EC 2004/38 based Visa Issued post brexit!

[gillacious_505]

Hello guys,
My family member have been issued a EC 2004/38 based short term visa from NON-EU country from the German embassy. I have the following questions.

1) Can my family member(of an EU national) go to Portugal instead of Germany based on the short term visa?

2) Can the EU national exercise the treaty rights in Portugal instead of Germany.

3) What should be the minimum amount of work the EU national needs to do for the non-eu family member to qualify for the Residence card(from Portugal)

Urgent response is highly appreciated .

Thanks

[noajthan]

Hello guys,
My family member have been issued a EC 2004/38 based short term visa from NON-EU country from the German embassy. I have the following questions.

1) Can my family member(of an EU national) go to Portugal instead of Germany based on the short term visa?

2) Can the EU national exercise the treaty rights in Portugal instead of Germany.

3) What should be the minimum amount of work the EU national needs to do for the non-eu family member to qualify for the Residence card(from Portugal)

Urgent response is highly appreciated .

Thanks

1) Ask German and Portugese embassy.

2) Yes

3) As per EU law, work just has to be genuine and effective.
In UK additional rigorous tests are applied over and above EU law.
I don't know if Portugal does something similar.
Ask Portugese embassy.

You will have to work to live too!

[gillacious_505]

It would be too much to ask from both German and Portuguese embassy. My question is if you get a Schengen Visa which is a based on Freedom of Movement. Shouldn't that be applicable anywhere in the Europe and you can potentially exercise your treaty rights anywhere in the Europe or does it always necessarily have to be the country from where you got the visa which in my case i.e Germany.

I am bit stuck here. Really stuck in a dilemma. Please help.

[noajthan]

It would be too much to ask from both German and Portuguese embassy. My question is if you get a Schengen Visa which is a based on Freedom of Movement. Shouldn't that be applicable anywhere in the Europe and you can potentially exercise your treaty rights anywhere in the Europe or does it always necessarily have to be the country from where you got the visa which in my case i.e Germany.

I am bit stuck here. Really stuck in a dilemma. Please help.

I'm aware some countries place their own restrictions hence my suggestion. Other members have reported problems showing up somewhere with the 'wrong' country's visa.
I don't know if Germany does. Go to the source, ask them.

[Aimar]

Hello guys,
My family member have been issued a EC 2004/38 based short term visa from NON-EU country from the German embassy. I have the following questions.

1) Can my family member(of an EU national) go to Portugal instead of Germany based on the short term visa?

2) Can the EU national exercise the treaty rights in Portugal instead of Germany.

3) What should be the minimum amount of work the EU national needs to do for the non-eu family member to qualify for the Residence card(from Portugal)

Urgent response is highly appreciated .

Thanks

It shouldn't be a problem. I did exactly the same thing with my Third country national spouse, i.e received a German EU family member 2004/38 visa and having landed in Frankfurt in the middle of November decided it was too cold for our liking and headed to Faro.

I would suggest you make your first port of entry through Germany, even that is not essential. After that nobody cares where you end up. When you arrive in Portugal register yourself with the local Camara and get your Certificado and then head to the SEF (immigration) to apply for your spouse's Family member card

Work is thin on the ground in Portugal but you do need to exercise some form of treaty rights.

[gillacious_505]

Hello guys,
My family member have been issued a EC 2004/38 based short term visa from NON-EU country from the German embassy. I have the following questions.

1) Can my family member(of an EU national) go to Portugal instead of Germany based on the short term visa?

2) Can the EU national exercise the treaty rights in Portugal instead of Germany.

3) What should be the minimum amount of work the EU national needs to do for the non-eu family member to qualify for the Residence card(from Portugal)

Urgent response is highly appreciated .

Thanks

It shouldn't be a problem. I did exactly the same thing with my Third country national spouse, i.e received a German EU family member 2004/38 visa and having landed in Frankfurt in the middle of November decided it was too cold for our liking and headed to Faro.

I would suggest you make your first port of entry through Germany, even that is not essential. After that nobody cares where you end up. When you arrive in Portugal register yourself with the local Camara and get your Certificado and then head to the SEF (immigration) to apply for your spouse's Family member card

Work is thin on the ground in Portugal but you do need to exercise some form of treaty rights.

Many Thanks for the reply. I have sent you private message. Can you please have a look .

[Aimar]

Hello gillacious_505,

I received your PM, tried to reply but for some weird reasons its been stuck in my outbox for hours, so I will try to answer your questions as best as I can here on the forum and hope you don't mind.

1. The Residency Certificate that you as the EU citizen obtains at the local Camara has a Five year validity. For this you will need your EU passport, a NIF number (Tax ID Number) this you obtain at the Financas or local tax office and you will also need to take along with your current proof of address. If you don't have a utility bill or such like in Portugal, bring one along with you from wherever you are coming from, you will need it. It will cost you around 15 Euros to obtain the certificate and generally you will be asked to come back and pick it up in the form of an A4 sheet in about 2 days.

2. No, you don't need to be working when you apply, but it helps. You the EU citizen makes a declaration at the Camara that you are either employed, self-employed (for this you can register at the Financas and it is sufficient) or you can apply as a self-sufficient applicant. Keep in mind that the Camara staff may direct you to the local "citizen shops" for the formalities. In any event they will likely not speak English, it is pot-luck if staff will be helpful...or surly.

3. The EU Family member residence card is also valid for 5 years.

4. Your family member qualifies on the strength of your activities. You could be working, self-employed or self-sufficient (pension income), generally if you have significant savings (5 or 6K) you can claim self-sufficiency but then be sure to get private health insurance. In any event you have 4 months grace to make your application.

