The details:
- I'm a British UK citizen living in the UK.
- My wife is a non-EU national living with me.
- We've got a son who has dual UK/non-EU passports.
- My wife has a UK residents permit and is on a spouse visa and lives and works in the UK
We're wanted to go on holiday for a week in Spain on doing my research I had believed that under the EU regulation Directive 2004/38/EC that my wife is entitled so the same freedoms of movement as I am as long as we travel together, either visa free with an EAA residents permit (which she doesn't have as UK don't give these out) or by applying for a schengen visa which should be free and fast.
What we've done:
We read that under the schengen rules that countries participating in this area have to accept direct visa applications via their respective consulates. As we're going to Spain everywhere I looked on the consulate website pointed me towards BLS Ltd who are a private company. We wanted to exercise our right to deal directly with the consulate so we followed the following instructions, quoted here:
Taken from: http://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consulados ... tment.aspxApplicants who prefer to address their application directly to this Consulate, including spouses, partners, and family dependants of Spanish and EU citizens, should write a letter (phone calls, fax and e-mails will not be accepted) to this Consulate that can be sent by post or delivered in person. The applicant will be given an appointment on the first available date and in strict order of presentation. An appointment will usually be given within 2 weeks after you apply if there are appointment slots available. Please state clearly the purpose of your visit, dates of travel, contact details (full name, address, email and day time telephone number) and enclose only photocopies of your passport, UK residence visa, (marriage certificate, birth certificate, if applicable) and a stamped SAE. Please do not send or hand in any original documents until you asked to do so by the Visa Department.
We followed these instructions to the letter, and sent all the copied documents, filled in schengen visa application form and photos. We included a cover letter explaining that we were exercising our rights as covered by Directive 2004/38/EC.
My wife today receives a phone call from BLS Ltd asking her to apply for the visa through their website and that she would need to supply proof of flight tickets.
I was fuming, so I called BLS back myself and explained that we had applied directly to the consulate which is our right, and was told that the consulate had forwarded our documents to BLS Ltd. I was told that I should just apply for an appointment with BLS. My wife had very bad experience with outsourced visa centres in the past hence why we wanted to go direct.
Today I spoke to the Spanish consulate on the phone and was told that my wife needs to apply for the visa though the intermediary BLS, I explained that we are legally entitled to apply directly with the consulate and that we were following the rules as set out our their own website. The person at the consulate was quite rude and kept telling me it was not possible and that the website would need revising. I asked them if they were "refusing to process my wife's visa application" and they said I need to go through BLS.
What should I do, I believe my wife is legally entitled to be treated in the same way as an EU national, if it's my right to apply directly with the consulate, and it's our right not to need to provide travel documentation how can I proceed with the consulate refuse to honour this, aren't they breaking the law and rules of the schengen treaty?
