sorry- its a biggy!
Dear Sir/Madam,
Further to our application interview today regarding my wife’s Schengen visa I am writing as requested to give you the further information which you require.
Unfortunately we have yet been unable to contact my wife’s aunt for her full contact details, I am sure you will understand that in this information age my wife just uses instant messaging/email to keep in contact with her. She has emailed her for the details but we cannot be sure when she will go online and read the email. Her email address is ******** if you wish to contact her that way. Once we get the details we will forward them to you immediately. We are sorry for any inconvenience that this causes, but as the footnote on page 1 of the application states, because my wife is married to an EU national this question does not need to be filled in. This is why we had not prepared the contact details before submitting the application.
I would just like to explain to you that although we have booked flights that return back to The Philippines in just two weeks we would like to apply for a 90 day Schengen visa. The reason for this is because my wife is 2 months pregnant and it is her first time to leave the country, I want to be sure that we are able to return to The Philippines if she is unhappy there in anyway. As you will understand, the health of both my wife and our unborn baby is of paramount importance to me.
I would just like to clarify now our reasons for going to Europe. It is our intention to move to Bulgaria but unfortunately the Bulgarian consulate here does not issue visas and we were advised to go to either Vietnam or Japan. It would be pointless for us to travel to either of these countries when we could easily apply for the visa once we enter Europe. I lived in Bulgaria from May 2007 to Oct 2008, immediately prior to coming to The Philippines. I am proficient in the Bulgarian language and plan to exercise my treaty rights there with my wife so that we will be free to then enter the UK under the ‘Surinder Singh’ judgment.
I am sure that you will agree that the time scale with regard to our plans is of paramount importance, my wife is currently 2 months pregnant and we are hoping to be in Bulgaria within one month. The official that we met at the Bulgarian embassy informed us we could get the Bulgarian visa within 3 working days. I will exercise my treaty rights in Bulgaria for 2 months and then apply for an EEA Family Permit to the UK. This will be at the 5 month pregnancy stage, which means that if we do encounter any difficulty in obtaining the Permit we are able to return to The Philippines before she is 6 months pregnant and forbidden to fly.
I would just like to point you in the direction of the Surinder Singh judgment from the UK border agency website in case you are not aware of it. EUN2.14:
http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/ecg/eunati ... t#14763111
I will just draw your attention to paragraph six:
It does not matter if the only reason the British national went to another Member State was to exercise an economic Treaty right was so that he/ she could come back to the UK with his/ her family members under EC law.
As I have previously exercised my treaty rights for 17 months, I really do not think we will have any difficulty in obtaining the EEA Family Permit. The reason that we are going to use the EU route to get my wife into the UK is purely down to the availability of time. The processing time for the UK visa is 3 months without including the time it would take to put the file together.
Finally, I would just like to point out that I take visa requirements very seriously and there is no way that I would jeopardise the future of my family by abusing my wife’s visa in any way.
If you require any more information, then please do not hesitate to contact us. I would just like to take this opportunity to thank you for accepting our application at such short notice.
Kind Regards,