Finland EU family residence card application

[Iko]

Not quite easy to get a residence card here.
I am a Swede living in Finland. Last year got married, and my new wife is from an African country. She got her residence card rather quickly, but now when she has brought her little son things get more complicated. The embassies are not allowed to deliver residence cards, so instead he was given a Schengen visa to apply for the card at the local police. They also demand father's permission and birth certificate, with English translation, and legalised by the embassy.
We delivered all documents to the police soon after they arrived. She was given a date for an interview with the police one month later. At the interview she was asked quite a lot of private questions, including how she intend to earn a living, although family members of citizens of Nordic countries are by law excluded from having to show their economic means in Finland.

Is the police always this difficult? According to the European Commission's information, all we should have to do is to show her son's family ties with me, unless there is a reason to suspect fraud. I find no specific information about cases like ours, so I ask here.

[mastermind]

Report it to SOLVIT and check out this topic.

[86ti]

The question is if there is really a reason for a complaint. They are certainly within their limits to (sample) check for a marriage of convenienve (I suspect that what was it all about). She probably would also have had the right not to answer certain question (e.g. if they were too intimate) or inform the officers that some of their questions are irrelevant because of her husband's and her legal status.

[Iko]

Report it to SOLVIT and check out this topic.

I have read the topic before. Unfortunately I got a bad impression of Solvit. When I asked them about the embassy visa rules, they responded by quoting the Finnish law to me, and they did not even get that correct (parts of the law is not used any more, as they ought to know if they had any information about the legal system).

[Iko]

The question is if there is really a reason for a complaint. They are certainly within their limits to (sample) check for a marriage of convenienve (I suspect that what was it all about). She probably would also have had the right not to answer certain question (e.g. if they were too intimate) or inform the officers that some of their questions are irrelevant because of her husband's and her legal status.

Yes, but in that case, why did it become much more difficult now than when my wife got her residence card? After all, she is resident here, it is her son and she has the father's permission to bring him here.

[mastermind]

I have read the topic before. Unfortunately I got a bad impression of Solvit.

You are not the only one. That's why that topic exists. Lodging complaints to the EU bodies (European Ombudsman and European Commission) mentioned in that topic seems to be only ways to make SOLVIT work better. The more people lodge these complaints the more correctly they will have to apply the law.

[86ti]

So I understand that you are not the father? How old is the son? Is it possible that a fervent police officer just jumped to conclusions?

Of course, it is also possible that officers were instructed to toughen checks. Several judgements from recent years have strengthened the rights of EEA nationals and their family members much to the dismay of some member states. I do not know, however, what attitude Finland has towards all this.

[Iko]

So I understand that you are not the father? How old is the son? Is it possible that a fervent police officer just jumped to conclusions?

Of course, it is also possible that officers were instructed to toughen checks. Several judgements from recent years have strengthened the rights of EEA nationals and their family members much to the dismay of some member states. I do not know, however, what attitude Finland has towards all this.

True, it's her son from another relation. He is nine years old. We told the police when she applied for her residence card that she would bring her son too.

Finland has a not too positive attitude towards immigration, unless it is from Nordic countries. The government tried to do like Ireland and demanded that spouses had lived together before in another country to give residence cards to the 3rd country national, but the law got changed here when Ireland lost in court. EU/EEA residence cards are rather rare too. Unlike Sweden, embassies are not allowed to deliver residence cards, so you must apply for a visa and apply for the card after arrival. In Sweden, residence cards are free, but here you must pay for them. All documents must be in Finnish, Swedish or English, documents in other languages must be translated.

[Iko]

We just got the card for her son. It was issued on 15 March, so the decision must have been made quickly after the interview.

Next problem is that the cards are labelled "Residence Permit", and on the back side 90/364/EEC, which is the the directive that was replaced by 2004/38/EC. Time to make a complaint, I guess.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

Next problem is that the cards are labelled "Residence Permit", and on the back side 90/364/EEC, which is the the directive that was replaced by 2004/38/EC. Time to make a complaint, I guess.

Worth making a complaint. It should say "Residence Card" in general, and indicate that the person is a family member of an EU citizen.

The Irish seem to call their card "4EUFam".

[hdblue]

Next problem is that the cards are labelled "Residence Permit", and on the back side 90/364/EEC, which is the the directive that was replaced by 2004/38/EC. Time to make a complaint, I guess.

Worth making a complaint. It should say "Residence Card" in general, and indicate that the person is a family member of an EU citizen.

The Irish seem to call their card "4EUFam".

Hi,

Thanks for your information. It help me to think about my ideals.


Tks again and pls keep posting

[acme4242]

http://ec.europa.eu/justice/doc_centre/ ... udy_en.pdf

http://ec.europa.eu/justice/doc_centre/ ... nce_en.pdf

Report on Finland from 2008, (when they still demanded that spouses had lived together before in another country)

At least you can read the Finish legal implementation.

[Iko]

http://ec.europa.eu/justice/doc_centre/ ... udy_en.pdf

http://ec.europa.eu/justice/doc_centre/ ... nce_en.pdf

Report on Finland from 2008, (when they still demanded that spouses had lived together before in another country)

At least you can read the Finish legal implementation.

Thanks, I have read the documents before. It seems that the compliance study does not check if the actual cards are conforming with the directive. There is an appendix 4, but it is blank.