UK Tourism visits for EU-married non-EU person

[de-by]

Dear board members,

my question isn't about immigration, but about obtaining an ability to visit the UK/Ireland for short tourism visits.

I'm a german citizen. My wife is a Belarus national. We've been living together in Germany for around 10 years. She owns a permanent german residence permit. I found out she's eligible to obtain a Daueraufenthalt-EU/Long-Term-Residency-EU permit, and we probably will obtain it. Although she has already passed all tests for obtaining a german citizenship, she has decided that she is unwilling to give up her Belarusion nationality, and therefore cannot become a german citizen (Germany doesn't allow dual citizenship). The reason is, she doesn't want to lose her ability to visit her family in Belarus without visa, including visits to the specially treated border area in Belarus, which is very difficult to visit if you aren't a Belarus citizen, so dropping her Belarus nationality isn't an option.

I know about the EEA family permit regulation, but this doesn't seem to apply to us. As I understand it, EEA appears to require a demonstrated intention to live in the UK, which I don't.

My question is, is obtaining a tourist visa the only practical way for her to be able to visit the UK or Ireland?

The process to obtain a Visa has deterred us in the past years, because it is so complicated. We had only done that once, about 8 years ago. The information requested in the current Visa application form seems excessive. We have travelled a lot in the past years, so we have a hard time completing the section that asks for full details of all past travel within the recent years.

Furthermore, because none of the Visa application centres is close to where we live, obtaining a Visa will require personal travel, which means at least one day of vacation time needs to be sacrifized. If I understand correctly, a personal visit to a centre is mandatory, each time a Visa is requested.

We'd be willing to do this process only once, and obtain a 5 year or 10 year tourism visa, and we'd even be willing to pay the very high visa fee for these years once. But the regulation that Visa application fees will be retained by the centre, even if the application is unsuccessful or a shorter Visa is issued, is another reason for us to hesitate.

So my second question is, am I correct in my understanding of the Visa application procedure? Is a personal visit to the centre is required every time you apply for a new Visa? Is there any way to avoid a personal visit on repeated Visa applications, given the centre should already have obtained biometric data on previous visits?

I'm surprised that it's so very complicated for her to visit the UK, if all we want to do are short tourist trips, maybe once per year, without long advance planning.

Given our stable live and residency situation, both having full time jobs etc., is there possibly any simpler way to visit the UK, without having to go through these processes?

Thanks in advance for your advice.
Best Regards
K+L

[cloud123]

I know about the EEA family permit regulation, but this doesn't seem to apply to us. As I understand it, EEA appears to require a demonstrated intention to live in the UK, which I don't.

You don't have to be intending to live in the UK to benefit from the EEA free movement right. Even if you are visiting for a short period, like, tourism, visting family or friends, you can use the same right.

If you present yourself at the border with a proof of your relationship and obviously a proof that you are a European citizen, like your passport, I doubt they wouldn't let you in straight away.

Or if you want less hassle and to avoid possible disappointment, she can apply for the permit in advance which is free of charge. As I remember, she will be given a 6 months multiple visa.

The information regarding this route in the UK is probably explained better than any other EEA country, check the link below for full information about it.

https://www.gov.uk/family-permit

You third option, is to apply for a normal tourist visa once. After visiting the UK without problems, then apply for a 5 year or 10 year one. Because sometimes you might get refused for minor mistakes or lack of basic requirements, and you don't want to loose the high fee. I think it will be more likely for her to get the long term visitor visa if she has travelled before to the UK without problems.

All of the above is based on my own knowledge, it could be not true, please verify everything before you take any step.

[de-by]

Thanks a lot for your advice! I'm happy to hear that we might be eligible for EEA.

For anyone else trying to fill out these forms, the first hurdle is to find the correct link to click. Because on the page to apply at https://www.gov.uk/apply-uk-visa it isn't obvious which of the links to use. The correct category for us is "Apply for all other visas" and "Apply using the Visa4UK service".

After creating an account and logging in, select:
Reason for visit: Other
Visa type: EEA Family Member
Visa sub-type: Family member of an EEA national

Because we'll have to visit Düsseldorf in a few weeks for some other reason, we've decided to try EEA. I'll give an update if it worked.

[de-by]

I'd like to give an update. Our EEA family permit application was successful.

Timeline:
Aug 09 appointment in Düsseldorf, Germany
Aug 15 received email: received by UK decision making centre
Sep 04 received multiple emails: assessed by UKVI, ready for collection, return by courier
Sep 05 received passport by courier

Note that emails don't indicate if application was successful or not. You only find out when you receive the passport.