croatia / EU / visa fee

[manuelaux]

I will have to extend my visa next year in OCT.

Croatia will join EU on 1/7/2013 so I will actually need visa only for period OCT 2012 - JUL 2013 (8 months). But when I apply for visa extension it will be visa for 3 years that I will actually not needed.

Does anyone know if there will be some discount fee for Croatian citizens??

I know that UK can bar workers for new EU countries for 2+3+2 years but by the accession treaty all Croatian citizen legally living in EU member on the day of accession will be excluded from the bar no matter if country apply bar or not and have immediate permission to stay.

As I know there are no many people from Croatia living in UK so it would be good to ease life for us living here?

Thank you!

[Lucapooka]

You don't pay for the time in years that you are permitted to live in the UK; it's not like a rental fee. You pay for the processing of the application and this money is taken whether the application is sucessful or not.

[manuelaux]

I understand that but Croatian citizens already have discount on visa fees as Croatia has ratified the 1961 Council of Europe Social Charter.

So if you follow law rigidly you are right, but if you want to be fair it is not fair.

There should be some transition period take for example someone whose visa will expire on 30/6/2013 and he has to extend it ... And pay as you are not EU citizen and day tomorrow you will be EU citizen and new rules will be applied for you.

By the today’s law you are right, by the logic (and fair play) it should be some transition period.

[newperson]

I understand that but Croatian citizens already have discount on visa fees as Croatia has ratified the 1961 Council of Europe Social Charter.

So if you follow law rigidly you are right, but if you want to be fair it is not fair.

There should be some transition period take for example someone whose visa will expire on 30/6/2013 and he has to extend it ... And pay as you are not EU citizen and day tomorrow you will be EU citizen and new rules will be applied for you.

By the today’s law you are right, by the logic (and fair play) it should be some transition period.

What you want you cannot get. That's just the way it is.

As one moderator around here likes to say: Life isn't fair...but you can be. Realise that this is just the last hassle for you as a non-EU foreigner in the UK, draw a line under it and move on. In a decade, this will all be a faint memory.

[Aryan2013]

Croatia will join EU on 1/7/2013

Thank you!

Are you sure EU will survive that long??

[manuelaux]

I am not fighting here against the law and trying to make changes, have no energy to do that. I will pay the fee as I paid first time and carry on.

I was just wondering if there will be transition period for cases like mine.