Travelling to Netherlands on EEA family permit

[clogman01]

Beware, don't let this happen to you...

I am a Dutch national living in the UK. My non-EU wife currently holds a EEA family permit (i.e. not residence card). During December the Dutch embassy told us we didn't need a Schengen visa for her to visit Holland provided the EEA family permit was still valid (which it was). I was a bit dubious but this info seemed to be backed up by the website - see http://www.netherlands-embassy.org.uk/p ... .php?i=261

To cut a long story short, we had endless hassles at both Heathrow to even get on the plane, and then on arriving in Holland, where it transpired that immigration do recognise the residence card as an alternative to the Schengen visa but NOT the EEA family permit. After about 2 hours they took pity on us and issued us a manual Schengen visa...

[thsths]

To cut a long story short, we had endless hassles at both Heathrow to even get on the plane, and then on arriving in Holland, where it transpired that immigration do recognise the residence card as an alternative to the Schengen visa but NOT the EEA family permit. After about 2 hours they took pity on us and issued us a manual Schengen visa...

Well, I think the Dutch were correct: only the residence card allows you to travel within Europe. The EEA family permit is based on UK legislation, and it is not recognised abroad. They should have certainly told you so.

Just look at the bright side: at least they were reasonable and did not send you back.