Hi Directive/2004/38/EC,
General:
- Between who was the marriage conducted?
- In which country was the marriage conducted?
- Was it a civil or religious marriage?
- What language was the marriage certificate in?
- Did you have to provide a translation, and if so into which language?
- Only exception was for naturalisation in Belgium, they wanted it in any of the three official languages, but I guess that´s OK.
- Did you have to provide anything certifying the marriage certificate, e.g. a letter from the EU national's embassy saying they recognize the marriage, or a "Hague Appostle", or ...???
- "Hague Appostle" had to be obtained after conducting the marriage - in the ministry of foreign affairs of Cyprus
- Were they happy with your marriage certificate, or did they give you any trouble?
- The Cypriot certificate was accepted everywhere (Ireland, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Germany) without translation.
- Only exception was for naturalisation in Belgium, they wanted it in any of the three official languages, but I guess that´s OK.
Visas obtained:
Irish Embassy in Beirut (Lebanon) 2007, applying for a visa to be allowed to enter (permanently, family reunification):
- passports
- marriage certificate
- proof of relationship (photos, past flight tickets and everthing that proves the relationship...)
- proof of adequate accomodation
- proof of funds/savings
- fee was fully charged (we didn´t know about the law at the time)
Ireland, GNIB Burgh Quay 2007, residence permit "4EUFam":
- passports
- marriage certificate
- proof of relationship (photos, past flight tickets and everthing that proves the relationship...)
- proof of funds/savings
- had to apply for additional "re-entry" visa to be able to travel and return to Ireland
- after 4EUFam was issued this one became superfluous
- (I´m pretty sure they asked for more, but I can´t seem to remember...)
Belgian Embassy in Dublin 2007 - Schengen visit visa:
- passports
- marriage certificate
- invitation from the folks we wanted to visit
- health insurance
- fee was only waived after protesting
- it took more that a month (!) to issue the visa
Belgian Embassy in Dublin 2008 - Schengen visit visa:
- passports
- marriage certificate
- invitation from the folks we wanted to visit
- health insurance
- (same as before, but this time they didn´t try to insist on the fee and it was issued within 2 weeks)
Austrian Embassy in Dublin 2008 - Schengen visit visa:
- passports
- marriage certificate
- health insurance
Overall my impression of the Belgian Embassy in Dublin was the worst (totally arbitrary behaviour/handling), while the Austrian Embassy in Dublin was the best. (Only mistake was the health-insurance thing, but since we had insurance anyway that wasn´t really a problem...)
Summary: Not even one of our visas was issued according to the law.