I wanted to write a quick update.
If I wrote down all the events of the last few days, you wouldn't believe that one person could be so unlucky... LOL So I wont bother and will try to keep this brief and relevent to the topic.
We did go to the Cueta border to Spain on Wednesday and although it was somewhat traumatic and my fiance was not allowed entry, it was not a complete bust in terms of testing the process and gaining some information.
I argued for about an hour and a half with about 4 or 5 different Border Guards, one in particular who appeared to be in charge, and remained steadfast in stating calmly that my fiance was my Family Member and therefore had a right to enter with me, irrespective of the Expulsion and Conviction given that he was not a current threat, etc. I was not treated respectfully, was ordered out of the office even though I remained calm and the one officer was the one spurting steam from his ears. The debate continued in the walkway of the Frontera with people walking across to Spain in front of us. My Fiance stood quietly on the other side of the passport booth, panicking that I would be arrested, or that he would.
They tried to put me off by telling me that if he entered he would have to be arrested and complete his prison term as it was not completed. I asked them how on earth that could be true and as a separate issue, how does somebody get 3 years for a fight in a nightclub? I didn't even mention the 5 months that he paid for nothing as it was not the issue. I also asked them why, if this was true, did the Chief Police Officer for Foreigners in Estepona tell us not to worry, to get married and return 2 weeks later? They also told me that he also had an expulsion from Italy and that he had falsified a passport. I told them that he had never been to Italy, and the expulsion from Spain covered the entire Schengen area anyway. I laughed off the false passport since I knew categorically that just wasn't true. Apparently he hit a police officer, so it would appear that he had been pinned with that incident, but even in this were true, 3 years is still a tad excessive imo.
It didn't work because although they accepted that we were partners living together, they refused to accept him as my Family Member according to the law. I showed them where this is now written into the Spanish Law (Real Decreto 240/2006) but they interpreted it that we had to show them something official. I told them that if they accepted that we were partners in a long term relationship, then they MUST allow him entry as my Family Member. They did believe that we were partners but were not interested in any evidence that we had or might have had and ONLY wanted to see a LEGAL, Government issued document stating that we were together. The only other thing that they would have accepted is if he had been my son's father, but this is not the case.
So, in summary, the negative is that although Spain has written into its law that unmarried partners are considered Family Members, in practical terms, they haven't got their head around how you substatiate that claim without a marriage certificate.
The positive for me personally is the confirmation that once we are married, my Fiance will gain entry and the expulsion will be dispensed with. Apart from the initial insistence that he would need to be detained upon entry (they dropped this angle when I told them to go ahead if that was true), it was subsequently stated that there would be no problem if we were married and there was no argument that he did NOT pose any kind of current or serious threat to Public Security or Policy.
One Border Guard who was outside had come in to essentially beg me to drop it and let him get on with his job, as we were leaving, asked my Fiance for a word. He told him to go get married and come back then. He also commented on what a force I was (LOL) and said that he had a wife like that at home and Good Luck!
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