Post
by shyshiny » Sun Oct 19, 2014 2:10 pm
I am British, my wife is Filipino, she has indefinite leave to remain under pre-financial restrictions on non EU spouses. I have travelled twice within the EU with my wife, both times without a schengen and both times succesfully. The first time in about 2010 to Barcelona. We waited at the back of the queue before presenting both our passports and residency card and I stated that this was my wife and she was travelling with me. The passport control officer looked at it, gave us a cursory glance and then allowed us through without question or any word.
The second time I travelled without a schengen was in August 2014 to Lisbon, Portugal. I had a folder with the EEC directive of freedom of movement official directive as long as you can prove your wife is a family member. I had our marriage certificate as evidence of our marriage. The directive states that as long as you can satisfy border immigration of these requirements then they have either let you in or issue a schengen on the spot. Border control can only refuse you entry if you pose a threat to national security or on grounds of health or that it is not in the national interest to admit you. This time I used the exact same method, this is my wife, she is travelling with me. The official said that my wifes biometric card and her passport did not have the vignette stamp stating she was my wife or the official entry stamp into the UK as a fiancee so I passed our marriage certificate across the counter but this was irrelevant evidence to this official and he took us to a waiting area for further investigation. We waited for about 30 minutes and I could see the officials in the office looking at our documentation in a state of confusion. They didn`t appear to know what to do with us. A border official resembling a bad tempered Jose Morinio (Chelsea footie manager)then presents himself and says that we do not have the correct schengen visa. I reply that she is my wife, a UK resident and this is not necessary. The official then says that Portugal is a beautiful country, I agree, sensing that he is having a very bad day and it is better to sweeten him politely at this point. I point out that the airline in the UK (Easyjet) allowed us to travel after checking my wifes residency status and the official says that he could send us back and fine the airline for allowing travel without sufficient documentation. He then states that his word is final and he could send us back, but it is a lot of effort and not really that important so this time he is allowing us to enter but in future we must have the schengen stamp. A female immigration officer then escorts us to passport control and explains that we need the biometric card to state that my wife is a family member and we must apply to get the wording changed to avoid this situation in future. But of course there is only one status for spouses on a biometric card when they have ILR to my understanding.
Now I have three points to make for anyone wishing to test the EEC freedom of movement directive.
1) Be fully prepared with all the evidence of your partners status, marriage certificates and entry stamps in old passports stating there fiancee visa into UK.
2) Be certain that you and your partner can remain calm and not shocked at being put to one side at immigration control. You have to want to do what I did, know your rights and be prepared to stand your ground and hit the red button if they try to throw you out, but you have to do so with intelligence and a calm cool persona or it can ruin your holiday with the shock of the experience.
3) Immigration is a hot issue all over the EU now and you will experience different border policies in different countries. It is not a level playing field and you won`t find the rules applied correctly everywhere. It became evident to me that my wifes biometric card is merely a novelty piece of plastic at Lisbon airport and held no real relevance. The UK has issued these things but failed to communicate the relevance of the bio card to other countries. This was my instinct through our experience. So that is two tests and two wins for freedom of movement. I hope this helps others who wish to travel this way.
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