft.CR001 - thank you for clarifying about the residence card. But are you saying that if I were (say) Polish and had brought a non-EEA spouse to live in the UK, then I wanted to visit France, I wouldn't need a visa to travel UK>France.
You're confusing two different immigration routes. EU rules on immigration were brought in for those EU citizens who cannot use their native state's immigration laws (because they don't live there) nor their local immigration laws (they are not German, French, whatever) so the EU device these rules for such people caught this this.gpm468 wrote:OK it seems even more confusing now (although the points are mainly academic for me now). And apologies that the subject of discussion has drifted off-topic to 'travel to France'.
So this is my understanding from what people on this topic have written (I will use 'spouse' as shorthand for family member):
1) A non-EEA national cannot apply for a UK residence card if they already hold a visa to reside in the UK (although the relevant pages on http://www.gov.uk do not seem to state or imply this)
2) UK residence cards are issued routinely to non-EEA spouses of EEA (non-UK) citizens/residents coming to live in the UK
3) The only circumstances a non-EEA spouse of a UK citizen can apply for a UK residence card is if they have entered the UK (without a visa) on the 'Surinder Singh' route following the UK spouse settling in another EEA country and then returning to UK
4) UK residence cards do not state 'family member of EEA national' (does anyone know why not?) and therefore do not satisfy the criteria on the French consular website for non-visa entry to France
However, aside from all the points above, I am still unsure why I can't travel to France with my non-EEA spouse under Treaty Rights? I know there is still ignorance of the rules amongst some staff but fundamentally it is allowed, and so upon explanation, my wife should not be refused boarding of a flight or entry into France?
Casa wrote:Half of Basel is actually in Germanygpm468 wrote:Ok so if we go direct to Zurich she needs a Schengen visa issued by Switzerland.
Given this from the French Consulate website
The foreign spouse of a EU national enter France without visa if holding:
- A valid travel document;
- A valid UK residence permit with the endorsement "family member of EEA national"
- and if they are joining or travelling with the EU national
the alternative is travelling to France (e.g. Basel) then on to Switzerland? (assuming she gets a UK residence card*). Would she be breaking the law by crossing the border from France to Switzerland?
(*this leads me to another question which is I'm sure covered in other postings, because I believe treaty rights allow my wife to travel with me (a UK citizen/resident) without her necessarily being a UK resident or even having permission to enter the UK)
The train station for instance is in Germany but exiting you just cross the street and you are in Switzerland.
I'm confused. Basel is in Switzerland. Why would you fly to Basel, exit to France and return to Switzerland? By the way, your wife doesn't hold "A valid UK residence permit with the endorsement "family member of EEA national". She has a UK visa.