5. When you arrive in Portugal you have a 90 day period of hassle-free residency, and then a further One month period to acquire residency, you can apply at any time. As the EU citizen i advise you do that immediately you arrive, it's pretty straight-forward.

Lisbon is lovely and I hope you'll have a wonderful time there, happy to help and yes of course....lets keep in touch......all the best.

[Casa]

Members only have the privilege of the PM facility after making 30 posts and until then messages will sit in the outbox. You now have 30 posts so this should be active.
Messages will also sit in the outbox until read by the recipient.

[noajthan]

Hello gillacious_505,

I received your PM, tried to reply but for some weird reasons its been stuck in my outbox for hours, so I will try to answer your questions as best as I can here on the forum and hope you don't mind.

...

Messages only leave outbox when they are picked up.

Anyway posting in public is the whole point of a public forum - so that all those interested may benefit.

Exercising treaty rights as self-sufficient is a valid option under EU law but that option will not pass the UK's current strict Surinder Singh requirements on return to UK (if that is the plan).
So any time spent in the sun as self-sufficient will be a waste of time in terms of any ultimate UK settlement.

[gillacious_505]

Hello gillacious_505,

I received your PM, tried to reply but for some weird reasons its been stuck in my outbox for hours, so I will try to answer your questions as best as I can here on the forum and hope you don't mind.

1. The Residency Certificate that you as the EU citizen obtains at the local Camara has a Five year validity. For this you will need your EU passport, a NIF number (Tax ID Number) this you obtain at the Financas or local tax office and you will also need to take along with your current proof of address. If you don't have a utility bill or such like in Portugal, bring one along with you from wherever you are coming from, you will need it. It will cost you around 15 Euros to obtain the certificate and generally you will be asked to come back and pick it up in the form of an A4 sheet in about 2 days.

2. No, you don't need to be working when you apply, but it helps. You the EU citizen makes a declaration at the Camara that you are either employed, self-employed (for this you can register at the Financas and it is sufficient) or you can apply as a self-sufficient applicant. Keep in mind that the Camara staff may direct you to the local "citizen shops" for the formalities. In any event they will likely not speak English, it is pot-luck if staff will be helpful...or surly.

3. The EU Family member residence card is also valid for 5 years.

4. Your family member qualifies on the strength of your activities. You could be working, self-employed or self-sufficient (pension income), generally if you have significant savings (5 or 6K) you can claim self-sufficiency but then be sure to get private health insurance. In any event you have 4 months grace to make your application.

5. When you arrive in Portugal you have a 90 day period of hassle-free residency, and then a further One month period to acquire residency, you can apply at any time. As the EU citizen i advise you do that immediately you arrive, it's pretty straight-forward.

Lisbon is lovely and I hope you'll have a wonderful time there, happy to help and yes of course....lets keep in touch......all the best.

Thank you so much Aimar that was indeed really helpful and I did receive your message aswell.
Just couple of more questions really...
How long does it take for the family residence card to come through from the date of applying at the SEF?

Are you also opting for Surinder Singh category ? If so after how long you planning to return to UK.

Thanks

[Aimar]

Members only have the privilege of the PM facility after making 30 posts and until then messages will sit in the outbox. You now have 30 posts so this should be active.
Messages will also sit in the outbox until read by the recipient.

Thanks for the heads-up, I seem to remember sending PM's somewhere in the dim past but no matter all's well and good.

[Aimar]

Hello gillacious_505,

I received your PM, tried to reply but for some weird reasons its been stuck in my outbox for hours, so I will try to answer your questions as best as I can here on the forum and hope you don't mind.

1. The Residency Certificate that you as the EU citizen obtains at the local Camara has a Five year validity. For this you will need your EU passport, a NIF number (Tax ID Number) this you obtain at the Financas or local tax office and you will also need to take along with your current proof of address. If you don't have a utility bill or such like in Portugal, bring one along with you from wherever you are coming from, you will need it. It will cost you around 15 Euros to obtain the certificate and generally you will be asked to come back and pick it up in the form of an A4 sheet in about 2 days.

2. No, you don't need to be working when you apply, but it helps. You the EU citizen makes a declaration at the Camara that you are either employed, self-employed (for this you can register at the Financas and it is sufficient) or you can apply as a self-sufficient applicant. Keep in mind that the Camara staff may direct you to the local "citizen shops" for the formalities. In any event they will likely not speak English, it is pot-luck if staff will be helpful...or surly.

3. The EU Family member residence card is also valid for 5 years.

4. Your family member qualifies on the strength of your activities. You could be working, self-employed or self-sufficient (pension income), generally if you have significant savings (5 or 6K) you can claim self-sufficiency but then be sure to get private health insurance. In any event you have 4 months grace to make your application.

5. When you arrive in Portugal you have a 90 day period of hassle-free residency, and then a further One month period to acquire residency, you can apply at any time. As the EU citizen i advise you do that immediately you arrive, it's pretty straight-forward.

Lisbon is lovely and I hope you'll have a wonderful time there, happy to help and yes of course....lets keep in touch......all the best.

Thank you so much Aimar that was indeed really helpful and I did receive your message aswell.
Just couple of more questions really...
How long does it take for the family residence card to come through from the date of applying at the SEF?

Are you also opting for Surinder Singh category ? If so after how long you planning to return to UK.

Thanks

All things being equal you should have it in about a month. It was three weeks for "er indoors" and a visit by SEF officials to my apartment. They had coffee, biscuits, asked us how we liked the place, shook our hands and left, three days later she received the call to pick up the card. It literally is a card, complete with thumbprint.

We will be heading back post brexit fairly soon.

[gillacious_505]

Thanks Aimar. Your feedback was really helpful. I will stay in touch.

Kind Regards